Varkocs at Pohoda on the Ground

Band Varkocs was formed in 2018 as a special project around Erik Turtev, a virtuoso mouth harp player. Since their formation, the band have excelled in their unconventional approach and “rowdy folk” style. They play old pagan Slavic and Hungarian acoustic folk instruments and their aim is to collect songs for mouth harp, as they are translated in various ethnic groups living in Slovakia. Their repertoire is based on the songs that the members learned from old folks in villages and found in archives.

02. June 2021

Mouth harp has a special place in the Slovak folk music; it was popular mainly among Romani blacksmiths and its use quickly spread in Slovakia: it was played by shepherds as well as village musicians. The band, however, enriches the songs with a new flavour of creative arrangements, almost pagan energy, and the use of mouth harp as a solo instrument.