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| From Vienna with Blues 8 November 2007 In a few weeks, Austrian country blues guitarist, singer and songwriter Christian Prechtl will be playing three concerts across the gulf in Estonia - Club Rock & Roll in Tartu on November 22nd, Restaurant Clazz and KuKu Club in Tallinn on November 23rd and 24th. A folk singer/songwriter turned bluesman, Prechtl was appropriately born on Friday the 13th in September 1967; an annual guest at Pilsen's InterContinental Resophonic Festival in the Czech Republic and at the Trnava Dobrofest in Slovakia, he has played and toured with many European acoustic blues-and-roots stars, such as Hans Theessink, Pascal Mesnier, Peter "Bonzo" Radványi, and Bottleneck John. |
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| (c) christian-prechtl.com |
| What is the music scene like in Austria? We have a great blues scene in Austria, mostly in the Eastern part of the country and in Vienna. We have some festivals through the year, and there's a lot of venues in Vienna, but most are reserved for "big names"; there's more great professional blues bands out there than there are blues clubs. For a musician like me, who is not playing music full-time, it´s nearly impossible to get good, well-paid gigs or slots at festivals - although I myself consider music to be my main job, I still have to go to the office every day and thus lack the time for establishing the necessary contacts in the music business... But next year, I will be playing at the Vienna Blues Spring festival, so maybe things will pick up after that - we shall see! Would you say that the blues is popular in your country? Oh yes, it´s very popular – just not with the media! I'd say that there are at least 100 registered professional blues bands in Austria; the styles vary from the roots music of my special buddy Hans Theessink to the footstomping Chicago blues of the Mojo Blues Band to all kinds of heavily amplified blues. Those modern styles get the biggest audiences, drawing crowds of 200-2000 at festivals. My direction of early blues and gospel with Resophonic guitars, harp, voice, and footstomping is very rare, but it´s my way and I have to do it! You have played a lot in Slovakia and the Czech Republic; how do you like it there? I think they have a big scene there with great musicians, most of them part-time players like myself. Maybe people in those countries have more feeling for "hand-made" music - they have long traditions of bluegrass and dobro-playing... No wonder - after all, the godfathers of all resophonic luthiers, the brothers Dopyera, came from Dolna Krupa, a small town near Trnava in Slovakia, where the annual Dobrofest is held these days. A great music festival; it was a great experience and a great pleasure for me to be in such a historical place, and I have been invited back to play there in 2008. You quote Hans Theessink as your main influence - in your opinion, what makes him so special? For me, he´s like my father in music. This music "found me" very, very late. I´m 40 years old now, and it was only in 2000 that I had my first contacts with this mother of all popular music styles... My first blues concert was a Hans Theessink gig, and it´s like a baby chicken coming out of the egg – the first ones you see are your mother and father, and so it was for me. Normally, you would start from Robert Johnson and progress to the blues players of today, I started with Hans and went back to the roots: the same route backwards. I love Theessink's artistic slide and his smooth touch, and last but not least, his great, great lyrics. He can even carry war themes with "sunshine" chords! You write your own songs. Can you tell me the story behind a beautiful piece like "1941"? Oh, thank you for the "beautiful"... For me personally it´s my most important song. I wrote it for my father, who was born in 1941, and the verses are his true story. We seldom get together, mostly we speak on the phone, but when he listens to "1941" or when I play it, we are closer than ever. Writing my own songs – music and lyrics – is my main reason for playing music. I will start recording my next CD as soon as I get back from Estonia, and I'm happy to say that it will be my first album comprised exclusively of self-penned material. ANDRES ROOTS Links: Christian Prechtl -kotisivut, MySpace Song samples (mp3): 1941, Gina's Blues |