Lyuk (Люк; translates to “manhole” in Russian, but the members said they just liked how it sounded) was a Ukrainian rock and rock-adjacent band that broke up in 2011. They’re also affiliated with the genres of punk, acid jazz, lounge, funk, hip-hop, and a bunch of others—the band members themselves have had a hard time defining exactly […]
The Red Elvises (also known as Igor and the Red Elvises; or Красные Элвисы, in its less-frequent Russian form) is a Russian-American band that plays an eclectic mixture of rockabilly, reggae, folk, disco, funk, surf rock, and traditional Russian music. The band is based out of Los Angeles, but has had successful tours in Ukraine […]
Billy’s Band is a Russian band from St. Petersburg who plays across the genres of blues, swing, jazz, and rock’n’roll. Started in 2001 by Billy Novik (real name Vadim Valeryevich Novik, Вадим Валерьевич Новик) and Andrey Reznikov (Андрей Резников), Billy’s Band has gone on to produce five studio albums, along with three singles and a slew of […]
Taisiya Povaliy (Таїсія Повалій) is a classic Soviet and Ukrainian pop and shanson singer. Born in 1964 near Kyiv to a musical family, Povaliy attended music school in Kyiv and then worked at a music hall for a few yeas before starting a solo career. She won a number of Soviet music contests at the beginning of […]
Controversial, bizarre, and talented, there is no one quite like Ukrainian singer/comedian/actor/drag queen Verka Serduchka (Верка Сердючка). Serduchka is the drag persona of Andriy Danylko (Андрій Данилко) and frequently performs and sings at concerts and in films. Danylko himself is a wide-ranging actor, composer, singer, and performer who was born in Poltava, Ukraine, to rural roots. […]
Igor Rasteryaev (Игорь Растеряев) is a Russian singer, poet, musician, and actor. He is something of a newer generation of bard—he didn’t come of age until after the collapse of the Soviet Union, so he didn’t partake in the underground activities that are usual for bards, but his musical style itself fits in well to […]
Buranovskiye Babushki (Бурановские Бабушки) is a long-running traditional folk choir from Buranovo, Russia. They sing predominantly in their native Udmurt language, a subgroup of the Uralic language family, which also includes Finnish, Hungarian, and Estonian. Formed in 1968 in an effort to preserve the local singing traditions, the group came to national prominence 40 years later […]
Artur Pirozhkov (Артур Пирожков) is a stage name—one of many—for entertainer Aleksandr Vladimirovich Revva (Александр Владимирович Ревва). Of Estonian ancestry, his family immigrated to Donetsk, Ukraine, where their last name was eventually Slavicized to Revva (from Erwa). His father, a renowned mathematician and professor in Donetsk, and his mother separated when he was fairly young. He […]
Roads Change Color (Дороги Меняют Цвет, or ДМЦ) is an alternative Russian-singing folk-rock band from Poltava, Ukraine. Originally a two-piece group composed of vocalist Andrey Grechanik (Андрей Гречаник) and guitarist Sergeу Starostenko (Сергей Старостенко), the band has since expanded to include a keyboardist, bassist, drummer, and, for a brief period prior to her tragic death, a violin […]
