Forrobamba is a Brazilian forró band formed in London, in 2012. The band takes its name from the joining of two words, forró meaning ‘for all’ and bamba meaning ‘you are good at what you do’. The trio is comprised of Guilhermino Ramos (triangle/vocals), Cassio Matheus (zabumba/vocals) and Rodrigo Vasconcelos (accordion).​

Our style

With an energetic and cheerful style, Forrobamba plays traditional ‘pé de serra’ forró from the northeast of Brazil. The band’s much loved rhythms include coco, forró sambado, maracatu, xote, arrasta-pé, xaxado and baião. The band’s repertoire comprises of music by well-known artists like Trio Nordestino, Dominguinhos and Genival Lacerda as well as the artists who founded this beloved Brazilian musical genre such as Jackson do Pandeiro and Luiz Gonzaga. Forrobamba also play many of their own compositions including the hits ‘Café na Cama’, ‘Balance o Berço’ and ‘Periquito da Vizinha’.

Our story

Guilhermino and Matheus are childhood friends who grew up together in Itacaré, Bahia, Brazil. As teenagers they discovered forró, during a period which saw the growing influence of forró bands such as Falamansa and Trio Virgulino. They began playing together, watching Luís Gonzaga’s concerts on DVD and teaching themselves to master the triangle and zabumba (drum) and to compose their own music. They discovered and fell in love with the traditional folk style of forró, which has shaped their music ever since.

In 2013, Matheus and Guilhermino met Rodrigo Vasconcelos, a former accordionist from the band Chama Chuva, and now Forrobamba’s principle accordionist. Rodrigo is from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and started playing the accordion at the age of 16. Rodrigo draws his musical inspiration from artists such as Dominguinhos.

Albums and shows

Forrobamba released their first single, Café Na Cama, in March 2013. In January 2015 the band released their first album Balanco O Berço. The album has been a huge success in the European forró scene and Brazil has led to Forrobamba playing at forró venues and festivals across Europe.