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Take a village, build a band
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Calgary Herald (Alberta, Canada), Take a village, build a band >>
The Warsaw Village Band is recently back from New York and a whirlwind tour though Germany. On Thursday, they will be in Calgary for a mainstage appearance at FolkFest on their first tour of Canada.
"Sometimes it's crazy," says Wojtek Krzak, who plays violin from his home in Warsaw, Poland.
Things were suddenly bumped into ,a higher gear for the band when they released their second album, People's Spring, in February, and took home a BBC Radio 3 World Music Award in the newcomer category in March.
Since then, he says, "We have so many offers from all over the world to play concerts."
The group of seven young people (ages 19 to 32) came together in 1997. Their band acts as an unofficial cultural project, trying to resurrect Polish musical traditions out the obscurity of homogenized culture and the rubble of past Communist governments.
The Warsaw Village Band, he says, is "looking somewhere in the roots and also looking forward," blending old techniques with new influences into a hybrid they call "bio-techno."
The band uses traditional Polish drums and the suka (Polish fiddle) to perform traditional folk songs and ballads, while the women of the band sing with an antiquated style called "white voice" -- musical screaming once used to communicate across long distances.
A "village band" in every sense, the group often travels to the small villages of Poland, learning almost-forgotten music.
When the band walks into small communities, someone inevitably tells them something like, "at the end of the village, you will find Johnny who plays the violin,"says Krzak. With these seasoned musicians, they learn about traditional music, and about the rural culture.
"They are so open," Krzak says. "They are so happy that the young generation wants to discover this type of music."
While they have found a receptive fan base in Poland, Krzak says the real challenge is bringing their music to international audiences.
He's hoping their performances will "fight the Polish stereotypes," opening eyes to real Polish culture.
The band's stop in Calgary is one of eight Canadian dates at folk festivals across the country. "We will give some people some good new vibes," he says. "And some peace, some breaks from everyday problems."
07/21/04
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