I first recorded in Dragínovo in the summer of 1978, using a $40 Radio Shack cassette recorder! Despite the primitive equipment, the recordings are good to listen to... I returned in the winter of 1980-81, and on practically every trip I've made to Bulgaria since. My recordings from Draginovo probably number upwards of 100 songs.
This beautiful mountain village is only about 5 kilometers from Velingrad, which I think contributes to the vibrancy of life in the village: people can work in Velingrad and go home at night. The village population is predominantly pomak (Bulgarian Moslem) but there are Christians and Roma living there; local people tell me that everybody celebrates everybody else's holidays as well as their own, and they get along peacefully. Until recently it was common to see women in the village style of dress (hair covered once you are married, and no skin but hands and faces showing), but by now this is mostly only elderly women—and a few die-hards, like Kera and her cousin Aiše.
Here are the Dragínovo songs posted on this blog:
Draginovo 1980:6 Oj Velu, Velu, džanâm, priliku, de, text and translation
Draginovo 1980:8 Libiha sa se, iskale sa, text and translation
This is a trial format for these pages. Should the links open in a new tab, like the first one (looks clunkier), or open in THIS tab (cleaner look), like the second?
ALSO, I need to standardize the format of the media descriptions! Details, details....