Neo-folk at Womad festival? Balalike it!

WOMAD, World of Music, Arts and Dance, is an internationally established Festival bringing together artists from all over the globe.  For the first time in Russia, it will be held in the city of Pyatigorsk, on September 21-22.

1982 was a notable year in the history of music: Madonna release her first album and ABBA released its last. In that same year, not far from the English town of Shepton Mallet, the first WOMAD festival was held. At the time, it was the first real international music festival in the world.

Three musical innovators were introduced to the world at the WOMAD festival: Peter Gabriel, Thomas Brooman, and Bob Hooton. In 1980, inspired by Gabriel’s joint concert with African musicians, they thought up a festival where thousands of people could speak in one language understood by all: the language of music.

Today, the festival continues to expose viewers to the unique and surprising elements of the world of music. Recognized masters of the art and still-unknown talents perform on WOMAD’s stage. Over its thirty-year history, WOMAD has been held over 160 times in 27 countries, gathering over a million viewers. This year the WOMAD Festival will be held at the foot of Mount Mashuk, in the city of Pyatigorsk. In this edition of Balalike it, Russian artists taking part in the event are presented: the folk singer Pelageya; Yarga Sound System, a band from Karelia; the folklore collector Sergey Starostin with the band “Zhili-Byli”, as well as “Otava Yo”, a band that calls itself, in a Slavic interpretation, “the happy people”.

Tracklist:

1) Yarga Sound System - Maslenya

2) Sergey Starostin and band “Zhili-Byli” - Sashen'ka 

3) Otava Yo - About Dima nad Petya

4) Pelageya - Oi to ne vecher

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