Montreal band that sings about their parents' homeland in Ukraine vows to continue in 2024

The holidays are not easy for Montreal's Ukrainian community, with war still raging in Europe.

A local group has been singing about their parents' homeland for decades, and the emotion still rings true in 2024.

The band Pryvit takes its name from the Ukrainian word for "welcome." It first formed in 1991 and recently released an album called "Allegories and love songs."

Composer and guitarist for Pryvit , Mark Bednarczyk, explains one song: "It's a song about a seagull whose little babies have flown the nest and have gone, and she's calling them back, as much as Ukraine is calling back the diaspora," he said.

The group balances North American influences and the spirit of Ukraine's people and poets in their music.

"I read a lot of poetry, and I love poetry, and I think poets are the unsung heroes of this world, and they're the ones who address what the soul is feeling, what the heart is feeling through their their incredible minds," said Bednarczyk.

The newest member of Pryvit , vocalist Mary Anne Gyba, says these songs resonate with her.

"It's been a very, very uplifting experience for me," she said, adding, "It's very emotional to be performing them when you think of the words. You think of the poets that wrote the lyrics and what they went through in their lives in Ukraine and what is still happening, unfortunately, years and years later."

The record is timely as the second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine comes in February.

Singer Roman Kostyk explains his hopes for the music: "For the non-Ukrainian market, I hope they appreciate the music and the spirit and the sense of the delivery. For the Ukrainian market, I hope they appreciate the wealth of poets they have and the creativity that's there in Ukraine that hasn't been suppressed or completely eliminated."

They all say their hope for 2024 is to see an end to the war. As Roman says, "Knowing Ukrainians, they have a spirit that you can't kill."