NEWS UPDATE - Coventry singer / Songwriter / Venue Organiser has joined Lot Lorien. You'll find an updated biography of the band below. September 4th 2014
http://www.lot-lorien.com/
The beautiful Tolkien style cover of their album Elsewhere. The album is a joy to listen to with elements of Pentangle, Everything but the Girl, All About Eve and Bulgarian traditional music.
All you need to know about the band is on their website but here is the biography of the band -
Lot Lorien
Lot
Lorien is a British progressive-folk band, combining in a modern way
the traditions of British and Bulgarian folklore with classical
music, jazz and progressive rock. Some of the main influences can be
found among great musicians and bands like Theodosii Spassov,
Fairport Convention, Dando Shaft, Pentangle, Rush, Steeleye Span,
etc.
The band, initially Bulgarian, first came into existence in 1996,
when the founders - Kiril Georgiev (guitars, lyrics, compositions)
and Zlatomir Valchev (drums, percussion) were joined by Petar Pavlov
(bass). After number of experiments and line-up changes the band were joined by Bora Petkova (vocals), Galina Koycheva (violin) and Nelly
Gancheva (cello, for few concerts).
Being ardent fans of English fiction writer John R. R. Tolkien, the
band members were inspired to choose their name by Tolkien’s
Middle-earth works (the place where the stories of "Hobbit"
and "Lord of the Rings" unfold). Lothlorien is the
fairytale woods kingdom of the Galadhrim elves where time seems to
have stopped and every stranger entering this land forgets all
worries and pending threats. Inspired by this standstill of time, Lot
Lorien (they choose to spell the name as two separate words) begin to
create music evocative of fairytale images that prompt the listener
to forget their mundane worries.
Early years
Lot Lorien’s first serious performances started in 1998. Joined by
Alexander Kinov (sound engineer, technician) and Yasen Kazandjiev
(manager), the band made its first concert in Varna on February 14th
1998. The date is accepted as the official birthday of Lot Lorien.
With the course of time, the band’s specific sound and style started to evolve and take shape with the great contribution of band’s
songwriter Kiril Georgiev and the non-standard use of instruments:
acoustic guitar, violin and gentle female voice were successfully
combined with synthesizer, bass guitar, drums and different folk
instruments like tapan, tabla, djembe, darbouka, didgeridoo. Unique
handmade instruments crafted by the band members themselves also found a place in the compositions.
In 2000 the band started touring abroad and was warmly accepted by
international audience and promoters.
After numerous successful concerts and demo records (some of them
broadcast on the air), it was time for the band’s first album "Eastern
Wind". The album was recorded in the summer of 2002 in
Balkanton studio (Sofia/Bulgaria) with the legendary sound engineer
Deyan Timnev and with the special support of Rudolf Carrera - founder
of Falcata-Galia Recordings and president of Carrera Linn Cultural
Exchange (USA). Renowned young opera singer Ina Kancheva was guest
performer in one of the compositions included in this album.
New events and shows followed, and the creation of new compositions. At the
beginning, Lot Lorien were experiencing strong influence from
classical music and English folklore and later their style and sound were enhanced by inspirations of jazz, progressive rock and Bulgarian
folklore.
Theodosii Spassov
2003 started with one of the most interesting collaborations of the band
with the great musician Theodosii Spassov *. The first result of this
collaboration was the participation at the Mobimak Balkan Square 2003
festival in Ohrid, Macedonia where Lot Lorien played their rearranged
compositions with the serious contribution by the great Bulgarian
musician. This and the following shows enjoyed great success. The
concert in Ohrid was recorded and part of it was later released under
the title "Live in Ohrid", the second
album in the band’s discography.
* Theodosii Spassov plays kaval - chromatic end-blown flute traditionally played throughout Azerbaijan, Turkey, Bulgaria, etc. Unlike the transverse flute, the kaval is fully open at both ends, and is played by blowing on the sharpened edge of one end. The kaval has 8 playing holes (7 in front and 1 in the back for the thumb) and usually four more unfingered intonation holes near the bottom of the kaval. The name kaval may once have been referred to various Balkan duct and rim-blown flutes, accounting for the present day diversity of the term’s usage.
* Theodosii Spassov plays kaval - chromatic end-blown flute traditionally played throughout Azerbaijan, Turkey, Bulgaria, etc. Unlike the transverse flute, the kaval is fully open at both ends, and is played by blowing on the sharpened edge of one end. The kaval has 8 playing holes (7 in front and 1 in the back for the thumb) and usually four more unfingered intonation holes near the bottom of the kaval. The name kaval may once have been referred to various Balkan duct and rim-blown flutes, accounting for the present day diversity of the term’s usage.
In 2003 Lot Lorien also became a member of IOV - a UNESCO affiliated
International Folk Arts Organization.
Gradually the band started touring abroad more frequently, presenting
its original compositions and interpretations on Bulgarian folklore
tunes. By that time some music videos were created by the famous
Bulgarian director Todor Chapkanov – friend of the band. The first
music video was for the song "Mari Mariiko"
- based on folklore song from the Strandja mountain region of
Bulgaria.
"Lot Lorien"
The end of 2005 set the beginning of an ambitious project of working
title "Lot Lorien and Friends". The band
purchased their own professional equipment and established a home
studio, which provided them with creative freedom for
experimentation. At the end of 2006, an album including 12
compositions was a fact: recorded and mixed in the band’s studio.
Featuring in this album were numerous guest musicians whom Lot Lorien
had met and worked with in Bulgaria and abroad: Roman Stolyar
(Russia): flute; Latif Bolat (Turkey/USA): vocals; Nikolay Yordanov:
flute; Dragni Dragnev: bagpipe and kaval; Petya Dragneva: folk
singing; Maryana Cvetanova-Milanova and Dilyana Cvetanova: violin;
Christian Nedelchev: rebeck; Snajen Kovachev: vocals; 84-year old
Kiro Dikov from village Brodilovo: vocal; Georgi Konstantinov:
lyrics; Rey Gonzales: lyrics. The album was released at the beginning
of 2007 under the title "Lot Lorien". One
of the most interesting collaborations included in this album is the
song "Ballad for The Lost", based on
improvisations with certain ideas and gradually upgraded with
numerous instruments, including small string orchestra, bagpipe and
tabla (used for the first time in band’s composition). The "icing
on the cake" is Latif Bolat, a long-time friend of the band and
renowned Turkish composer/musician living in the USA, famous for his
collaboration with George Lukas on the soundtrack of "Young
Indiana Jones". Latif and Bora (vocals) produced an interesting
multi-language vocal dialogue: Bulgarian lyrics by Lyuben Karavelov
and Turkish lyrics by Turkish medieval poet Yunus Emre. Tunes from
Turkish folk song are incorporated at the beginning and the end of
the composition. This song becomes one of the award winners in the
contest for intercultural dialogue "Other songs" of
Euromedcafe (held under the auspices of the Directorate for External
Relations at the European Commission, Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean
Foundation for Intercultural Dialogue and Fondazzione Mediterraneo).
In 2007 Lot Lorien decided to join "You Are Not Alone"
initiative to support the Bulgarian nurses retained in Libya. Apart
from a series of concerts in connection with this initiative, with
the support of Stefan Sofiansky and the Union of Free Democrats, Lot
Lorien released a special edition of their latest album of which each
member of the European Parliament received a copy.
In 2008, after a couple of concerts, the band split with its
long time manager Yasen Kazandjiev. At the end of this year the band
celebrated its 10th anniversary with a grand concert in Varna Opera
House where the musicians present their recent and earlier
compositions and create a conceptual multimedia and special lighting
for each song.
In 2009 Lot Lorien continued their work with composing and arranging
songs for their next album. They had some participations as well,
one of which was at the prestigious Spirit of Burgas festival, rated
among Europe’s 10 best summer festivals for 2009.
Changes
2010 was year of dramatic changes for the band: Bora and Galina stepped out but their withdrawal was compensated by Yordan Danev, a virtuoso
accordionist who joined the group - a perfect team player and inspired
composer and arranger. Yordan Danev contributes to the band’s richer
and more diversified sound. Of course, the band would be incomplete
without suitable vocals and after a long search, at the end of 2010,
Lot Lorien were happy and proud to welcome Gergana Velikova, a young
singer who instantaneously fused in the band with remarkable vocal
range and technique. With Yordan and Gergana on board, Lot Lorien were
active once again and started preparations for their successive album
and concert performances.
On February 14th 2011, the band’s 13th anniversary, the new members were officially announced and a new webpage and video was launched.
Тhe video was created by the team of the young movie director Stoyan
Yankov after the instrumental composition "Different faces"
from Lot Lorien’s forthcoming album "Elsewhere".
It is the beginning of a new great collaboration.
The main engagement for the band during 2011 was creating and
finishing the compositions for the forthcoming fourth album. At the
end of the year 11 compositions were recorded.
At the beginning of 2012, the band started mixing the album. During
the summer of 2012 Lot Lorien won the audience’s prize at Golden
Spring Festival – a competition for new Bulgarian pop and rock
song, produced by the Bulgarian National Radio.
The new album "Elsewhere" was mastered at
the end of the summer and after a competition made by the band, the
visual design was created by Dilyana Delcheva – journalist at Metal
Hammer magazine for Bulgaria and professional designer for bands like
Sonata Arctica, Dreamtale, Absinthium, Gothmog, Leviathan, Amaseffer,
etc.
At the middle of September, the band participated at the Festival for
new pop and rock song Sofia 2012, where they won the audience’s
prize, after voting with SMS messages. The earnings from the SMS
messages were meant to support the National charity campaign "Let's
be better" which is initiated by the municipality of Sofia for
building of a Center for treatment and rehabilitation of people
injured in accidents and people in "awakening coma". Lot
Lorien won the prize with "Gypsy song" –
composition from the new album, which had its video released soon
after that. The video was created by Stoyan Yankov’s crew again. At
the end of September the band started a small tour to promote
"Elsewhere" around Bulgaria.
In May 2013 Lot Lorien won "Varna" reward (Music category)
- prestigious reward given by the Municipality of Varna for great
achievements in the fields of culture and education.
A few months later Gergana left Bulgaria and she was replaced by
Hristiana Dynkova - young, charismatic and very talented singer,
winner of many international rewards and student at the Bulgarian
Music Academy - Sofia/Bulgaria. With Hristiana on board, Lot Lorien
released one new song and won two prizes at the International Music
Festival Discovery 2014.
British career
The summer of 2014 marked a serious change. It was time for a new
beginning in the band's career - Kiril,/songwriters
in the West Midlands, well known for her enigmatic voice and
charisma...
Zlatomir and Alexander move
to Coventry / United Kingdom. The area is well known with its music
traditions and connection with folk bands like Pentangle, Dando
Shaft, Fairport Convention, etc - some of them are recognized as a huge
influence on Lot Lorien. Soon after their arrival, the musicians were
joined by Justine Watson - one of the best folk-singers
 |
| New singer - Justine Watson |
...
To be continued...
Selected rewards
2007
- Award winner in the contest for intercultural dialogue "Other
songs" of Euromedcafe (held under the auspices of the
Directorate for External Relations at the European Commission, Anna
Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Intercultural Dialogue and
Fondazzione Mediterraneo);
2010
- Nomination for "Varna" reward / category "Music";
2012
- The listener’s reward - 43-th competition for new pop and rock
music "Golden spring" 2012 - Bulgarian National Radio /
Horizont program;
2012
- The audience’s reward - Sofia 2012 Festival for pop and rock
music;
2012
- On top of the weekly music chart by the Bulgarian National Radio,
03.10.2012;
2013
- "Varna" reward / "Music" category. Official and
prestigious reward by the municipality of Varna (Lot Lorien's home
town) for the original album "Elsewhere", created in 2012;
2014
- "Music Innovation Prize" - XXIII Discovery International
music festival - Varna / Bulgaria;
2014
- Winner of the Discovery International Radio Voting in Ukraine -
XXIII Discovery International music festival - Varna / Bulgaria;
Here is Lot Lorien Video with Coventry singer Sean O'Connor
Below with the current line up based in Leamington Spa.
Jake Wilson – (ex Fairport Convention) vocals / vocal arrangements Lot Lorien: Adam Jurewicz – Spanish guitar / arrangement Kiril Georgiev – Steel-strings guitar /arrangement Lyrics: traditional Original music: Kiril Georgiev Recorded and Mixed by Adam Jurewicz at Red Diamond Recordings, Royal Leamington Spa, UK (2016/2017)
