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Concert Pick
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Washington City Paper, Concert Pick >>
The Warsaw Village Band describes itself as "hardcore folk," but 2004's People's Spring and the forthcoming Uprooting prove that the band can't be so easily pigeonholed. This Polish sextet may strum, bang, and blow reverently on "Traditional Rural Polka," but the group has also played at punk-rock tempos, collaborated with a hiphop DJ, and released bhangra and trance remixes. Rarely mellow, the three-man/three-woman unit features two pounding drummers plus noisy, atmospheric cello, hurdy-gurdy, dulcimer, Polish fiddle, and occasional brass. On top of their frantic—yet skillfully played—rhythms, the women strikingly employ a method of warbling used by Polish shepherds and known as "white voice." Similar to the high-pitched harmony utilized by some distaff Scandinavians, this half-sung, half-shouted technique beautifully conveys drama through intonation alone. The Warsaw Village Band performs at 6 p.m. on the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, Hall of States. Free. (202) 467-4600. (Steve Kiviat) 01/09/05
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