Live photos Astarta/Edwin at Days of Ukraine

Thanks to Alistair Peck for these photos from last Saturday's Astarta/Edwin set at the Days of Ukraine Festival in London.

The full set can be found over on his Flickr page

Astarta - Inna and Yulia.

Eduard Prystupa, keys and guitar.

Dima, beatboxing, playing a selection of flutes and also a Duduk.

Inna

Yulia

            Jon Durant joined us again on guitar, he has made a really significant contribution to the work in progress recordings, so I'm very glad he made it.

Just visible at the back is drummer Bogdan Kerichok.

Anyway, I'll hopefully have more to say about the project before too long, for now, I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to play the music live a few times so far, and recording is still ongoing.....

Best,

Colin

Days of Ukraine in London

Below, two tracks from the material I've been working on over the last year or so with Kiev based female vocal duo Astarta. 

We'll be performing live together this coming weekend, Saturday 19th October, as part of the Days Of Ukraine Festival, a wide cultural event showcasing a selection of Ukrainian literature, cuisine, fashion, art, and music of course, in London.

I heard Ukraine described on the BBC the other day as "...a large country in Eastern Europe about which most people know nothing" and to my (limited) knowledge, this is the first time any sort of  cultural event focussed around it has happened in London.

 I have never had any sort of personal or family connection to the place, and in fact I only first visited in 2011 to play a one-off date with Ex-Wise Heads, but since then, I have developed an interest in the vibrant and soulful sounds of a lot of the folk music I have been introduced to.

Our performance, and others, will take place at Potters Field Park, right next to the River Thames, and we are scheduled to play around 4.15pm, and admission is free, and there's more information here and also here.

I am also pleased to report that my Burnt Belief partner Jon Durant will be joining us on guitar, as fortuitously, he will also be in the UK working with me on a follow up to our last album Burnt Belief.

Best,

Colin