Yani Vozos

Yani Vozos is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (guitar, mandolin, charango, and sitar) from Kentucky.   He performs original music in many styles ranging from acoustic latin- folk -rock rhythms to funky jazz grooves to traditional old- time folk and bluegrass.  His music is upbeat with writing that focuses on positivity and universal spiritual connections with the earth that everyone can relate to.  Yani writes music directly from his heart with the intention of sending out vibrations of love and joy to inspire people around the world.

He currently leads the group Appalatin  who blends folk music from Kentucky with folk music from Latin America, creating original music with lyrics in Spanish and English.  Yani also plays guitar in the funky jazz groove quartet Voodoo Fuel  and plays mandolin in the nouveau old-time band Corn Maiz.

Yani’s musical adventure began in rural Eastern Kentucky where he grew up listening to his parent’s records that tended to concentrate on motown, blues, classic rock, and country. When he was 15 years old he fell in love with the guitar and began ravenously learning Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Santana and Allman Bros songs, practicing 6 hours a day as a teenager.  After high school he left home and it was then that Yani fell in love with jazz music during his time living in Pittsburgh and NYC and later Latin music during his years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras, Central America.   After he returned home to Kentucky in 2003, he rediscovered and dug into the Bluegrass music of Bill Monroe on mandolin.  Now after all of these years, the music he plays is an amalgam of all of these styles infused with a little bit of love and lots of inspiration.

In addition to his performing career, he regularly teaches workshops in schools around the state of Kentucky.  He is also to teaching guitar classes in South Louisville focusing on giving increased access to the arts for underserved populations through a grant from the Fund for the Arts.

He is also the Assistant Director of the Cornbread & Tortillas project.  Cornbread &Tortillas is a collaboration with Appalatin, Zoe Speaks and other Kentucky artists. The project seeks to highlight cultural connections between Kentucky and Latin America, through performances and workshops, and to create community through music, culture, and food.

You can follow Yani’s musical adventure on Instagram and Facebook and sign up on his email list here.