Lao Folk Music

Lao folk music is the traditional music of Laos, centred on lam, sung improvised poetry accompanied by the khene, a free-reed bamboo mouth organ whose drones and melodies also accompany courtship, festivals and funerals across the Lao lowlands. Regional lam styles, among them lam saravane from the south, differ in metre, melody and dialect, and the country's many ethnic minorities, including the Khmu, Hmong, Brao, Alak and Pacoh peoples, maintain distinct traditions of gong ensemble, flute, tube zither and sung epic. Almost everything known of the music on record comes from ethnographic field recording.