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Description: This PhD project has dealt with an ethnographic case study focusing on the professional music-making of Roma in two south-central Slovak municipalities, Klenovec and Kokava nad Rimavicou. I explored this musical craft as a cultural practice distinctive of local Roma, and as a specific adaptation to challenging socio-economic and socio-political conditions. The main contribution of this work lies in the original linkage of three analytical perspectives in the exploration of this phenomenon: I scrutinised its role in Romani ethnicity performance, investigated it as an informal economic system and, finally, I analysed manifestations of Roma-ness in professional music-making practices. The project has resulted in a PhD thesis (defended at Durham University in 2022). Several other publications are expected to be published based on the findings of this project. The project was supported by Leverhulme Trust [DS-2014-053]