Gypsy punk

Gypsy punk
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsLate 1990s, United States
Typical instruments
  • Guitar
  • drums
  • bass guitar
  • fiddle
  • accordion
Regional scenes
New York City
Other topics
The Gypsy punk genre takes its name from Gypsy Punks, a 2005 album by Gogol Bordello, pictured here in concert in 2006.

Gypsy punk is a hybrid musical genre that combines traditional Romani and Eastern European folk music with punk rock, and is considered a subgenre of the wider label of folk punk. One of the first rock groups to incorporate elements of punk and Roma music was Boiled in Lead, which was founded in 1983 and is still active today. A broader audience became aware of the genre after the band Gogol Bordello released the album Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike, with front man Eugene Hütz describing their performance as a "Gypsy Punk Cabaret".[1]

Gypsy punk bands usually combine rock beats and instrumentation with more traditional Roma instrumentation such as drums, tambourine, accordion, fiddle, trumpet and saxophone.[2]

  1. ^ [1] Archived December 31, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Ben Sisario, "The Rise of Gypsy Punkers" Archived 2015-01-23 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 2 July 2005