Balkan Fields
About Balkan Fields
Dean Brown tambura, guitar
Melinda Fields accordion
Mel Fitzhugh electric bass
Henry Goldberg tupan, darbuka, riq Melinda Hunt vocals
Ralph Iverson violin, gadulka, sax
* For Dancing and Listening
* Versatile & Multi-talented
* Bulgaria, former Yugoslavia,
Romania

Balkan Fields performs pan-Balkan music which is fresh, exciting and perhaps somewhat new to dance audiences. Along with well-loved standards, the group also includes arrangements and original compositions by group members, Bulgarian pop tunes, accordion/violin duos written by Ivan Milev, and some “off-the-beaten-track” Balkan tunes which work really well for dances many people who love Balkan dancing already know. Some were recovered from old ailing cassettes (remember those?), some were brought back from various workshops here in the US and abroad.
Individually, each member of the group became spell-bound at some point in their lives by the driving irregular rhythms, haunting melodies, unique instrument combinations and exotic scales found in the music from this region. This multi-cultural experience has been life-changing for each musician, resulting in frequent trips to the Balkans, the purchase and mastery of ethnic instruments, novel spice combinations in the kitchen, periodic stabs at Cyrillic, the discovery of rakiya (really strong plum brandy) and inclusion in the wonderful Balkan-American community that sustains Balkan music and dance addicts throughout the US. Sharing this passion with American audiences is always a joy.
CD or downloads available through CD Baby under the title Balkan Fields.
VIDEOS
"Byala Roza" : Golden Festival 2016
"Majstore Majstore" : Golden Festival 2016
"Davaj Chicho" : Golden Festival 2016
BALKAN FIELDS ALBUM
"Plovdiv Rachenitza" : Golden Festival 2015
Somerville MA Squeezebox Slam Summer '15
2020 SCHEDULE
Saturday, Jan. 18th,
Golden Festival
7 PM in the Rainbow Room
Grand Prospect Hall
Brooklyn NY
Friday, March 13th, 8-11 PM
Suzanne Patterson Center
1 Monument Dr. Princeton NJ
http://princetonfolkdance.org/
March 21st
Balkan Music Night
Concord, MA
http://balkanmusicnight.facone.org/
Friday April 3rd, 7:30-10:00 PM
YWCA, 44 Washington Ave.
Schenectady NY
http://events.timesunion.com/event/international-folkdancing-ybalbc6li1
Saturday, April 4th, 7:30-10:30 PM
Whately Dance Barn, Whately MA
Saturday, April 25th, 8 PM, lower gym
NEFFA, Acton Boxborough Regional High School
Acton,MA
https://www.neffa.org/folk-festival/new-england-folk-festival-2020/
Saturday, June 6th
Fabric of Life Barn Dance (MA)
(check back for details)
https://www.fabric-of-life.org/festival/barnfest-participants/