Raya Brass Band brings Balkan beat to Marlinton

The flavor of the Balkans, by way of Brooklyn, will come to the Pocahontas County Opera House Saturday, November 8, at 7:30 p.m.

The five musicians of Raya Brass Band have electrified all manner of clubs, festivals, underground parties, and even subway cars with their riotous performances. They perform with an energy that often finds them mistaken for a band twice the size.

Since 2008 Raya Brass Band has thrilled audiences with its energetic brand of soul shaking, border defying dance music. The members of the band all bring their unique voices to the group, creating a sound informed as much by their love for the fierce and seductive music of the Balkans as it is by New Orleans brass bands, punk rock, out jazz, and a host of other international sounds.

When they put it all together, this hardworking band gets straight to the point, dancing, sweating and shouting alongside its audience.

“This Brooklyn collective gleefully upends traditional wedding music of the Balkans and Greece, undercutting regional reeds and brass with decidedly American funk pulse,” according to one New York Times review.

Notable performances include the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Le Poisson Rouge, Joe’s Pub, Webster Hall, Club Helsinki, New York Gypsy Festival, Golden Festival and Mercury Lounge

Tickets are $10. Children 17 and under are admitted free of charge. Tickets are available in advance at pocahontasoperahouse.org and at the 4th Avenue Gallery in Marlinton.

The Pocahontas County Opera House is located at 818 Third Avenue in Marlinton. Performances at the Opera House are informal, family-friendly and open to all. The entrance and main seating are accessible to persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities are encouraged to attend; special accommodations can be arranged upon request by calling 304-799-6645.

The Opera House Performance Series is presented with financial assistance through a grant from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts. Support is also provided by Pocahontas County Dramas, Fairs and Festivals, the Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Pendleton Community Bank, the Law Office of Roger D. Forman and Brightside Acres.