{"id":23,"date":"2014-08-09T18:26:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-09T17:26:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-11-13T04:00:42","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T04:00:42","slug":"lot-lorien","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventryfolkclubs\/2014\/08\/09\/lot-lorien\/","title":{"rendered":"Lot Lorien"},"content":{"rendered":"

The other day I got an email from Lot Lorien<\/b>, a Bulgarian folk band now resident in Coventry. Further more they sent me a copy of their CD Elsewhere and it’s musical alchemy!<\/span>
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\nNEWS UPDATE – Coventry singer \/ Songwriter \/ Venue Organiser has joined Lot Lorien. You’ll find an updated biography of the band below. September 4th 2014<\/span><\/b>
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\nhttp:\/\/www.lot-lorien.com\/<\/a><\/span><\/b>
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\nThe 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. <\/b><\/span>
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\nAll you need to know about the band is on their website but here is the biography of the band –<\/span>
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\nLot Lorien<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\nLot
\nLorien is a British progressive-folk band, combining in a modern way
\nthe traditions of British and Bulgarian folklore with classical
\nmusic, jazz and progressive rock. Some of the main influences can be
\nfound among great musicians and bands like Theodosii Spassov,
\nFairport Convention, Dando Shaft, Pentangle, Rush, Steeleye Span,
\netc.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nThe band, initially Bulgarian, first came into existence in 1996,
\nwhen the founders – Kiril Georgiev (guitars, lyrics, compositions)
\nand Zlatomir Valchev (drums, percussion) were joined by Petar Pavlov
\n(bass). After number of experiments and line-up changes the band were joined by Bora Petkova (vocals), Galina Koycheva (violin) and Nelly
\nGancheva (cello, for few concerts).<\/span><\/div>\n
\nBeing ardent fans of English fiction writer John R. R. Tolkien, the
\nband members were inspired to choose their name by Tolkien\u2019s
\nMiddle-earth works (the place where the stories of “Hobbit”
\nand “Lord of the Rings” unfold). Lothlorien is the
\nfairytale woods kingdom of the Galadhrim elves where time seems to
\nhave stopped and every stranger entering this land forgets all
\nworries and pending threats. Inspired by this standstill of time, Lot
\nLorien (they choose to spell the name as two separate words) begin to
\ncreate music evocative of fairytale images that prompt the listener
\nto forget their mundane worries.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nEarly years<\/span><\/u><\/h3>\n
\nLot Lorien\u2019s first serious performances started in 1998. Joined by
\nAlexander Kinov (sound engineer, technician) and Yasen Kazandjiev
\n(manager), the band made its first concert in Varna on February 14th
\n1998. The date is accepted as the official birthday of Lot Lorien.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nWith the course of time, the band\u2019s specific sound and style started to evolve and take shape with the great contribution of band\u2019s
\nsongwriter Kiril Georgiev and the non-standard use of instruments:
\nacoustic guitar, violin and gentle female voice were successfully
\ncombined with synthesizer, bass guitar, drums and different folk
\ninstruments like tapan, tabla, djembe, darbouka, didgeridoo. Unique
\nhandmade instruments crafted by the band members themselves also found a place in the compositions.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n In 2000 the band started touring abroad and was warmly accepted by
\ninternational audience and promoters.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAfter numerous successful concerts and demo records (some of them
\nbroadcast on the air), it was time for the band\u2019s first album “Eastern
\nWind”<\/strong>. The album was recorded in the summer of 2002 in
\nBalkanton studio (Sofia\/Bulgaria) with the legendary sound engineer
\nDeyan Timnev and with the special support of Rudolf Carrera – founder
\nof Falcata-Galia Recordings and president of Carrera Linn Cultural
\nExchange (USA). Renowned young opera singer Ina Kancheva was guest
\nperformer in one of the compositions included in this album.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nNew events and shows followed, and the creation of new compositions. At the
\nbeginning, Lot Lorien were experiencing strong influence from
\nclassical music and English folklore and later their style and sound were enhanced by inspirations of jazz, progressive rock and Bulgarian
\nfolklore.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nTheodosii Spassov<\/span><\/u><\/h3>\n
\n2003 started with one of the most interesting collaborations of the band
\nwith the great musician Theodosii Spassov *. The first result of this
\ncollaboration was the participation at the Mobimak Balkan Square 2003
\nfestival in Ohrid, Macedonia where Lot Lorien played their rearranged
\ncompositions with the serious contribution by the great Bulgarian
\nmusician. This and the following shows enjoyed great success. The
\nconcert in Ohrid was recorded and part of it was later released under
\nthe title “Live in Ohrid”<\/strong>, the second
\nalbum in the band\u2019s discography.<\/span>
\n* Theodosii Spassov plays
\n<\/em>kaval<\/u><\/em> – chromatic end-blown flute
\ntraditionally played throughout Azerbaijan, Turkey, Bulgaria, etc.
\nUnlike the transverse flute, the kaval is fully open at both ends,
\nand is played by blowing on the sharpened edge of one end. The kaval
\nhas 8 playing holes (7 in front and 1 in the back for the thumb) and
\nusually four more unfingered intonation holes near the bottom of the
\nkaval. The name kaval may once have been referred to various Balkan
\nduct and rim-blown flutes, accounting for the present day diversity
\nof the term\u2019s usage.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\nIn 2003 Lot Lorien also became a member of IOV – a UNESCO affiliated
\nInternational Folk Arts Organization.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nGradually the band started touring abroad more frequently, presenting
\nits original compositions and interpretations on Bulgarian folklore
\ntunes. By that time some music videos were created by the famous
\nBulgarian director Todor Chapkanov \u2013 friend of the band. The first
\nmusic video was for the song “Mari Mariiko”<\/strong>
\n– based on folklore song from the Strandja mountain region of
\nBulgaria.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\n“Lot Lorien”<\/span><\/u><\/h3>\n
\nThe end of 2005 set the beginning of an ambitious project of working
\ntitle “Lot Lorien and Friends”<\/strong>. The band
\npurchased their own professional equipment and established a home
\nstudio, which provided them with creative freedom for
\nexperimentation. At the end of 2006, an album including 12
\ncompositions was a fact: recorded and mixed in the band\u2019s studio.
\nFeaturing in this album were numerous guest musicians whom Lot Lorien
\nhad met and worked with in Bulgaria and abroad: Roman Stolyar
\n(Russia): flute; Latif Bolat (Turkey\/USA): vocals; Nikolay Yordanov:
\nflute; Dragni Dragnev: bagpipe and kaval; Petya Dragneva: folk
\nsinging; Maryana Cvetanova-Milanova and Dilyana Cvetanova: violin;
\nChristian Nedelchev: rebeck; Snajen Kovachev: vocals; 84-year old
\nKiro Dikov from village Brodilovo: vocal; Georgi Konstantinov:
\nlyrics; Rey Gonzales: lyrics. The album was released at the beginning
\nof 2007 under the title “Lot Lorien”<\/strong>. One
\nof the most interesting collaborations included in this album is the
\nsong “Ballad for The Lost”<\/strong>, based on
\nimprovisations with certain ideas and gradually upgraded with
\nnumerous instruments, including small string orchestra, bagpipe and
\ntabla (used for the first time in band\u2019s composition). The “icing
\non the cake” is Latif Bolat, a long-time friend of the band and
\nrenowned Turkish composer\/musician living in the USA, famous for his
\ncollaboration with George Lukas on the soundtrack of “Young
\nIndiana Jones”. Latif and Bora (vocals) produced an interesting
\nmulti-language vocal dialogue: Bulgarian lyrics by Lyuben Karavelov
\nand Turkish lyrics by Turkish medieval poet Yunus Emre. Tunes from
\nTurkish folk song are incorporated at the beginning and the end of
\nthe composition. This song becomes one of the award winners in the
\ncontest for intercultural dialogue “Other songs” of
\nEuromedcafe (held under the auspices of the Directorate for External
\nRelations at the European Commission, Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean
\nFoundation for Intercultural Dialogue and Fondazzione Mediterraneo).<\/span><\/div>\n
\nIn 2007 Lot Lorien decided to join “You Are Not Alone”
\ninitiative to support the Bulgarian nurses retained in Libya. Apart
\nfrom a series of concerts in connection with this initiative, with
\nthe support of Stefan Sofiansky and the Union of Free Democrats, Lot
\nLorien released a special edition of their latest album of which each
\nmember of the European Parliament received a copy.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nIn 2008, after a couple of concerts, the band split with its
\nlong time manager Yasen Kazandjiev. At the end of this year the band
\ncelebrated its 10th anniversary with a grand concert in Varna Opera
\nHouse where the musicians present their recent and earlier
\ncompositions and create a conceptual multimedia and special lighting
\nfor each song.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nIn 2009 Lot Lorien continued their work with composing and arranging
\nsongs for their next album. They had some participations as well,
\none of which was at the prestigious Spirit of Burgas festival, rated
\namong Europe\u2019s 10 best summer festivals for 2009.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\nChanges<\/span><\/u><\/h3>\n
\n2010 was year of dramatic changes for the band: Bora and Galina stepped out but their withdrawal was compensated by Yordan Danev, a virtuoso
\naccordionist who joined the group – a perfect team player and inspired
\ncomposer and arranger. Yordan Danev contributes to the band\u2019s richer
\nand more diversified sound. Of course, the band would be incomplete
\nwithout suitable vocals and after a long search, at the end of 2010,
\nLot Lorien were happy and proud to welcome Gergana Velikova, a young
\nsinger who instantaneously fused in the band with remarkable vocal
\nrange and technique. With Yordan and Gergana on board, Lot Lorien were
\nactive once again and started preparations for their successive album
\nand concert performances.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nOn February 14th 2011, the band\u2019s 13th anniversary, the new members were officially announced and a new webpage and video was launched.
\n\u0422he video was created by the team of the young movie director Stoyan
\nYankov after the instrumental composition “Different faces”
\nfrom Lot Lorien\u2019s forthcoming album “Elsewhere”<\/strong>.
\nIt is the beginning of a new great collaboration.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nThe main engagement for the band during 2011 was creating and
\nfinishing the compositions for the forthcoming fourth album. At the
\nend of the year 11 compositions were recorded.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAt the beginning of 2012, the band started mixing the album. During
\nthe summer of 2012 Lot Lorien won the audience\u2019s prize at Golden
\nSpring Festival \u2013 a competition for new Bulgarian pop and rock
\nsong, produced by the Bulgarian National Radio.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nThe new album “Elsewhere”<\/strong> was mastered at
\nthe end of the summer and after a competition made by the band, the
\nvisual design was created by Dilyana Delcheva \u2013 journalist at Metal
\nHammer magazine for Bulgaria and professional designer for bands like
\nSonata Arctica, Dreamtale, Absinthium, Gothmog, Leviathan, Amaseffer,
\netc.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAt the middle of September, the band participated at the Festival for
\nnew pop and rock song Sofia 2012, where they won the audience\u2019s
\nprize, after voting with SMS messages. The earnings from the SMS
\nmessages were meant to support the National charity campaign “Let’s
\nbe better” which is initiated by the municipality of Sofia for
\nbuilding of a Center for treatment and rehabilitation of people
\ninjured in accidents and people in “awakening coma”. Lot
\nLorien won the prize with “Gypsy song”<\/strong> \u2013
\ncomposition from the new album, which had its video released soon
\nafter that. The video was created by Stoyan Yankov\u2019s crew again. At
\nthe end of September the band started a small tour to promote
\n“Elsewhere”<\/strong> around Bulgaria.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nIn May 2013 Lot Lorien won “Varna” reward (Music category)
\n– prestigious reward given by the Municipality of Varna for great
\nachievements in the fields of culture and education.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nA few months later Gergana left Bulgaria and she was replaced by
\nHristiana Dynkova – young, charismatic and very talented singer,
\nwinner of many international rewards and student at the Bulgarian
\nMusic Academy – Sofia\/Bulgaria. With Hristiana on board, Lot Lorien
\nreleased one new song and won two prizes at the International Music
\nFestival Discovery 2014.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nBritish career<\/span><\/u><\/h3>\n
\nThe summer of 2014 marked a serious change. It was time for a new
\nbeginning in the band’s career – Kiril,\/songwriters<\/span>
\nin the West Midlands, well known for her enigmatic voice and
\ncharisma…<\/span>
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New singer – Justine Watson<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Zlatomir and Alexander move
\nto Coventry \/ United Kingdom. The area is well known with its music
\ntraditions and connection with folk bands like Pentangle, Dando
\nShaft, Fairport Convention, etc – some of them are recognized as a huge
\ninfluence on Lot Lorien. Soon after their arrival, the musicians were
\njoined by Justine Watson – one of the best folk-singers<\/span><\/div>\n

\n…
\nTo be continued…<\/span><\/b><\/em><\/div>\n
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\nSelected rewards<\/span><\/u><\/em><\/h3>\n
\n2007
\n– Award winner in the contest for intercultural dialogue “Other
\nsongs” of Euromedcafe (held under the auspices of the
\nDirectorate for External Relations at the European Commission, Anna
\nLindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Intercultural Dialogue and
\nFondazzione Mediterraneo);<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
\n2010
\n– Nomination for “Varna” reward \/ category “Music”;<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
\n2012
\n– The listener\u2019s reward – 43-th competition for new pop and rock
\nmusic “Golden spring” 2012 – Bulgarian National Radio \/
\nHorizont program;<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
\n2012
\n– The audience\u2019s reward – Sofia 2012 Festival for pop and rock
\nmusic;<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
\n2012
\n– On top of the weekly music chart by the Bulgarian National Radio,
\n03.10.2012;<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
\n2013
\n– “Varna” reward \/ “Music” category. Official and
\nprestigious reward by the municipality of Varna (Lot Lorien’s home
\ntown) for the original album “Elsewhere”, created in 2012;<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
\n2014
\n– “Music Innovation Prize” – XXIII Discovery International
\nmusic festival – Varna \/ Bulgaria;<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
\n2014
\n– Winner of the Discovery International Radio Voting in Ukraine –
\nXXIII Discovery International music festival – Varna \/ Bulgaria;<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n


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Here is Lot Lorien<\/b> Video with Coventry singer Sean O’Connor<\/b><\/span>
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\nBelow with the current line up based in Leamington Spa.<\/p>\n

Jake Wilson<\/b> \u2013 (ex Fairport Convention) vocals \/ vocal arrangements Lot Lorien: Adam Jurewicz<\/b> \u2013 Spanish guitar \/ arrangement Kiril Georgiev<\/b> \u2013 Steel-strings guitar \/arrangement Lyrics: traditional Original music: Kiril Georgiev<\/b> Recorded and Mixed by Adam Jurewicz<\/b> at Red Diamond Recordings, Royal Leamington Spa, UK (2016\/2017)<\/span>
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other day I got an email from Lot Lorien, a Bulgarian folk band now resident in Coventry. Further more they sent me a copy of their CD Elsewhere and it’s musical alchemy! NEWS UPDATE – Coventry singer \/ Songwriter … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventryfolkclubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventryfolkclubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventryfolkclubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventryfolkclubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventryfolkclubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventryfolkclubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":236,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventryfolkclubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions\/236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventryfolkclubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventryfolkclubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventryfolkclubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventryfolkclubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}