The Trikala region of western Thessaly—where I come from—and above all its eponymous capital, are renowned for their composers and virtuosos of Greek popular music. This music is often broadly categorized under the umbrella of songs belonging, directly or indirectly, to the Rebetiko genre—a wide-ranging musical form associated with the cultural expression of the working classes and the largely urban marginalized, emerging in the early 20th century.