The Malina Brothers, from Czech Republic in eastern Europe, are finishing up their US tour this weekend in the central US.
They are among the most celebrated Czech bluegrass artists, including Lubos Malina on banjo, Pavel Malina on guitar, and Pepa Malina on fiddle. The group is completed by Pavel Peroutka on bass. Many US grassers will remember Lubos and Pavel for their work with Druha Trava starting in the 1990s.
Their music is what American grassers would likely describe as progressive, a style long popular in eastern Europe, and long associated with Czech resistance to Soviet hegemony prior to the collapse of the Iron Curtain. For many years, western music – and especially American music – was prohibited, giving diehard fans an even greater incentive to play it.
Final shows on this tour occur this weekend in Minnesota and Iowa before the boys fly back home. If you’re in the upper Midwest, check their schedule online for this rare chance to see The Malina Brothers in the States.
Here’s a recent video of them performing an original instrumental called Trischka, written in honor of… well, you know who.
