Etno Grupa Bosiljak – Made in Brčko: Serbian Songs from Bosnia and Herzegovina (Antonovka Records, 2025)
This release by Etno Grupa Bosiljak presents deeply rooted traditional Serbian folk music from Bosnia and Herzegovina, specifically the multiethnic Brčko District. Located at the confluence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia, Brčko is a politically unique region with a population comprising Serbs, Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), and Croats in roughly equal measure.
Although small, just 1% of the country’s total area, Brčko plays an outsized role geographically and administratively. It separates two parts of the Republika Srpska, and also divides a portion of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from its core territory. The rest of the country is split between the Federation (about 50%) and Republika Srpska (approximately 49%).
Bosiljak, whose name means “basil,” is based in Brčko, though some of its members trace their roots to Herzegovina. As a result, the group’s repertoire features a strong representation of songs from that southern region, offering a rich sampling of emotive Serbian vocal traditions shaped by the cultural diversity of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s eastern borderlands.
Main group: Suzana Đurković, Svjetlana Popić, Dragana Radovanović (leader), Snežana Mitrović, Svjetlana Nedeljković, Dalioborka Živković, Jovana Pajkanović, Milan Marković.
Children’s group: Helena Ćurčić, Elena Živković, Lara Zekonja, Anastasija Ilić, Nikolina Antić, Milica Antić.
The origin of the songs: Herzegovina (1, 2, 3, 5, 10), Bosanska Krajina (4, 7, 11), Potkozarje (6), Southern Serbia (8), Kupres (9), common Serbian (12, 14, 16), Kosovo (13, 15), Ozren (17).
Recorded in Brčko on May 11, 2024.
Tracks list:
1. Under the Rose Bush | Под ружицом | Под розовым кустом
2. Riding Through the Mountains | Гором језди | По горам едет
3. Oh Girl | Ој ђевојко | Ой, девочка
4. Spinning the Yarn | Прели прело | Пряли пряжу
5. The Cannonball | Ђуле | Пушечное ядро
6. Kozara | Козара | Козара (название гор)
7. Opančići (Тype of Тraditional Footwear) | Опанчићи | Опанчичи (традиционная обувь)
8. Let Us Go | Ајде ћито | Давай пойдём
9. I’d Rather Go Blind | Вољела би нег што очи виде | Лучше бы я ослепла
10. Who Messed up Your Hair, Jela? | Ко ти косе помрсио Јело | Кто растрепал твои волосы, Елена
11. Let Us Dance, Sisters | Ајмо моје сеје | Давайте сёстры, станцуем
12. The Drina | Дрина | Дрина
13. Marija, My Daughter | Маријо ћеро | Мария, дочь моя
14. The Rising Dawn | Зора зори | Заря встаёт
15. Stojna the Girl | Стојна мома | Девушка Стойна
16. The Girl | Мома | Девушка
17. The Quail | Препелице | Перепёлка
Buy Made in Brčko: Serbian Songs from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Author: Tyler Bennet
