Kubasonics make timely statement of Ukrainian solidarity with latest record

The ongoing Russian invasion might have stopped another Ukrainian speed-folk band from releasing its newest album.

But not Newfoundland's Kubasonics.

Lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Brian Cherwick says the band considered holding off. Instead, they decided to make "a bit of a statement."

"Part of [Russian President Vladimir Putin's] agenda is to show that Ukraine and Ukrainian people and Ukrainian culture doesn't exist, that it's just some weird offshoot of Russian culture, and that's the furthest from the truth," said Cherwick.

"No matter how many lies he wants to tell, we're still here, and we're still doing this."

East meets west

Kubasonics' five members are Cherwick, his daughter Maria (violin), son Jacob (drums), guitarist Darren Browne and bassist Matt Hender.

"All five of us play in different groups," Cherwick said, "so when we come together in this group, everybody's bringing little bits of all of that together with the Ukrainian chord material that we started working with."

A feast for the ears, and eyes

Cherwick said the album was a return to tradition musical and otherwise.

St. John's artist Jud Haynes created the cover art, which features several layers of paper and a variety of colours and cutouts. Liner notes come courtesy of Memorial University professor Neil Rosenberg who won a Grammy for the liner notes he wrote for the 1997Smithsonian/Folkways reissue of Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music.

"We thought by making this really attractive package, it's a physical object that you can hold in your hands and look at," Cherwick said.

Kubasongs also builds on a tradition Cherwick said he's been exploring since arriving in the province.

"Since we've been here, we've made an effort to dig more deeply into some old stuff and look for the more exotic sounding things and how to be different from the previous album," he said.

The band's Ukrainian roots are evident from the opening chords of its new album. But tunes like Metelytsia prove the group is firmly grounded in its adoptive home.

"The [Ukrainian] word metelytsia means 'snowstorm,' but it's actually also the name of a kind of dance from Ukraine," said Cherwick. "So we're getting a bit of Ukrainian and a bit of Newfoundland, all in the same tune."

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