‘It’s something only music can do’: One year after the Russian invasion, a Ukrainian band sells out in Nashville

This weekend marked one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here in Nashville, Ukrainian band DakhaBrakha brought their genre-defying sound — and calls for a free Ukraine — to OZ Arts.  

It was Saturday evening, and the large warehouse performance space was filled with the largest audience it had seen all year. Blue and yellow flags were scattered throughout the crowd. Even before the lights went down, a chant broke out:

“Slava Ukraini, herojam slava!” meaning “glory to Ukraine, glory to heroes!”

Soon after, the folk-meets-punk quartet, DakhaBrakha — clad in tall, angular hats and costumes reminiscent of their homeland’s ethnic styles — took the smoke-filled stage. The band’s four members, Nina Garenetska, Marko Halanevych, Iryna Kovalenko and Marko Halanevych played an energetic mix of vocals, drums, accordion, cello and, at one point, even a bird call.

It wasn’t long before they echoed the early sentiments of the crowd.

At one point, Kovalenko dedicated a song to “people who defend our freedom and to people who stand with Ukraine.” Halanevych thanked the audience, then declared: “We believe in our victory.”

At times, the stage’s backdrop was an aerial view of war-ravaged Ukraine. Between songs, the screen flashed statements like “Arm Ukraine,” “Russia is a terrorist state,” and “Come back alive.”

For DakhaBrakha, whose name means “give / take” in old Ukrainian, the balance of art and political expression is critical.

And many audience members feel the same. Elizabeth Bennett, a Nashville-based mother of two, said for her, the performance was personal. Her family has been hosting two Ukrainian refugees since October.

“We’re familiar with the experience and the pain of it all, but not the music,” she said. “I felt like just the increase of empathy and understanding that the whole experience created was really profound. And we’ve been living in it in our home. So it was just something only music can do.”

DakhaBrakha has more U.S. tour stops ahead, working to raise money and awareness of the crisis.