“Our story may be interesting to the community since we represent the next generation of Balkan music-makers here in the states (the band is mostly in our mid-twenties),” says accordionist Jeremy S. Bloom. “We see ourselves as doing something a bit different by approaching so-called ‘authenticity’ differently than many of the other bands out there. We try to appeal to both folk dancers and our peers who have zero exposure to this kind of music. For that we constantly immerse ourselves in Balkan musical tradition, but also have a willingness to remain true to our own musical identities. Sometimes it pisses people off, but we really take pride in this aspect of the group. We observe an environment filled with either bands trying very hard to ‘authentically’ reproduce Balkan styles, or on the other side, bands which market their music as Balkan/’Gypsy’ with no true understanding of the musical traditions they’re referring to. We like the place we’ve found outside of that spectrum.”