Lithuania

Next on our virtual trip is Lithuania, which like the other Baltic states has it's own distinct traditions and language.  I have never been, but it has suffered a similar fate to its neighbours in history of being overrun alternately by the Germans and the Russians.  Now it is a prosperous country, proud of its traditions and looking forward at the same time.  Unlike Latvia its culture seems to be less centralised and we will go on a whistlestop tour around the country.

Our first stop in the north of the country and just over the border with Latvia is the town of Joniškis, where singer and self-declared song-keeper Laurita Peleniūtė was born.  She is trying to preserve ancient Lithuanian folk songs and performs in various guises including collaborating with musicians from around the world.  One of her projects is the duo Maros Rijos together with Tadas Dešukas, who accompanies her pure voice gently on violin, mandolin and guitar, whilst she is on a shruti box for a gentle drone.  Here's a song from their 2021 album Ilgių Dainos called Oi Eisiu Eisiu:

Another project Laurita is involved in is MaLituanie, a collaboration between musicians from Mali and Lithuania to find common ground between their respective musical traditions.  The Malian contingent of the collaboration includes ngoni player Baba Sissoko and guitarist Victor Diawara and the Lithuanian half is completed by multi-instrumentalist Saulius Petreikis and singer and Baltic psaltery player Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė as well as Laurita on ocarina and percussion.  Here's a track from their 2013 album called Tres Jolie:

And talking about the above mentioned multi-instrumentalist Saulius Petreikis, he was born in the north-western town of Barstyčiai near the port city of Klaipeda in 1984. He has a collection of 50 odd wind instruments from all over the world and is known as the only professional musician who can play a wide range of ancient Lithuanian/Baltic wind instruments.  He has recorded 11 solo albums and has taken part in some 50 national and international collaborations.  He combines his traditional folk roots with other experimental world music genres.  His latest 2023 album Sapnų Vartai (The Gate of Dreams) was inspired by the lullabies his mother sang to him when he was the kid and that he now sings to his own children.  Here is track from the album called Naktį lyja (At night it rains) with some beautiful art work in the video:

Next we are heading to the eastern city of Tauragė, where accordionist Martynas Levickis was born in 1990.  The classically trained musician calls his instrument his box of tricks and he has been hailed as "amazingly talented [...] single-handedly reinventing the accordion" by the Independent.  He first emerged onto the scene as the winner of the Lithuania's Got Talent competition in 2010.  His repertoire is mostly his interpretations of classical pieces, but he also incorporates Lithuanian folk tunes, such as in this piece from his latest 2013 album Autograph called The Dawn Is Breaking / Beauštanti aušrelė:

Folk rock band Atalyja (The Rain is Coming) debuted in 1998 in Kaunas, the second city of Lithuania.  The focus on the popularisation of traditional Lithuanian folk songs, in particular polyphonic Sutartinės.  They combine those with contemporary rock, funk and blues elements, using both traditional instruments and modern electric guitar, bass and drums.  Here is the title track from their 2009 album Saula riduolėla:

Folk band Sutaras started off in 1988 in the capital Vilnius playing and singing traditional Lithuanian village folk and have since performed over 6200 concerts in Lithuania and all over the world.  Whilst much of their instrumentation is traditional including the daudytes (wooden horns), the ragiliai (reed horns) or the skudučiai (panpipes) and their songs are formed as Sutartinės, they are not afraid of experimentation and throwing a bit of jazz into their compositions.  Here's a song from their 2011 album Ubagų karalystės monai called UBAGŲ SALA (Isle of Beggars):

Folk-fusion trio Merope consist of Lithuanian kanklės (Lithuanian zither) player and singer Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė, Belgian Bert Cools on guitar and synthesizer and Frenchman Jean Christophe Bonnafous on bansuri, a south-Asian side-blown flute.  Their material is based on Lithuanian folk songs, but with the unusual instrumentation and international influences have created their own style.  Here is the title track from their 2022 album Naktės:

And that's it from Lithuania, next stop Belarus.  As usual, you can follow my virtual journey on my Tripline map.