The Zwykli Ludzie band was founded in 2014 by married couple Joanna and Stanisław Strelnik. As part of the band, Stanisław plays music from northern Opoczno region (after Józef Fiderek and Władysław Koperkiewicz), while Joanna plays music from western Radom region (after Józef Zaraś and Piotr Gaca). Both are trying to discover what makes music “under foot” (i.e. better to be danced to), what specific patents and technical solutions were used by rural musicians to extract dance rhythm from melody.

As part of their research on musical motifs, they have also created an extensive database with rural melodies from central Poland, on the basis of which, among other things, they compare the same melodies by different musicians and try to find the characteristic features of tune variants from various regions, and answer the question – how many obereks are there actually? They also collect old folk instruments.

Line-up:
Joanna Strelnik – violinist, bassist, barabanist and singer
Stanisław Strelnik – violinist and drummer
Witold Wojciechowski – basses

Ewa Grochowska researches styles of traditional singing (mainly ritual songs) in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe. She makes recordings in the field, runs workshops and gives concerts of Polish traditional songs and instrumental music in north Lesser Poland and Lubelskie voivodeship. She is author of educational and artistic projects which aim to pass on, reconstruct and promote Polish traditional music. Since 2017 she has been researching cultural identity and traditional music transformations in difficult historical circumstances as were post-war relocations. She is very fond of folk wedding songs which do not allow half-hearted singing and which she has learnt from traditional singers in Poland and Ukraine since 1999.

She was a student of violinist Jan Gaca from Przystałowice Małe in the years 2000-2013.

She has been involved in numerous music projects and bands: Tęgie Chłopy, Z Lasu, Warszawa Wschodnia, Orkiestra Jarmarku Jagiellońskiego, MZK Toruń.

She also obtained a grant from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. She has got PhD in human sciences.

Fot. K. Gołębiowska

One of the best singers from the Radom region. Born in Gałki near Przysucha, in the musically remarkable micro-region of Kajoki. She grew up in the musical tradition of her village, listening to songs sung by her father, mother and older sisters since childhood. She also sang from an early age – first with her father and sisters, then as a bridesmaid at wedding receptions.

From 1980, she performed in the band Zakukała kukułeczka. Later, in 2012, she founded the band Gołcunecki.

What sets her apart from other singers is her authentic, natural voice and expression that comes ‘straight from the heart’.

She was honoured with the Kolberg Award (2015) and a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (2014) for her contributions to folk culture. She is also a talented traditional dancer who, together with her husband Wacław, has won awards, including the ‘Taneczny Krąg’ (Dance Circle) in 1996.

She runs traditional singing and dancing workshops, teaching subsequent generations. For several years, she has been running a Traditional Music Centre for children and young people from the area. She also founded a children’s band in Gałki.

From 2008 she has researched traditional culture and music of Polish countryside in different regions. She has learned to sing, dance and play tambourine from masters of music craft. She feels particularly close to the music from Kajoki micro region, which she got to know through field research, meetings with musicians and active participation in local musical events.

In 2016 she carried out a research and dissemination project called Bębnisto, chodźcie też which focused on learning and disseminating knowledge about cultural context and styles of drumming.

She owes much to meeting Stefan Gaca, Józef Lipiński, Józef Tarnowski and Jan Fokt the Younger. She has conducted drumming workshops since 2014 in such events as Dom Tańca, Ambasada Muzyki Tradycyjnej and Mazurkas of the World.