The Ensemble of Slavonic Ethnic Music Vedan Kolod (meaning Prophetic tree) was created in February 2005 in Siberia, Russia, by Tatyana Naryshkina. In July of 2005 Vedan Kolod won the prize as the best Russian folk band in the International World Music Festival Ustuu-Huree.
In the summer of 2007 at the biggest Russian International Ethnic festival Vedan Kolod was the best in the Nomination Ethno-Experiment.
Vedan Kolod composes its own material, but it is based on recent research and analysis carried out by archaeologists and folklore specialists, interpreting events in ancient, pagan Russia before the coming of Christians coming. Vedan Kolod shows the culture of original Russian traditions and songs.
During its history, Vedan Kolod had revived numerous almost forgotten Russian folk instruments: gusli, ocarina, Slavonic drums, Scythian horn, sharkuncy and others, – restored, mastered and reconstructed by musical master Valery Naryshkin. All these ancient kinds of instruments are used actually in a program of the Ensemble, as well as a low throat style of singing which existed in Ancient Russia. All songs are played without any electronic processing, just live.
Vedan Kolod’s first album Tribes from 2005 centered on the tradition of shamanic music from Siberia. Its follow-up, The Tale Of Igor’s Campaign, was based on a medieval manuscript. Gorodische finally took a closer look at the late Middle Ages and was recorded primarily on medieval instruments. In the years following, Vedan Kolod then put their focus mainly on experimental world music.
Daryana Antipova explains how they were one of the first Russian folk bands that used crowdfunding as a means to finance the production of an album. In this way, Gorodische was funded by their Russian and a few international fans. Currently, the concept is a common approach in the album recording process on the Russian scene.
In the summer of 2019, the Siberian forests stood in flames. An area the size of Greece was on fire. The city of Krasnoyarsk was particularly affected. The inhabitants suffered from shortness of breath because of the smoke. It will take about 100 years for the forests to recover. Vedan Kolod returned to this apocalyptic landscape to record their eighth album “Wild Games”. The Siberian folk trio is originally from Krasnoyarsk, but had spent the previous seven years in Moscow and participated in various international art projects.
“We were very sad and depressed this summer because a large part of the Siberian forests was on fire. We recorded the album while our hometown was covered in smoke. For me the album is an outcry for Mother Nature,” said singer and percussionist Daryana Antipova.
She was particularly outraged by the fact that the extinguishing work began very late. The reason for this: more than 90 percent of the burning areas were in so called “controlled zones”. Since 2015, regional governments in Russia are not obliged to do anything about these areas if the costs of extinguishing a fire are higher than the damage caused by the fire. If the forest is not considered economically viable, the damage is said to be zero. “In summer we cannot breathe because of the fires, in winter because of the air pollution“, lamented Antipova.
After living a few years away from their homeland, Vedan Kolod were shocked on how the ecological situation in the Siberian taiga has deteriorated “in these vast and independent areas where our ancestors sought a better life for themselves and for their children”.
With “Wild Games” Vedan Kolod celebrated their 15th anniversary as a group. It is the first album since “Gorodische” was released in 2014. With “Wild Games” the trio went back to the sound of their first album “Tribes” from 2005, which dealt with shamanic music tradition of Siberia.
“Wild Games” was recorded under live conditions and only very sparingly reworked. According to singer Tatyana Naryshkina, the central song is the track “Fox”, which returns to the early days of the band with its singing based on the shamanic tradition and the percussive elements. “Fox” is about a girl who becomes a fox. “After this song, the rest of the album took shape,” recalled Naryshkina. Children’s folk tunes were added as distinctive elements. It is played on historical instruments such as Russian double flute, hurdy-gurdy and gusli.
“Wild Games” is an album that is characterized by the love of the band members for the harsh Siberian nature and its wild animal world. The animals and their “endless play with death” were the main inspiration for the compositions, said singer and multi-instrumentalist Valery Naryshkin.
Members: Tatyana Naryshkina – group leader. Plays vocal, flutes, Slavonic drums, ocarina, fuyara, vargan and others; Valery Naryshkin – musical instrument maker, on vocals, two kinds of gusli, Scythian horn, ocarina, Slavonic drums, vargan, zhaleika, Slavonic bagpipe, fuyara, gudok and others; Daryana Antipova – Art-manager, on vocal, Slavonic big and small drums, fuyara, sharkuncy; and Polina Lisitsa – Slavonic small drum, vocal, lozhki, sharkuncy, flutes, vargan.
Vedan Kolod also regularly produce their own radio program on Moscow Folk Radio and have released the soundtrack to an animated film.
Discography:
Plemena – Tribes (2005)
Tanec leshih – The dance of the wood spirits (Sketis Music, 2007)
Волчья Тропа – Wolf’s path (Slavic Sunrise, 2008)
У Кривой Дороги - The curve of the Road (Crossroads Records, 2010)
Слово О Полку Игореве – The Tale of Igor’s Campaign (Sketis Music, 2011)
Site of ancient settlement (Slavic Sunrise, 2014)
Gorodische (2014), reissued in 2021
Vedan Kolod live at Dom (2016)
Wild Games (CPL-Music, 2019)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
Updated biography and discography