As noted in the previous section, age-old proto-theatrical activities featured prominently in the development of later performance genres in Laos. The country's most characteristic folk genre is lam (khap in the north), a unique call-and-response singing style which derives its melodies from word tones and is believed to be a direct legacy of the pre-Buddhist era of spirit communication and epic recitation.

Another contributing element in the development of lam/khap was the melodic recitation of stories, either from an oral tradition or inscribed on palm-leaf manuscripts. Lam pheun, one of the most popular varieties of the call-and-response genre lam/khap, involves the recitation of jataka tales, local legends and histories, while the regional lam siphandone features long slow passages of solo recitation believed to derive from a much earlier period.

Such is the popular style found in several regional variations of lam known as lam pa nyah (literally 'poetry lam'), a flirtatious male-female courting game in which young men and women engage in sung poetic dialogue, testing each others' skills. Lam pa nyah in turn gave rise to the more theatrical lam glawn, traditionally given as a night-long performance at temple fairs, in which male and female singers perform passages of poetry interspersed with improvised repartee to the accompaniment of the khene.

The characteristic drone of the khene is central to most regional variations of lam/khap. A large mouth organ related to the Chinese sheng, the khene is made up of seven or sometimes eight pairs of bamboo tubes fitted into a hardwood soundbox.

The moh khene or khene player blows into the soundbox and pitch is determined by means of holes bored into the tubes which, when blocked, bring into action vibrating reeds of silver fitted into each tube.

The khene is almost a national symbol to the Lao people - indeed, there is a popular saying to the effect that 'he who lives in a house on stilts, eats sticky rice and plays the khene is a true Lao'.

However, there are important differences between lam and khap. While repartee between couples is an important feature of all varieties of khap, the latter may usually be distinguished from lam by its additional use of a chorus to repeat phrases uttered by the male and female soloists. Uniquely in Luang Prabang, and probably indicative of royal court interest in the genres, both khap thum and khap salang samsao utilise a small orchestra made up of classical instruments drawn from the piphat tradition.

In recent decades there has been a growing tendency, particularly in the south of the country, to use modern western instruments in accompaniment of lam.

This in turn has led to the emergence of a highly-popular melange of lam and western pop music known as lam luang samay, performed to the accompaniment of a khene backed up by a modern band of electric guitar, bass, keyboard and drums. Popular at many outdoor events, lam luang samay takes as its theme both traditional and contemporary stories.

Amongst the ethnic majority Lao population these include khap thum, khap salang samsao and khap mayong, lot khai and an nangsu in Luang Prabang Province; khap phuan in Xieng Khouang Province; khap samneua in Samneua Province; khap ngum, lam teuil, lam long and lam khu lam kone (lam tangsanh) in Vientiane Province; lam mahaxay in Khammouane Province; lam ban soc, lam khonesavanh and lam tangvai in Savannakhet Province; lam saravane in Saravane Province; and lam siphandone in Champassak Province. In addition the afore-mentioned lam pheun is popular along the banks of the Mekong in several regions of the country.