The Bambir: feeling at home in Winona

Joseph and Megan Costello interview members of the Armenian rock band The Bambir at the Boathouse restaurant on Saturday, May 28, after they had performed their second show in Winona the night before.  The band is part of a larger, long running collective in Armenia.  The three members interviewed are Narek Barseghyan, Arman Kocharyan, and Vardan Paremuzyan.   The original band was formed in the early 1970s by Narek’s father Jag Barseghyan in Gyumri, Armenia.  The band is doing an extended tour of the U.S. and is calling Chicago homebase.  They played as a quarter at MidWest Music Fest in April and plan to return to Winona in late July.  The fourth member of the band, Arik Grigoryan, stayed in Los Angeles working with other Armenian musicians, while the band continued touring as a trio.