Mary Boys Band is preparing for its 20th anniversary. The group has earned numerous fans with its melodic songs performed by the warm voice of its lead vocalist - Maria Mutafchieva. In an interview for Radio Bulgaria, she said:

"20 years are not a short period, but it is too early to draw general conclusions. We are still at the beginning of our music career. Many good things are ahead of us related to this birthday. We started to celebrate it with a few concerts in the summer on the Black Sea. We are working on a show with guest musicians and, for the time being, I can only say that the first date will be on my birthday - February 10, 2015. The audience will have the opportunity to hear the music of Mary Boys Band in a new, beautiful way. For all these years we have had changes in the band's line-up but the format is the same - solo guitar, keyboards, bass guitar and drums and vocals - almost everyone in the group sings. There is a formula that once you discover it is best to stick to it in your work. We have come to do this - we are five people and have struck just the right balance."

The first hit of Mary Boys Band, their track Unknown Streets, has turned into the business card of the group over the years. And this has also become the name of a poetry contest initiated by Maria in her home city of Burgas. Its third edition ended in November:

"I like to say that this is my meeting with the future. It's really one of my happiest moments in which I eagerly anticipate what new poems will take part. It is important for me to know that there are thinking people in Bulgaria. There are positive people coming after us, people to whom we can convey ideas, young people who understand us. Often they have not sent their poems to any other competitions and they show their verses first to us - for me it is a great honour. There are plenty of insights in their works, sometimes there is the feeling of sadness and disappointment, but they are also very strong, smart, and compassionate. With this forum to tell them that I am there for them, that I care and I feel touched by what they do."

We take Maria Mutafchieva back to the years when pop music fans in Bulgaria for the first time heard the name of Mary Boys Band.

"We started as a group of people who want to play along their favourite songs”, Maria recalls. “We were fortunate early on our way to become the band accompanying pop singer Vanya Kostova. She is an undeniable talent who can show you the exact relationship between the star and audience. We've been through the TV show for young talents on BNT "Hit minus one". We won a prize from this show in 1994. At that time I needed a competition of this kind as a kind of proof. Yet for musicians the most important thing are the people who give you this force - the audience. Love has always been a driving force for us, and also, my love of music.”

Maria Mutafchieva admits she has received and continues to receive a lot of love in her life. Recently, a stranger approached her in the street with some warm words. "I thought long on this meeting, as one does not know why they have earned the love of people who are not close to them every day. They listen to your song or they have memorized a line or your words have come through. And that's enough”, believes Maria Mutafchieva. An optimist at heart, she says that she will continue to make music because in her words: "Not giving up is also a strong message for the future."

The audio file contains the following tracks of Mary Boys Band:

1.  Go with me

2.  Unknown Streets

3.  The Long Way Home

4.  The Most Precious Gift

English Rossitsa Petcova