When tradition meets modernity – Georgian folk-fusion music

ABSTRACT This article discusses Georgian folk-fusion, which results from a synthesis of Georgian music (mostly traditional) and multiple tendencies within western, that is European and American popular music (jazz, rock, pop, electronic music etc.). Through analysis of its cultural-historical background and the motivation of Georgian folk-fusion musicians, I explore how national identity is revealed in Georgian folk-fusion musical production and how clear or covert, conscious or unconscious, the process is. Through a consideration of the musical backgrounds and interests of contemporary multicultural Georgians, I draw the conclusion that folk-fusion music, representing a synthesis of traditionalism and cosmopolitanism, may well provide the most representative musical expression of contemporary Georgian identity.