Folk-Blues Concert by IRE

Saturday, 12th of October, 19:00h, Sofia Gallery

IRE Folk-Blues band

With the participation of Dimitar Ivanov and Charlie Dalin

Iré (pronounce [‘ire]) means « little peace”. Irina “Iré” Zhekova is a singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and guitarist born in Bulgaria and based in Paris, France. She has a Master Degree in Applied Mathematics and a PhD in Acoustics, Psycho acoustics and Engine Noise Engineering.

As an author, she wrote the original lyrics for “Alone in the Dark” video game, composed by french composer Olivier Deriviere and performed by the Grammy winning choir the Mystery of Bulgarian Voices. Charlie Dalin is a french percussionist, multi-instrumentist, sound engineer and producer born in Cameroun. At firs he was a guitarist in punk and metal bands, and later, a vocalist and percussionist of international artists with soul, psychedelic folk, Indian and African influences, at venues like Solidays, Cabaret Sauvage, Europe 1, “Vivement Dimanche” on french television TF1) . Charlie Dalin is also known for his virtuoso teeth whistling technique and birds sound imitation.

Dimitar Ivanov is a guitarist, born in Bulgaria. He began classical guitar at the age of 7 and won several International Guitar competitions. He actually prepares his Master Degree of Guitar interpretation and Pedagogy at the Conservatoire de Lausanne, in Sion, Switzerland, in the class of the renowned Bulgarian guitarist, George Vassilev. Dimitar also performs with Gregoire Monnat Trio, and has various projects mixing Bulgarian traditional music and exploring electric guitar effects.

Iré belongs to a new generation of Bulgarian artists, both connected to the tradition and opened to the world’s latest influences. Her first album “Edinna zemia” (“One earth”, 2009), co-produced with her music’n’soul mate, Charlie Dalin, is an expression of their vision of art, mixing modernity and tradition. Inspired by Bulgarian legends, her songs tell stories of dragons and fairies, of tearing passion and folly of youth. They sing the fragile beauty of the woman’s heart, as a mother and a beloved one, as a love warrior, as a child.

Creating a new folklore, Iré brings to the light the universal emotion of the Bulgarian spirit. The modern sound of the Bulgarian-french duo is created with real acoustic instruments and objects, sometimes played in an unusual way. Over 30 instruments were recorded for Iré’s new single “There goes my heart”, a trip-blues, tuned in a special frequency, 432 Hz, considered to be, from the mathematical point of view, in harmony with the frequency of the human heart, the water molecules and the universe. Tune your heart here : www.iremusic.com

In march 2013, Iré reached the Top 100 from more than 2500 groups worldwide at the Eric Clapton’s “Play Crossroads” Contest applied to play at Madison Square in New York. Their music was supported on the web by a huge number of fans, voting every single day during 2 months. Ire and Charlie performed at over 300 concerts in Europe, including France, Bulgaria, Holland and Switzerland, on stages like Le Divan du Monde, Satellit Café, Goutte de Terre, La Bellevilloise, St Eustache Cathedral for the 36H Non Stop Music Festival, Festival Femmes du Monde à Bercy, Festival du Vent, Théâtre du Grand Rond, International Art Forum Without Borders …

Iré’s music was also enjoyed in some beautiful and unique places like the Nympheum and the Rose Garden in “The Palace of Balchik”, the “Archeological Museum” in Varna, keeping the humankind’s oldest gold from the mysterious civilization near Black Sea, 4600 years BCE, as well as in the cave “Magura” in Bulgaria, a 15 million years old cave, famous with its 12 000 years old prehistoric drawings, approached for a UNESCO Heritage Site. For the first time in the UK, Iré and Charlie will present their music in trio with Dimitar Ivanov. The concert in Bulgarian Cultural Institute in London on october 12th 2013 will close Iré’s European Tour, including 8 concerts in Bulgaria as well as performances in Bern and Lausanne (Switzerland) and Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Paris, France.

Follow and like them on : www.facebook.com/music.ire

Be curious and discover Iré and Charlie’s music on : Official site: www.iremusic.com

Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/music.ire

Listen and download music : www.ireband.bandcamp.com Album “Edinna zemia”: http://ireband.bandcamp.com/album/edinna-zemia

Youtube channel Iré: http://www.youtube.com/iremusique

Youtube channel Charlie: http://www.youtube.com/charlicocacola

IRE – soulful trip-folk from the land of Orpheus

www.iremusic.com