The bakshy are traditional Turkmen

Turkmen people

The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...

 musicians. Historically they have been traveling singers and shamans, acting as healers and spiritual figures, and also providing the music for celebrations of weddings, births and other important life events. They sing either a cappella

A cappella

A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

 or to the accompaniment of traditional instruments (primarily the two-stringed lute called the dutar

Dutar

The dutar is a traditional long-necked two-stringed lute found in Iran, Central Asia and South Asia...

.) The Turkmen bakshy tradition is closely related to the larger Turkic

Turkic peoples

The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...

 Ashik

Ashik

An Ashik is a mystic troubadour or traveling bard, in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, and Iran who sings and plays the saz, a form of lute. Ashiks' songs are semi-improvised around common bases....

tradition.