Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek
Origins Series
Saturday, June 20, 2026
National Sawdust – 80 N 6th Street, Brooklyn
Doors: 7 PM | Show: 8 PM
Tickets: Advance $35 | Day of Show $40
Member prices: Advance $28 | Day of Show $32
Co-presented with National Sawdust
Born in Hamburg, Germany, to Turkish parents, Derya Yıldırım grew up influenced by her family’s Anatolian background and the myriad of cultures in the city. Derya’s musical roots started at home playing folk music with family members. Her father pushed her to learn various instruments, beginning with the bağlama, a seven-stringed Turkish lute. Then she picked up the guitar, piano, and saxophone.
Although she is a multi-instrumentalist, Derya always felt drawn to the sound of the bağlama – “there’s just something very magical about it”. With her band Grup Şimşek’s forthcoming album Yarın Yoksa, which translates to If There’s No Tomorrow, Derya continues her journey revitalizing Anatolian folk music and instrumentation by infusing timeless melodies with a modern psychedelic flair.
Ten years ago, while participating in a community theater project, Derya met French musicians Graham Mushnik and Antonin Voyant from Catapulte Records and formed the band Grup Şimşek with Helen Wells, a drummer from Cape Town, South Africa, joining in 2021. ” DY&GS embody what defines Anatolian folk music — “You need a groove and a melody, and everything around it is free.” It’s this ethos that guides the band’s songwriting and the way they take on Anatolian folk standards.
After self-producing multiple albums, they signed with New York’s Big Crown Records in 2024 and teamed up with Grammy-nominated producer Leon Michels (El Michels Affair) for Yarın Yoksa. The new album embodies their balance of preservation and innovation across nine original compositions and three traditional folk songs. It is a record that will enchant any listener regardless of language barrier, with Derya’s passion and authenticity front and center, and music too moving to deny. Yarın Yoksa is sure to captivate the hearts and minds of all those who hear it, and just wait until you experience them playing it live.
The COUNTERPOINT series focuses on contemporary artists who push the boundaries of what “world music” can mean in the 21st Century.