Homeless US singer become country/Americana star in Sweden

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

American media including NPR (National Public Radio) and the Wall Street Journal ran stories recently about a homeless American singer in Nashville, Doug Seegers, who was filmed by a Swedish singer and her team for a documentary segment on down-and-out musicians for her TV show -- and ended up a star in Sweden.

From NPR:

People started sending money to help Seegers. A Swedish label offered him a record deal. A prominent record producer back in Nashville — along with a lot of big-deal session guys — signed on to make the record, and they finished it in three days.
For one track, someone called in a favor with one of Seegers' longtime heroes, Emmylou Harris. Harris recorded her tracks separately — but she was so moved by Seegers' voice that she called him to let him know.
"I pick up the phone and she says, 'Doug, this is Emmylou Harris,' " Seegers says. "And I immediately start crying. I couldn't even talk, I was crying so hard. It was a dream come true for me."
When it was released in Sweden, Seegers' album went to No. 1 and stayed in the top five for 10 weeks. Seegers toured the country, selling out 60 shows. Everywhere he went, he says, people would ask him how he was doing in the United States.

It's a heart-warming story.

NPR got it wrong, however, when it said that Sweden "lacks for country music fans."

Sweden has a country/bluegrass/linedeance scene and a history of home-grown country and Americana music. There is a country music radio/internet station, and also various local country and bluegrass artists, such as the award-winning bluegrass group Dunderhead, and  the Willy Clay Band -- (whose web site seems out of date, but the band has a Facebook page and seems still to be around. 

Here's a 2010 blog post about a Swedish country concert.

Off geographic topic: upcoming Country Music Festival in Borneo (and a mention of Tamworth)

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I know it's not Europe, but I just have to post about the Miri Country Music Festival coming up next month...on Borneo! This certainly testifies to the worldwide appeal of twang!

The festival -- reportedly the first ever country music festival in the region -- takes place Feb. 15 at the Park City Everly Hotel in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia. (Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on Borneo.)

According to MySarawak.org the lineup includes the Malaysian band D'Renegades, the Johnny Rodgers Band (Nashville), The Corn Cake Kings (Kuala Lumpur), Eia and the Superband (Brunei), and two bands from Singapore – Wandering Mustangs as well as Mel and Joe. The program will also include games and competitions for adults and children, pony rides, line-dances and drum workshops and food stalls.

D’Renegades has been around since 1980 and it was formed by accomplished United Kingdom pianist Asif Pishori and Malaysian singer cum songwriter Ady Wow.
The duo who now resides in Kota Kinabalu had been performing at various shows and concerts.
For this coming festival, Ady and Asif had teamed up with three other equally talented musicians.
They are Ozone, Kichi and Zul and together they will get the festival goers dancing to their country rock pop tunes.

The Borneo Post online reports that another Malaysian band, Hi Breed, will also perform.

Festival-goers will enjoy bluegrass, folk and contemporary country music with an impressive mix of tempos for both the young and old.
Tickets are available at www.ticketxpress.com.my; Utopia in Kuching; Parkcity Everly Hotel and Planet Borneo Travel and Tour Services in Miri; as well as El Centro in Kota Kinabalu.

The festival is organized by UCSI Communications Sdn Bhd, a professional conference organizer, and is endorsed by the Miri City Council and supported by Parkcity Everly Hotel, Planet Borneo Travel and Tours Services, as well as Curtin University Sarawak.

Find more details here on the Festival's Facebook page

I also have to note that the vast and venerable Tamworth Country Music Festival in Australia starts in a few days.

The 42nd edition of this huge event (held in Tamworth, New South Wales) runs this year from Jan. 17-26. Considered to be the world's biggest country music fest it is a showcase and celebration of a thoroughly local scene that draws 50,000 fans or more, with more than 600 performers and 2,500 events staged during the course of the festival -- a rodeo, line-dancing, the annual Australian country music awards and more.

The line-up this year includes  some international artists including Quinn Keister of Canada, Monte Goode from the USA, Australian/Austrian group John Deer Band and Alessandro Nicoletta from Italy, but it's mainly many many local acts.

Check out the web site or the Facebook page for information about the line-up, events and more

See my previous posts about Tamworth

Poland -- New CD By Lonstar

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I've been on the road on a very busy trip through central Europe and have had little time to post. But I did get to meet up with my Polish country singer/songwriter friend, Michael Lonstar, in Warsaw.

Lonstar and I met originally nearly 30 (yikes!) years ago, when I was a correspondent in Warsaw for United Press International -- he remembers us sitting at a party and talking about the Texas swing group Asleep at the Wheel (the Wheel's frontman Ray Benson is an old friend of mine).

In Warsaw, the weather was lovely and we sat outside at one of the city's plethora of sidewalk cafes and restaurants. He told me about some of the conflicts in the Polish country music world (rivalries, rival festivals, etc).

And he gave me a copy of his new CD, which was recorded in Nashville. It's called Michael Lonstar & (the Duets)  and features traditional country-style duets with various other artists, such as the American Billy Yates and German Mandy Strobel. 

Czech Republic -- Druha Trava recording in Nashville

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

My friends, the Czech bluegrass/fusion/rock "Czechgrass" band Druha Trava are recording a new album in Nashville -- and are maintaining a very interesting and revealing blog that reflects on and describes the process of crafting songs (the Czech translates pretty well in google translate).

There are pictures and some fascinating video showing how the songs come together. (It's not as dramatic as Godard's film One Plus One, one of whose running themes was the Rolling Stones working on Sympathy for the Devil....)

Country Music -- Two Views

These two articles -- one from The New Republic and one from the Wall Street Journal -- are about the state of country music in the USA, not in Europe. But the constrasting views are interesting regarding the genre as a whole, so I feel that the links are worth posting together.

The New Republic

Country First?

by David Browne

How country music lost the election--and why that may be the best thing to happen to the genre in years

Admittedly, it's difficult to fire up a crowd before a concession speech. Yet on an Arizona stage on election night, there stood Hank Williams Jr. and Big & Rich's John Rich, alone with their guitars and trying, in vain, to rouse John McCain's admirers shortly before McCain officially threw in the towel. In an election full of culturally symbolic moments, here was another: the sight of two country stars, from two different generations, looking testy yet powerless--visual proof that among the many losers in last week's elections was country music itself.

Read Full Story

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Why Country Not Only Survived but Thrived

By Barry Mazor

Wall Street Journal, Nov. 18, 2008

Nashville, Tenn.

If you tuned in to the CMA Awards on ABC last week to catch performances by young country stars Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley and Sugarland, or by veterans Alan Jackson and George Strait, you are not alone. This year's telecast of the country music awards was seen by more than 34 million viewers. You might have seen the September telecast of last summer's CMA Music Festival, too -- the only festival of any musical variety that is broadcast on network prime time. If you're not sure who or what the "CMA" behind those events is, you're not entirely alone in that, either. But the Country Music Association, based in Nashville, is marking its 50th anniversary this month.

Today, country music is an exception in the ailing music business, a genre still thriving in tough times.

Read Full Story