ABOUT THE SHOW
Folk-noir trench-fighters, on the cultural front of Ukraine’s battle for democracy and freedom, BALAKLAVA BLUES return to AUSTIN!
They mix thousand year-old polyphonic traditions with personal stories and sounds of revolution and war and stunning visuals that blend folk motifs with contemporary expressions of power, vulnerability and trauma. Think Dakha Brakha remixed by Halluci Nation and then played live by Thom Yorke fronting Portishead. Timely and emotional, their multimedia live show builds empathy and understanding when we need it most and speaks to universal themes of identity crisis, displacement and oppression through deeply personal and specific Ukrainian experiences and music.
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BALAKLAVA BLUES
Balaklava Blues is the brainchild of Mark and Marichka Marczyk, creators of the multi-award winning guerrilla-folk-opera Counting Sheep and leaders of the mighty Lemon Bucket Orkestra – Canada’s notorious 12 piece balkan-party-punk-massive.
Falling somewhere between a traditional song cycle and a full blown multimedia techno show, the duo fuses Ukrainian polyphony and other folk traditions with EDM, trap, dubstep, and more as a launching pad to explore the seemingly never-ending blues that have long emanated from the Ukrainian steppe.
“Balaklava Blues music is a reclamation of the violence perpetrated on my home country,” says Mark Marczyk, who spent years back and forth between Ukraine and Canada before meeting Marichka there. “We want to redesign and remix physical and psychological oppression and question how and why it continues to inform who we are and what we can become.”
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LIBERTY UKRAINE FOUNDATION
Austin born powerful non profit organisation with a great mission: provide support to those fighting for Ukraine Provide aid to those suffering in Ukraine Provide hope to those displaced by war.
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UNWLA branch 147
Newly established branch of a well known American wide organisation with the mission to unite newcomers and diaspora with one common goal - to promote Ukraine, to support Ukrainian interests, to share the beautiful Ukrainian culture with the world and to send as much help as possible to Ukraine.
