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Newsletter - ‘LILLY
OF THE WEST GOES’ TO THE US!
By Lilly Drumeva
Dear bluegrass friends,
I’d like to tell you some happy news
about “LILLY OF THE WEST”:
Since guitarist Rayko Pepelanov and bass player
Tsetso Vlaykov left the band I had some difficulties finding
good musicians. But finally, I got lucky and now the band is
sounding stronger than ever!
Everything started just for fun; I met two
amazing musicians from Slovakia – Roman Sykora (double
bass) and Michal Barok (mandolin) during last EWOB in Holland.
Later, in June they came to visit me in Sofia and we played
some gigs. We had a great time and also recorded a short demo
CD.
In September Roman and Michal came to Bulgaria
again, together with singer/guitarist Lubos Jurkovic. Together,
with Rossen Hristov on banjo/Dobro we performed at the “Apolonia
Festival of Music & Arts” at the Black Sea coast. The
concert was recorded by the Bulgarian National Television and
broadcasted several times.
Here I would like to thank Rossen Hristov
(banjo/Dobro), one of the founding members of LILLY OF THE WEST
for his loyalty and help with the organization of our performance
at “Apolonia festival”. Rossen is currently playing
with me in Bulgaria, together with double bass player Michail
Shishkov.
Two weeks later, in the middle of September,
smashing news came from the United States – The International
Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) had invited LILLY OF THE
WEST to showcase at their convention in Louisville, Kentuckuy,
2 – 10 October 2004.
I had to make a very quick and difficult decision
- to go and perform with a brand new band, with very little
rehearsal, or to cancel. It was also difficult to arrange visas
and book flights in such short notice. So, after speaking to
everyone we decided to do it. Unfortunately Rosen (banjo) and
Lubos (guitar) were not able to make it because of work arrangements.
We had to recruit two new musicians for the American tour –
Filip Bato on banjo and Dusan Hronec on guitar, both from Slovakia.
Thus, in the last week of September I took
the plane to Bratislava to meet the new guys and from there,
to fly to the United States. There was a possibility to play
at the Bulgarian Cultural Center in Bratislava, where we did
a concert together with other bluegrass bands from Slovakia.
Here, I would like to thank Mrs. Elena Arnaudova
– director of the Bulgarian Cultural Center for the brilliant
organization and her kind support!
So, on 1st of October we started the long
journey to America.
We made it safely to Louisville, Kentucky and checked in at
the Galt House Hotel.
Here I would like to thank Mr. Dan Hays (IBMA)
for arranging for us to borrow a double bass from First Quality
Music.
So we started to rehears for our showcase,
scheduled on 5th October. I had a lot of worries, felt responsible
for the reputation of the band, had to think about the presentation,
the repertoire, the singing. Being ill also before the journey
put some more load on my shoulders.
But when we came out on stage, the response of the audience
was great; they started to clap during the first song (“Molly
& Tinbrooks”) and it made me feel a lot easier.
The same evening we played at the International
Bluegrass Suite, organized by EBMA. Our performance was much
more relaxed; we played among “our European friends”
– Fragment, Nugget, Liz Mayer and Jussi Syren.
Here I would like to thank Paolo Dettwiler,
Rienk Janssen, Pieter Groenveld and Richard Hawkins for having
us at the International Suit and for their wonderful assistance.
I’d like to thank also Dagfinn Pedersen (Norway) for his
friendship and support.
On the following night we had another performance
at the International suite, which was very well attended and
the whole program was pretty amazing – John Reischman,
Kruger Brothers, April Verch. I thoroughly enjoyed that night.
During the rest of the IBMA week we attended
workshops and seminars, enjoyed the Award ceremony, did some
networking and made a lot of new friends. I was happy to meet
again Jana Dolakova (Fragment), with whom I’ve been friends
for a long time and also the guys from both bands (Lilly of
the West & Fragment) had a great time together, enjoying
the fan fest and the jam sessions.
Here I would like to thank Roman Sykora, Michal
Barok, Dusan Hronec and Filip Bato, some of the nicest Slovakian
guys and fantastic musicians, who backed me up on stage and
made this trip possible for Lilly of the west.
All in all, this US trip was
a successful and exciting experience.
I’m glad we did it and I’m glad I had the courage
and strength to overcome worries, illnesses, band and personal
problems. Sometimes God favors the brave and it is worth to
be a little adventurous!
Filip Bato, Lilly Drumeva, Roman
Sykora, Michal Barok, Dusan Hronec
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