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As a genre, folk music encapsulates the cultural heritage of a specific group or a country; these include local myths and beliefs, traditional costumes, songs, and dances, as well as musical instruments.
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Following its revival, the genre now includes both traditional and contemporary music, with the latter merely drawing inspiration from cultural traditions rather than being entirely based on them. New takes on melodies, instruments, and styles – the result is always one-of-a-kind. For one, today’s Russian folk spans a variety of subgenres, from traditional music to the more experimental ones, including rock, punk, indie, and even drum & bass.
Here are the top names in Russian folk music that you need to know:
Pioneers
- Надежда Кадышева (Nadezhda Kadysheva) – a Russian folk diva who has been on stage since the ‘80s, but recently went viral with her upbeat traditional and original songs among Gen Z and millennials.
Top tracks: Плывет веночек / Широка река / Течет ручей
Nadezhda Kadysheva performs at the 2025 Scarlet Sails in St. Petersburg
- Надежда Бабкина (Nadezhda Babkina) – another old-school folk diva who is most adored for her performance of traditional folklore songs.
Top tracks: Калинка / Во поле берёзка / Виновата ли я
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Любэ (Lyube) – a late-Soviet band from Moscow that blends rock with bard, folk, and martial; one of the few who masterfully integrate the bayan into their riffs.
Top tracks: Конь / Ты неси меня река / Берёзы
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Ноль (Nol) – a folk punk and anti-folk band from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) who made bayan music feel like rock'n'roll.
Top tracks: Человек и кошка / Улица Ленина / Ехали на улице трамваи
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Король и Шут (Korol i Shut) – a late-Soviet band from St. Pete that brings together punk drive with fairytale and fantasy plots; their Акустический Альбом (Akustichesky Albom) incorporates lots of folk punk elements, among many others.
Top tracks: Кукла колдуна / Прыгну со скалы / Лесник
Contemporary
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The Hatters – a homegrown gypsy-folk-rock band that makes energetic concerts out of their theatrical vivacity, punkish style, and myriads of genres (from rock and folk to electronic) and instruments (from violin and balalaika to triangle).
Top tracks: Да, со мной не просто / Танцы / Сильная женщина
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Отава Ё (Otava Yo) – a St. Petersburg-based folk rock band that wears fur hats, sings about Russian life chastushki-style, and plays both gusli and electric guitars – and does all that in style.
Top tracks: Сумецкая / Яблочко / Ой, Дуся, ой, Маруся
Сумецкая by Otava Yo
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Бонд с кнопкой (Bond s Knopkoy) – an up-and-coming folk indie band from Bashkortostan that offers a signature mix of moving, culture-rich lyrics, classic and traditional instruments (e.g., spoons and balalaika), as well as male vocals and women’s choir; one of their hits, Kухни, has recently gone viral online.
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The Retuses – an indie folk band that got their fame performing Sergei Yesenin's poems, but found their own sound at the intersection of indie, folk, and electronic music.
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Нейромонах Феофан (Neuromonakh Feofan) – a music group from St. Pete that remains anonymous and does drum & bass, but ancient Slavic-style.
Top tracks: Притоптать / Под драм легко
What else is on our playlists? Find more music recs via the Music tag on ITMO.NEWS.
