Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek

Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek play Tractor Tavern on Thursday, October 15, with Thee Marloes opening. The band is an international outfit formed in 2014, with members from Germany, France, and South Africa. They build their sound around the Anatolian folk repertoire, pairing those old melodies with contemporary grooves touched by psychedelia and 70s soul.

At the front is Hamburg-born singer and bağlama player Derya Yıldırım, who learned the instrument at her father's encouragement. The rest of the group includes Graham Mushnik on keys, Antonin Voyant on guitar and bass, and Helen Wells on drums. They're widely regarded as one of the leading voices in contemporary Anatolian psychedelia, and the set will draw from that same tradition.

They're touring their latest album, Yarın Yoksa ('If There Is No Tomorrow'), released on Big Crown Records and produced by Leon Michels of El Michels Affair. The band describes the record as carrying forward the spirit of resistance, longing, and hope that runs through their music. Between the folk roots and the soul and psych influences, it's a sound that sits somewhere between traditional Anatolian music and the kind of groove-heavy soul that came out of the 70s.

The show starts at 8 PM at Tractor Tavern in Seattle, with Thee Marloes opening the night.