VIENNA — On a recent Saturday, the Austrian singer Andreas Gabalier interrupted his concert at a stadium here to give a short speech about the importance of tradition.

Gabalier, 34, who plays a blend of Alpine folk and country rock, is by far the most popular homegrown musical performer in Austria. He had just finished playing his piano ballad “Steirerland,” a paean to his home region in the southeast of the country, in front of a screen showing jagged mountain peaks.

His songs, he explained, celebrated the customs of the “incredible, down-to-earth” people of Austria.