Damir Imamović comes from a famous lineage of musicians steeped in the traditional music of Bosnia and Herzegovina known as sevdah. His paternal grandfather Zaim Imamović was a legendary traditional Bosnian folk singer who found fame in the 40s and his father Nedžad Imamović is a producer, singer and author. Damir was born in 1978 and spent much of his formative teenage years living under siege in Sarajevo (1992-1995), during the murderous ethnic conflict that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia – an experience that lends an additional intensity to his take on the style often dubbed the ‘Balkan blues.’ It was during the siege that he took up playing the guitar and the lute-like saz, learning from sevdah masters, similarly trapped in the city by the encircling Serbian troops. He gave his first solo concert in Sarajevo in 2004 and released his first CD two years later. Featuring his powerful yet sensitive baritone voice, his first international release came with the trio Sevdah Takht in 2016 when Glitterbeat released the album Dvojka. His latest album, which combines sevdah classics and original compositions, was described by our reviewer as ‘one of the finest works Bosnia has produced this century.’

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