Luis Betancourt | LIVE!

Luis Betancourt is a songwriter who recently moved back to his native VT from Brooklyn, NY. His songs incorporate a variety of guitars (acoustic, electric, baritone, bass), electronics/programming, and vocals to create a homegrown, intimate, and sometimes experimental vibe. Elements of folk, pop, psych, & rock can be heard throughout. He has written and performed in a number of projects, both solo, and collaborative, for the past 20 years. He has performed at countless venues in NYC including the Sidewalk Cafe, the Living Room, Arlene's Grocery, and Mercury Lounge. Luis was a finalist in the 2006 Williamsburg Live Songwriter Competition alongside Lana Del Rey (then Lizzy Grant), who he performed with at Banjo Jim's, Union Pool, and Jalopy Theatre (where he also ran a monthly songwriter showcase for 3 years called the "Hooklyn Holler").

That same year, Luis began recording and performing under the moniker, Colonial Radio, which eventually became a fully realized band for 2010's "The Mechanical Orange." In 2010, after returning from living abroad in Peru, he began writing/recording short indie rock compositions reminiscent of Guided By Voices, Pavement, the Minutemen, and early Talking Heads with friends Ronnie Fell (RDF) and Raj under the name AVO. From 2012 to 2019, they performed endlessly around New York and parts of the northeast, amassing a small, but devoted following. AVO released "this etcetera" (both digitally and on vinyl) in 2017. Meanwhile, Betancourt continued to record and self-release his solo work which took on a more mature, focused quality beginning with 2013's "plastic remembers the earth" and continuing through 2021's "Pan." He just released a new album entitled "find it feels" this spring.