Kalina Andreeva and Yoana Andreeva have been involved with music literally their whole lives. Although they have a classical musical education, as daughters of the singer, conductor and vocal pedagogue Neli Andreeva and the conductor, composer, arranger and instrumentalist Georgi Andreev, the two developed a love for Bulgarian folk music from a young age. They say they have been singing in a trio with their mother almost since they were babies. After numerous performances in various formations, the sisters decided to record a joint song, finding inspiration in the Shopluk folklore.

In "Len Peri", Yoana Andreeva is the lead vocalist, while Kalina Andreeva, known as a double bass performer, composer and arranger, builds on the original music and creates the arrangement. Besides helping with the backing vocals, Neli Andreeva is the one who discovered the song. Kalina shares the interesting story:

“This is a Shopluk saying, like a tongue-twister. ‘Len Peri’ is actually a blend of two Shopluk songs. One of them was discovered by a group of elderly women and has been restored in a completely different ethno-fusion jazz-pop style. We combined it with another Shopluk song. I don’t even know exactly how to present it, but it’s a very interesting combination because Shopluk songs lend themselves to lots of drums and bass, so I had room to experiment with the arrangement. I think people would find it very interesting.

The video is also very interesting because we made it with my phone. Dressed in Shopluk costumes, my sister and I wandered around a village, and I made a hand-crafted ox out of wire because we didn’t have time to find a real ox. The song is about two oxen pulling a lady in a cart. I recommend it to everyone who likes watching experimental videos — they will really like it. And I hope they will really like the song too.”

Photos: Kalina Andreeva Official, Facebook / Kalina Andreeva, Facebook / Yoana Andreeva