GRAIU is about music that was not created for entertainment, rather a creative, contemporary reinterpretation organically integrating traditional singing styles, showcasing the versatility and relevance of a variety of folk music genres, transcending geographical borders. An act of remembrance of a cultural heritage otherwise disappearing along with the communities that created it.
TORA is the second release of Romanian Balkan dark folk band GRAIU. Fusing in sound and spirit African-American music from before blues and jazz with Balkan Romance (Vlach) heritage, GRAIU is the Romanian word for local vernacular language and traditional music. True to the identity of the band, TORA (Aromanian word for now) transcends time and space in a multicultural, stylistically coherent melting pot, bringing together field-holler and doina, spirituals and ritual songs, outlaw ballads and prison work songs, gospel, slave shouts, love and sorrow tunes, in the Vlach dialects Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian, Istro-Romanian and Daco-Romanian alongside the African-American vernacular. A contemporary reinterpretation, organically integrating the richness of traditional singing styles, from the then into the now. TORA will be out and available on all music streaming platforms as of January 6th 2023.