New Land Balkan Band

Music from the Balkans and Beyond

 

 

About the Group

 

The New Land Balkan Band brings you wild and soul-stirring folk music from Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Yugoslavia and other Eastern European countries. Audiences love the driving, uneven rhythms that melt into sinuous, passionate vocal harmonies and soaring instrumentals. The versatile band members perform on traditional folk instruments (kaval, tambura, bouzouki, riq, dumbek, tapan), as well as modern instruments (bass, guitar, clarinet, recorder, accordion). The band has recently released its first CD, “Heirlooms.”

 

 

Performance Highlights

 

Together since the fall of 1997, the New Land Balkan Band’s performances have included the following venues:

 

 

Testimonials

 

“I’ve gotta find out where these guys are playing next! I’ve been playing world folk music for 10 years, and I’ve never heard anything like this!”

David Rosenfeld, professional musician

 

“One of the most moving and memorable concerts to ever grace our stage.”

Susan Nemcek, club owner (Small Circle Imports)


 “Wow. Really enjoyed, moved by your performance. Loved it from first moment. Those two singers had such a wonderful presence on stage. I've seen Steve Mullins before and he is a wizard. Each song is so different.”
Audience member, Denver.

 

Bios

 

Steve Mullins, tambura, bouzouki, bass, and guitar. Steve has earned a master’s degree in musicology from the University of Colorado. He is a multi-instrumentalist performer and composer whose compositions have been called “some of the most unique and innovative music to emerge from this area” (Boulder Weekly). He has also been described as an “acoustic string wizard” (Westword) and as “the most accomplished fretted string instrument player I’ve ever heard” (William Kearns, Professor Emeritus of Musicology, CU). He is a member of the group Laughing Hands, and guitarist for the flamenco dance group Candela Pura.

 

Julie Lancaster, vocals and tambura, has been performing, teaching, and promoting international folk music and dancing for many years. She teaches Balkan singing and directs Planina–Songs of Eastern Europe (formerly Planina Balkan Women’s Choir), a Denver- and Boulder-based group that presents traditional vocal music from Eastern Europe. She has been the lead vocalist for the house bands at Stockton Folk Dance Camp and Mendocino Folklore Camp, both in California, as well as teaching Balkan singing at those camps. “We were mesmerized by your voice,” said Linda Teslik of the Bokreta Ensemble after Lancaster soloed with the ensemble at the 1995 Seattle Folklife Festival.

 

Amy Sebesta, clarinet, kaval and recorder.  Amy has been playing clarinet for 22 years, but it wasn’t until 1990 that she broke away from traditional clarinet playing and entered the exciting world of international folk music. She has been the lead winds player at Stockton Folk Dance Camp in California for the past three years, as well as leading and performing in various Klezmer ensembles for the past five years.  In addition to the eclectic folk ensembles that she has been in over the years, she sometimes plays with the Longmont Symphony and the Mont Alto Ragtime and Tango Orchestra. Finally, she accompanies dance classes at Naropa University and teaches private clarinet and preschool music classes. 

 

Valerie Brown, vocalist and percussionist, has been involved in theater, singing, and folk dancing since high school. Her love of folk music brought her to Planina—Songs of Eastern Europe, a Denver- Boulder-based choir, which she assists in directing.  She began studying the tapan and dumbek (Balkan drums) eight years ago. Valerie adds rich vocal solos and harmonies as well as a driving percussion beat to the New Land Balkan Band.

 

Karen Stellick, accordion.  Karen has been playing accordion since she was five years old! She majored in accordion performance in college and has played with various ensembles throughout the Denver area and accompanied performing dance groups.

 

Buy the CD!

New Land Balkan Band: Heirlooms

 

 

"Heirlooms" CD coverTHE NEW LAND BALKAN BAND presents some treasured heirlooms from the vast wealth of wild and soul-stirring folk music that characterizes Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece and the neighboring areas.

 

Acano, mlada nevesto (Macedonia) * Horo (Bulgaria) Epefte vathia siopi (Greece) * Sedi Donka (Bulgaria) * Nasvalo sijum, daje (Macedonian Rom) * Opsa (Serbia) * Ne sedi, Dzhemo (Macedonia) * Varnenska tropanka (Bulgaria) * Yianni mou to mandili sou (Greece) * U shest (Serbia) * Neda voda nalivala (Bulgaria) * Zapevala sojka ptica (Bosnia) * Me phirava, daje mori (Macedonian Rom) * Velko si Rada zalibi/Serovska kopanitsa (medley - Bulgaria) Total playing time: 49:26

 

 

Produced by New Land Balkan Band * Engineered by Steve Mullins * Recorded at Rhythm Muse Studio, Longmont, CO * Mastered by Denis Burns at Boulder Sounds Studio, Boulder, CO (C) (P) 2000 New Land Balkan Band * Made in USA. * Rhythm Muse Records, 1139 Francis St., Longmont, CO  80501, 303-682-5080.

 

 

To order, mail $15 (US Funds) plus $2.50 per CD for shipping and handling, to New Land Balkan Band c/o 1328 So. Vine St., Denver, CO 80210, USA. Make checks payable to Julie Lancaster (sorry; no credit card orders).

 

For booking and concert information, contact:

 

New Land Balkan Band

c/o 1328 So. Vine St.

Denver, CO  80210

Office phone: 303-733-1120

Fax: 303-733-0147

email lancastj@aol.com or laughinghands@prodigy.net

http://members.aol.com/newlandbalkan

 

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