If you happen to be in Sofia this summer, come and see the band playing on the following dates:

15.07 Zaimov park, stage Theatre Sofia, 19.30h
28.07 Swinging hall club, 9 Dragan Tsankov bul., 21h
15.08 Svoboda park stage, 18.30
25.08 Zaimov park, stage Theatre Sofia, 19.30h
(with guest Pepa Malina - CZ)
28.08 Svoboda park stage, 18.30h
31.08 Bluegrass fest with the "Dust Busters"(US), venue t.b.a.

All the best, Lilly Drumeva
Lilly of the West

[01-Dec-2009]

Lilly with Monogram.

Recordings have been finalized for
Lilly Drumeva's new album, entitled "Lovin' you". It will contain 16 tracks, recorded in 2 sessions, in Sofia with "Lilly of the West" and in Prague with "Monogram".
The repertoire is a mix of traditional bluegrass, swing, country ballads, Bulgarian folk songs, an original by Lilly and two duets with Jakub Racek (Monogram).

Jakub visited Bulgaria end of October to co-produce Lilly's album. A video clip was made to one of the duet songs; it will be featured on the album in multimedia format.
[Click to view more pictures on MySpace photo page]

[25-Nov-2009]

Bulgarian National Radio Concert

25th of November 2009 was a memorable evening for musicians and fans at the Bulgarian national radio in Sofia. It was a special concert, recorded live at the beautiful "studio 1 hall", and packed with more than 250 people. Recordings will be archived in the "golden Bulgarian radio fund" to be played on special occasions.

Lilly of the West performed a mix of country, bluegrass, western swing, blues and some original material. The band featured: Lilly Drumeva - vocal, Yasen Vasilev - guitar, Ivan Penchev - fiddle, Svoboda Bozduganova - upright bass, with guests: Rayko Pepelanov - guitar, Michail Shihskov - Dorbo and piano and Rumen Boyadjiev - drums.

The concert finished on a high note with "My window faces the south", on which everyone played a solo, followed by Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" as an encore. Guests were treated to a glass of wine and snacks after the show.
[Click to view more pictures on MySpace photo page]

[01-Nov-2009]

Production starts for new Video
[Click to view more pictures on MySpace photo page]

[21st October 2009]

Hungarian national day

Lilly of the West celebrate Hungarian national day in Sofia with special guests Zsolt Pinter & Geza Kremnitzky of "Acousticure".

Lilly of the West teamed up with Hungarian musicians to perform at the Hungarian embassy in Sofia to celebrate the Hungarian national day. The concert took place on Wednesday, 21 October 2009, at the beautiful renaissance building of the Hungarian embassy in Sofia.

Guests were welcomed by the Hungarian ambassador Mrs. Judit Lang; the evening continued with a concert by Lilly of the West, featuring: Lilly Drumeva on guitar and vocals, Svoboda Bozduganova on upright bass and Yasen Vasilev on guitar.

They were joined by special guests from Hungary: Zsolt Pinter (vocal, guitar, fiddle and mandolin) and Geza Kremnitzky (vocal and mandolin), members of Europe's leading bluegrass band "ACOUSTICURE".

The concert featured a mix of bluegrass, country & blues, together with Bulgarian and Hungarian folk music; there were also some duets with Lilly & Zsolt; the highlight of the evening was a Hungarian pop song, called "The girl with the pearl hair" ("Gyöngyhajú lány"), which Lilly, Zsolt & Geza sang in Bulgarian and Hungarian language, joined by the audience.

The concert was followed by a reception and an excellent buffet of Hungarian cuisine. All in all, a wonderful time spent together, celebrating music and Hungarian culture in Sofia. Another proof, how bluegrass music brings people together and how bluegrass musicians can be excellent ambassadors for their country.

[Click to see more pictures on Myspace]

St. Julian’s Club near Knole Park

"Maverick Live" with rick Townsend

[30th / 31st August 2009]

Lilly Drumeva returns to the UK

It’s been seven years, since Lilly left England for good and relocated to her home country Bulgaria. She resided in London between 1999 and 2002, working for the BBC World Service and playing music with British bluegrass musicians. Among them were Rick Townend and Rosie Davis, with whom Lilly formed a band and recorded a CD, entitled “Lilly & Rosie”.

Now, after 7 year she was invited to come to England again to headline the Sevenoaks Bluegrass festival in Kent. It was held on 31 August, bank holiday Monday at the beautiful St. Julian’s Club near Knole Park. A lovely day permitted picking and barbeque outside, together with workshops, barn dances and an evening concert. The festival was organized for the 12th year by Rick Townend, a leading figure in the British Bluegrass scene and attended by around 300 people. Lilly Drumeva closed the evening concert accompanied by Rick Townend on fiddle and bass, Ben Tippen on guitar, Richie Lee on banjo and Chris Comac on mandolin. Her set included a mixture of bluegrass, old time, country and Bulgarian songs.

A day before, on Sunday 30 August Lilly had another gig at the Pizza Express Maverick club in Maidstone, Kent. It was a beautiful stage with great sound. Lilly performed a 35-minute set, together with Rick Townend on fiddle and mandolin, followed by the Haley sisters from York. The sold-out evening was organized by Maverick editor and country music journalist Alan Cacket.

During her visit in the UK Lilly stopped also in London for business and meeting old friends. She played music with long time friend Mike Williams, who wrote the song “Canada geese”, featured on Lilly’s album “Time after time”. Another highlight of the trip was an evening in Wokingham, spent with Barry and Hilary Lowis, listening to the new songs of their son Steve. Steve Lowis wrote the song “Rescue’, featured on Lilly’s album “Collection”.

All in all, a very exciting trip, playing lots of music and meeting dear friends.

last updated - 20-Jul-2010 9:28 PM