We root ourselves to earth through song
And we come to our humanity
Dear hopeful reader,
The word root is defined as part of a plant, underground. It supports the plant, anchors and nourishes it. Hold that thought.
Meanwhile folk, or folks, are a tribe, people, family, or nation. Just folks are ordinary people who are good-hearted and genuine. Whereas folk music is music of just folks—traditional music of unknown musicians passed orally from generation to generation. It invites others to share in the experience.
Folk music of today can fuse musical genres—e.g. folk metal—while preserving the traditional essence. Contemporary or traditional, folk music unites others together in shared hopes and worries.
But even if we may not relate to certain challenges or celebrations, we can still in part understand them and thus empathize and share parts of ourselves with each other. Folk music is for everyone, for ever.
Also read: Become a proverb à la Ahti from Control
As my mind travels back to words root and folk music, I sense how profoundly ingraining and germinating they are.
The root of a plant gives it sustenance and foundation to grow and live. Music of the folk gives a person nutrition and grounding for the soul to evolve and bond with others. In different ways they’re the same.
When I feel unmoored, and I imagine others have been feeling so lately, I listen to folk music to bring me back to earth, to what makes me human. I then find my footing and groundedness. I become softer albeit strengthened. I relate better to others.
If you’re new to folk music, I compiled a small but strong list of songs that are sure to make you cry, dance, even laugh.
You’ll feel yourself rooted to earth, brought ever closer to your humanity.
Alexia Evellyn - Hold On
Alexia Evellyn is a Florianópolis-born singer and songwriter who’s been sharing traditional and folkloric songs on TikTok with nature as her backdrop since 2020.
In her videos she’s often singing in Portuguese or English while playing a Tibetan bowl, piano, or frame drum. Sometimes she’s seen chanting to birds and other creatures who answer back to her.
Evellyn’s debut single “Hold On” released recently and has been resonating with many individuals—especially women—around the world.
A symbolic song, as I interpret it personally, it’s about reclaiming individual power while being empowered by and with one’s sisters in arms. “Hold On” is a formidable summoning of all that’s ancestral, natural, primal, and communal.
The Hu - Bosoo Huh Mongol
When Mongolia was under communist regime until 1992, traditional Mongolian music was either banned or altered to fit the socialist national identity. Western musical genres such as pop, rock, jazz, and metal were forbidden or regulated too.
As the Hu formed decades later, the band dedicated themselves to bring heavy metal and traditional folk melodies to the forefront, becoming pioneers and protectors of such music.
“Hu” means “human being” in Mongolian, and thusly the Hu is a musical group that centers every listener around the world as well as humanity and nature.
“The importance of being together and protecting nature and respecting each other is something we need in this world. That is why this message is received widely, because everybody wants it.”
— Galbadrakh “Gala” Tsendbaatar, The Hu
The Hu was founded in 2016 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and they released their first album The Gereg in 2019. The gereg was a tablet of privileges and authorities carried by Mongol officials in the 13th century.
The collective’s musical genre is described by them as hunnu rock, being inspired by the Hünnü, an ancient Mongol nomadic empire, and blending Western contemporary sounds of heavy metal with Eastern folk instrumentation of morin khuur, the horsehead fiddle; tumur khuur, the jaw harp; tovshuur, a two or three-stringed lute; and tsuur, an end-blown flute.
Another uniqueness to the Hu is their throat singing, sounding droning, low, growling yet harmonious. With certain songs comprising poetry and war cries of Ancient Mongolia, the music of the Hu allows the audience a glimpse of their rich history, traditions, and culture.
“Bosoo Huh Mongol,” translating to “upright destined Mongol,” is one of the Hu’s most spirited epics with striking lyrics like “As long as our language, borders, and livestock exist / who is wealthy, Mongol is wealthy” that firmly root and resound in one’s consciousness.
Tinariwen - Kek Alghalm
The Tuareg people are nomadic herders from the Saharan desert whose migratory way of life is under threat from Malian government and uranium mining.
Border impositions, political instability, and depleting access to water and pastures force the Tuareg to constantly fight for freedom, independence, and natural resources.
Tinariwen, meaning “deserts” in Tamasheq, is a Tuareg band spreading the message of their people. Their musical themes include exile from home, rebellion of the soul, tribal unity, yearning for family, among others.
Tinariwen are trailblazers of the ishumar style, coined by Americans as “desert blues.” The musical genre is a blend of rock ‘n’ roll and blues with African and Middle Eastern undertones.
As with Tinariwen’s other songs, “Kek Alghalm,” which means “the world,” sounds both melancholy and nostalgic yet still hopeful and jovial.
With rhythmic, harmonious soundscapes of the banjo, guitars, and percussions as well as hypnotizing call-and-response vocals, “Kek Alghalm” invites the listener to reflect, but also cheer along.
Elisapie - Isumagijunnaitaungituq (The Unforgiven)
Elisapie Isaac is an Inuk Canadian musician, documentarian, broadcaster, and actress who was born and raised in Salluit, a Nunavik village of northern Québec that can only be reached by plane.
Elisapie’s music can be classified as folk pop and rock embodying Inuit motifs while being sung in Inuktitut, French, or English.
During Elisapie’s concert you may feel yourself transported to wintry hilly and rocky landscapes, each melody and lyric singing a vivid, moving narrative before you.
Isaac’s vocals are powerful too in that she sounds at times ethereal, other times vociferous—as if personifying a bird or wolf, wild and free.
Inuktitut is Elisapie’s fourth solo album covering rock and pop classics from the 60s to 90s that shaped her childhood and marked the hearts of her community.
Also read: Elisapie releases a delicate cover of Blondie's “Heart of Glass”
Each cover was beautifully translated to Inuktitut and connects to a personal memory or loved one. The album is meant to bridge the gap of existence and understanding, allowing the Inuk to feel more closeness to the songs that affected their lives.
The first track of the album, “Isumagijunnaitaungituq,” is a power-house re-embodiment of Metallica’s “The Unforgiven.” The cover poignantly touches on the impact of colonialism on Inuit men, particularly their identity and role in their community.
The most affective moment is when—from dulcet, airy, sorrowful vocals—Elisapie switches to Inuit throat singing—or katajjaq—in the middle of the song, amplifying the haunting growl and wail of the track.
The end culminates with guitar, bass, drums, strings, banjo, and hums all roaring together rhythmically, becoming a thunderously pensive, penetrative release and healing for the listener.
Les Cowboys Fringants - L’Amérique Pleure
Les Cowboys Fringants, or the Dashing Cowboys in English, are a Québécois neo-traditional musical group with a country style and chansonnier soul.
Politically inclined, the Cowboys’ songs delve into the themes of poverty, inequality, sovereignty, among others. The sobriety of the subjects in their music is interestingly contrasted by the levity of the melody and irony and humor in the lyrics.
Les Cowboys Fringants appeal to the francophone spirit, particularly French Canada and especially Québec, and they boast an international fandom from France, Belgium, and Switzerland. With certain lyric lines in simple language and joual, the Cowboys’ songs resonate with the working class as well.
One of their tracks with a strong, relatable message is “L’Amérique pleure” (“America cries”) from their album Les antipodes (2019).
“L’Amérique pleure” follows a Québécois trucker working to-and-fro the North American road network. The trucker narrates his impressions of the beautiful landscapes he passes in stark contrast with the suffering seen on people’s faces.
The narrator reflects too on the purpose of working so hard as it distances him further away from his family.
The Dashing Cowboys are also environmentally-conscious musicians, planting trees during benefit concerts and with their own foundation. For example, they planted 40,000 trees after the show “un arbre pour tous” (“one tree for all”) in 2014.
To this day the Cowboys perform songs that capture the hearts of millions and aid in the forestation of our natural habitat.
Ladaniva - Șaraiman
Ladaniva is a French-Armenian world band founded by singer Jaklin Baghdasaryan and musician Louis Thomas.
The duo met each other during a bar jam session in Lille, France, and formed Ladaniva in 2019. The band name originates from the coincidental fact that both their fathers had the same Russian off-road car.
Ladaniva’s musical style is multicultural and versatile, drawing inspiration from traditional music of Armenia, Russia, and the Balkan peninsula as well as travels to the Reunion Islands, the African continent, and Latin America.
The love song “Șaraiman” was originally performed by Romika Puchanu, a Romanian Romani singer. Ladaniva pays homage to the lăutărească song with their own unique rendition.
While the original “Șaraiman” sounds passionate and lively, the cover is softer, taking its time. Both versions convey a feeling of love being shouted from the rooftops or on a mountain peak—all-consuming.
Otyken - Storm
Chulym, or Ös, is a critically endangered Siberian Turkic language spoken by less than thirty people in Russia today. Programmed assimilation during Soviet era forced devalorization and abandonment of Chulym for Russian.
Loss of language means loss of people, their history, traditions, and culture—once extinct, the nonexistence can’t be undone. Our vast, rich world thus becomes smaller.
If there’s any hope of preservation, the Siberian indigenous band Otyken, founded by Andrey Medonos in 2015, keeps Chulym alive through folk pop songs.
In Chulym and other Turkic languages “otyken” is defined as a holy place where warriors put down their arms and have debates. The word holds sacred ancestral meaning and heritage that Otyken is devoted to respect and protect with their music.
For instance, their visceral track “Storm”—videographed in the icy landscape of Krasnoyarsk Krai—touches on the past struggles of traveling east, emphasizing that nature teaches valuable life lessons while friends can help survive the storm and sun.
Combining traditional instruments such as leather drums, rattles, and vargan—a mouth harp—with mystical vocals, throat singing, and prayer chants as well as modern sounds of synthesized bass guitar, “Storm” powerfully transports the audience to Siberian taiga winds and snow, and echoes of local forest animal calls.
When the band members aren’t rehearsing or performing, they lead a busy life of foraging, hunting, agriculture, fishing, and beekeeping.
There’s something about listening to folk music that harmonizes the soul, grounds the body to earth, roots the person to their humanity.
We become one with ourselves, with each other. We grow to see and feel for one another as we are, with compassion and non-judgment. As we were meant to all along, as we should going forward.
The songs above—of many more songs—tell and retell stories of love, plight, resilience, unity, longing, overcoming.
They endure as they’re above and beyond time. They endure for their urgency felt deep in bones today.
They say, I see humanity in you, you see humanity in me.
Yours hopefully,
Nadia
What a lovely selection, Nadia. I'm always down with broadening my music horizons. I don't know any of these, but the first two I've listened to just now whilst reading your post are most soothing and grounding. Thanks so much for sharing.
Ulaanbaatar is one of my favourite place names. The word has such a great selection of letters 😆
It's not folk music (but it is music virtuosity), but I've found myself listening and watching a lot of Polyphia. Tim Hensen (think that's his name) is a god.
Love the reflection at the beginning. My preview of the music was so fun! I’ll listen properly this evening. I love the range of cultures. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Nadia!