She might have been based in London since she was a teenager and been enriching its music scene since the early 2010s, but Olcay Bayir is still one of the most refined and dedicated interpreters of the Anatolian tradition.
Her style is a contemporary take on her Turkish-Kurdish roots. Born in Gaziantep (South-East of the country), daughter of an ashik (the Turkish equivalent of a bard) and classically trained as a soprano, with her music Olcay takes herself on adventures throughout the Anatolian Peninsula far and wide. She delves into its diverse styles and lesser-known repertoires, and unearths wide-ranging influences from the border with Greece to the Armenian one, also touching the Alevi, Balkan and Sephardic traditions.
From next week, Olcay will kick off her late Spring/Summer tour, she just announced the first UK dates (you can find all of them below), so to offer you a better understanding of her inspiration, we asked her to compile a playlist to shine a light on the “Anatolian alchemy” behind her music.
Preview of the album: This Album is no longer available however if you want to receive exclusive access to a free album like this each month just sign up to our monthly newsletter by filling in the form below: Track List: 1. Vaudou Game – Be My Wife [from Noussin; Hot…
Olcay Bayir, a London-based singer-songwriter of Turkish-Kurdish descent, recently released a live rendition of her single ‘Asude’, extracted from her new EP Inside – Icerde. The song features Argentinian guitarist and producer Ignacio Monteverde and Turkish saz virtuoso Murat Sığırcı. “This song is about accepting lost love. ‘Asude’…
It won’t be the 8th of March, the official date of International Women’s Day, but the mood won’t be too different because, on the 21st of October, Kings Place and Equator Festival will dedicate the entire day to the Women of the World music series: giving an opportunity to shine…
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