On Tour in CZ with Druha Trava and Tony Trischka

It was sort of an insane thing to do, but this past weekend I drove up to the Czech Republic from Italy in order to catch the last couple of concerts of a tour by Druha Trava and the banjo virtuoso Tony Trischka. Tony had toured with DT in May, when I was in Nashville, and that tour apparently had gone so well that he came back in August for a week.

I had never seen Tony perform live before, but that was just one of the reasons that I had wanted to catch some of the tour. He had first toured the Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) in 1988, before the fall of communism, and he had also returned in 1989, also before the Wall came down.

During those stays, he performed as a guest on an LP by Poutnici, the influential progressive bluegrass group that Druha Trava's Robert Krestan and Lubos Malina played with before founding DT in 1991, and which in turn had been very influenced by Trischka's music. I had found a somewhat scuffed copy of that LP, "Wayfaring Stranger", in the used vinyl bin of a used book store in the little town of Kutna Hora 3 years ago. I bought it for the equivalent of a couple of dollars. In the liner notes, Trischka describes Poutnici in much the same terms I have used to describe Druha Trava. "They … have a unique sound," he said. "Czechgrass instead of Kentucky bluegrass. In other words, they've made it their own, which is wonderful."

I caught 2 concerts over the weekend -- one Saturday night at a little festival in the town of Frydek-Mistek, in northeast CZ near the Polish border, then on Sunday at another little bluegrass festival in the town of Chotebor, about 65 miles east of Prague. Druha Trava is still labeled "bluegrass", though their music only uses bluegrass as a starting point; Tony and I agreed that this is one of the reasons we like the band so much; they don't stick to rules or try to recreate or imitate the American bluegrass sound, rather, they take the musical building blocks and create something new. Robert Krestan's original songs and distinctive gravelly voice put the stamp on this; even their take on Dylan songs in their last CD, "Dylanovky," transforms them into Druha Trava songs.

The concerts featured DT in the first half, then DT and Tony Trischka, then Trischka solo or backed by the group. Among the standout pieces were duets featuring him and DT's banjoist Lubos Malina. For the final encore at Chotebor, the two of them performed a tricky maneuver whereby one played the right hand and the other the left, on the same instrument.

Over the weekend I had an opportunity to talk with Tony about his experiences touring CZ in the late 1980s -- he told me stories from that tour that underscored how, at that time, the music, and the experience of the music, (and the experience of experiencing the music) had a powerful symbolism that, particularly for younger people, has largely dissipated if not disappeared. (More on this later.)

Here's a slide show to give an impression of the scenes in both festivals -- all very similar to the bluegrass festivals in the US as portrayed, for example, in Neil Rosenberg's book "Bluegrass Odyssey." The little stage, the spare seating area. Stalls around selling food -- the usual Czech fare: in Frydek Mistek it was mostly grilled pork products (sausage, "steaks", etc and boiled hot dogs); at Chotebor there was goulash, liver dumpling (rice) soup and a sort of fried chicken cutlet that one of the musicians tried only to find it was almost raw inside. I stuck with potato chips.

There was also a lot of beer -- the local beer (and one of the sponsors) of the Chotebor festival is called "Rebel". Now, I've taken a lot of pictures of the Confederate flag displayed at country festivals in Europe, and I've met a lot of Civil War reenactors in various countries and discussed what this all means.... but Rebel beer is not related to the U.S. Civil War and no stars and bars are involved. The term refers to a local 19th century anti-Habsburg writer and agitator named Karel Havlicek Borovsky -- who died in the 1850s, well before the US Civil War broke out....

I've never seen a bluegrass festival before with a big screen, as in Chotebor! It was particularly odd, as the venue was so small that you could easily get close as close to the stage as you wanted.

Tony Trischka's new CD -- A Great Big World

By Ruth Ellen Gruber


The American banjo great Tony Trischka has come out with a gorgeous new CD, "A Great Big World." You can hear a preview of one track by clicking the link on the photo above.

The CD showcases Tony't thrilling virtuosity -- and includes guests such as Andy Statman,  Russ Barenberg,  Tristan Clarridge, Mike Barnett and others on a variety of songs -- including one of my favorites, Woody Guthrie's "Do-Re-Mi." All the tracks are winners -- but the one that really hit me was the oddly titled "Purple Trees of Colorado."Amazing.

Writes Bela Fleck in the Liner Notes -- which can be accessed online:

"Everyone loves to play with Tony, because of his strong musical gifts and conception, and because he's one of the coolest dudes to hang around with and be yourself. Not everyone who asks you to play on their record actually wants that, but he does."

Though I've seen him in the U.S., I know Tony from here in Europe -- where he plays often, and where he has had considerable influence. This has been particularly so in the Czech Republic, where his progressive bluegrass style was a powerful inspiration to (among others) the musicians who went on to found the group Druha Trava.

In the 1980s, DT's singer-songwriter Robert Krestan and banjoist Lubos Malina were members of the pioneering Czech progressive bluegrass group Poutnici. (They left Poutnici and formed DT in 1991.) Robert at that time also played banjo. Tony was one of their heroes.

As I noted in an earlier post, Tony first toured the Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) in 1988, before the fall of communism, and he also returned in 1989, also before the Wall came down. During those stays, he performed as a guest on an LP by Poutnici, called "Wayfaring Stranger." In the liner notes, he describes Poutnici in much the same terms I have used to describe Druha Trava. "They … have a unique sound," he said. "Czechgrass instead of Kentucky bluegrass. In other words, they've made it their own, which is wonderful."

I've now caught Tony on tour with DT on several occasions -- first in 2008, and the latest time this past summer, where Tony tried out his new banjo -- a banjo made by the accomplished Czech banjo-maker Zdenek Roh.  (Zdenek is featured in the new documentary about Czech bluegrass, Banjo Romantika.)

Tony Trischka with his new banjo, made by Zdenek Roh. Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

In addition to his Czech tours, Tony also plays elsewhere in Europe -- he teaches at a summer bluegrass workshop near Urbino, Italy, and this fall will be teaching at a "banjo camp" workshop in Germany.

Tony Trischka School of Banjo

 Tony Trischka hanging out in Czech Republic, 2008. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Last summer, when I traveled a for a day in Poland with the banjo great Tony Trischka after he performed at the Silesia Country Music Festival in Ustron, he told me about his plans to start teaching the banjo online, with an interactive video tutorial program that enabled personal feedback.

Tony's banjo school is now fully online -- see THIS SITE.

Tony's banjo school is part of a broader online music school called Artist Works, with instruments taught by leading musicians. It looks like the instruments and teaching programs are going live one at a time. I am hoping that the harmonica school goes online soon....

Video of Tony Trischka and Druha Trava

I've been lax about posting -- I still am transcribing the interview I did with Tony Trischka last month, which I hope to post soon. Meanwhile, here's a (blurry) video clip I shot of Tony and DT performing Nashville Rag in Frydek Mistek.

Bluegrass -- Joe Val festival; my American experience

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I did indeed manage to spend part of last weekend at the Joe Val bluegrass festival in Framingham, near Boston. It was, as I mentioned in an earlier post, my first American bluegrass festival experience -- after attending quite a few festivals in Czech Republic, Germany, France and elsewhere. Lot of fun, great music, nice people. I've been trying to gauge what the differences are between this American festival and those in Europe. It's hard to say. There are many similarities, but -- if this means anything -- in Framington I knew I was in the U.S., and in La Roche, or Caslav or Bratislava, I knew I was most definitely not. It wasn't just the language and the "look." I'll have to think on it...

Meanwhile, here are a few pix and notes.

The festival, organized by the Boston Bluegrass Union, took place in the gigantic Sheraton hotel. The main stage, for the big acts, was a huge ballroom hung with crystal chandeliers.

The Grascals play on the main stage, last show of the festival. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

There was also a smaller stage, downstairs -- where there were rooms for workshops. I attended some of these -- a banjo workshop given by Tony Trischka and then a workshop on the history of the banjo, which featured unfinished footage from the Banjo Project documentary currently under production -- you can see some clips on the web site.

I also went to the Yodeling workshop, which was a little weird. I like yodeling but have never been able to do it. One thing I learned at the workshop is that women yodel more easily in different keys than men do -- but I still haven't yet managed to find the "break" in my voice to do it.

Another big room housed exhibitors and vendors (mainly of musical instruments).

Fiddles on display. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

In the corridors, lobbies and even phone booths, attendees joined up with others to jam.

Pickin. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

The demographic seemed skewed toward middle-aged - though there were young people and even families, with some extremely accomplished kids. This could have been because of the venue and season (hotel not outdoors; Boston not Appalachia; winter not summer) or the price -- a day-ticket on Saturday was $55 for non-BBU members.

Tony Trischka plays with a young banjoist. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Banjo Project

Tony Trischka plays in the Czech Republic. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

The Banjo Project written up in the Boston Globe -- This is going to be a great film -- I hope it takes into consideration the worldwide appeal of the banjo, and in particular the many banjo players in the Czech Republic and Japan!

[Marc] Fields, who lives in Concord and teaches documentary and studio television production at Emerson College, is going on his ninth year of making “The Banjo Project: The Story of America’s Instrument.’’

When it’s finished — and Fields swears he’s getting close — it promises to be the most in-depth visual portrait of the subject, encapsulating more than 250 years of history and restoring dignity to the instrument’s often misunderstood reputation. From the banjo’s origins in Africa to its role in modern music, the film burrows deep into issues of race (including its rise in popularity through minstrel shows), as well as class, regionalism, and gender.

“It’s America’s quintessential instrument,’’ Fields says over coffee last week near his office at Emerson. “On one hand, it’s part of the music that we invented, and at the same time it has all these negative and positive associations. You can appreciate that it speaks to concrete American experiences, but it also speaks to things we’d rather not be reminded of.’’

To say the project has been a labor of love is beside the point.

“Let’s put it this way: If I had known how big it was when I started, I wouldn’t have done it,’’ he says, before cracking a joke about how he had a full head of hair when he started it in 2002. “Other people have tried something like this, but I outlasted them. I feel like I’m going to be the one to tell this story.’’

It’s a strange mission for someone who doesn’t even play the banjo. But having worked on other music documentaries, Fields recognized the subject was fraught with a rich narrative that should be told.

“It’s a hard job,’’ says banjo master Tony Trischka, who’s been involved since the film’s beginning as its music director. “This is the first major undertaking to tell the banjo’s story. It’s not sexy like the Civil War, but it’s part of America and its social history. Even after all the work that’s been done, people still think of ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ and ‘Deliverance’ when you talk about the banjo.’’

Prague -- Druha Trava to play for Obama

Robert Krestan, Tony Trischka, Lubos Malina, Aug. 2008. Photo (C) Ruth Ellen Gruber

I'm thrilled to learn that my favorite band, Druha Trava are going to play in Prague Sunday ahead of President Obama's big foreign policy speech at the Prague Castle -- and I wish I could be there!

DT is billed as a bluegrass band, but in fact goes far beyond that, mixing bluegrass, blues, rock and other influences into what is sometimes called "Czechgrass." I have worked with the group's singer/songwriter, Robert Krestan, to translate 10 of his songs into English, for a hoped-for English language CD -- except for last year, DT has toured the US every year since about 1994 and has developed a following in the United States.

This is what I wrote about the group in the New York Times in 2005:

Robert Krestan, singer, songwriter and frontman for the Czech bluegrass group Druha Trava, is a brooding stage presence. A solid figure with shadowed eyes and a wild shock of long gray hair, he dwarfs the mandolin he cradles against his chest, singing with a gritty passion that a fan at a recent concert explained was a ''real Czech growl.''

Druha Trava means ''Second Grass.'' It is at the forefront of the flourishing Czech bluegrass scene, but as its name implies, it reaches far beyond the classic bluegrass genre for inspiration.

Formed in 1991 by Mr. Krestan, the banjo player Lubos Malina and other veterans of the acoustic music scene that had long thrived in Czechoslovakia, Druha Trava can delight hard-core fans with scorching versions of bluegrass standards.

For the most part, however, it uses American roots music as a launching pad for its own synthesis of jazz, pop, folk and even classical motifs. In doing so it transforms a quintessential American idiom into a richly textured, highly personal statement that defies genre classification.

Call it Central European bluegrass rock, perhaps, or Czechgrass.

Over the years the distinctive sound and the band's virtuoso musicianship have won Druha Trava multiple Czech music awards, as well as a loyal following at home and in the United States, where the group tours at least once a year. Its next American tour begins Sept. 20.

''We grew up on simple music, bluegrass music, simple old country music, acoustic country music,'' Mr. Krestan said between concerts during the group's current summer tour through the Czech Republic and other countries. ''It was the music of our youth, of our heart.''

But with sensibilities also honed by rock 'n' roll, world music, their own Czech heritage and other influences, he said, ''bluegrass music wasn't enough for us.''

The band couldn't ''squash'' everything they wanted to convey into the tight format of traditional bluegrass, he said. Instead, they chose to use bluegrass instruments to play whatever sort of music fitted their taste.

Mr. Krestan's raw vocals and original songs are an important part of the mix.

Though he often sings cover songs in the original English, he is best known among Czech fans for his own elliptical, at times provocative, lyrics, which are somewhat reminiscent of early Bob Dylan. '

Read Full Article

Last summer, I posted about following DT's Czech tour with the US banjo great Tony Trischka, and I also posted pictures.

I've written extensively about the Czech bluegrass scene, on this blog and elsewhere.

Co-Founder of Kingston Trio Dies

Nick Reynolds, one of the original members of the seminal American folk-revival group the Kingston Trio has died at the age of 75.

I'm posting his obituary as the Trio was such an influential group, paving the way for Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and other performers who had a profound impact in Europe as well as in America. (See Otis Gardner's column, for a personal American take.) It was the Kingston Trio's 1963 recording of Charlie and the MTA -- see video posted below -- that sparked the banjo great Tony Trischka's interest in the banjo. Trischka has gone on to be one of the most influential banjoists over the past 35 years and one of the key influences of the European bluegrass scene.



Obituary from The Telegraph, London, England (which emphasizes his international impact)


Nick Reynolds, who died on Wednesday aged 75, was a founding member of the Kingston Trio, one of the groups at the forefront of the folk music revival of the late 1950s.

Offering up tight harmonies and a clean-cut style, the Kingston Trio launched their career with their version of an obscure 19th-century American folk song, Tom Dooley, which went to the top of the charts in 1958, selling more than a million copies.

The following year they won a Grammy award for best folk performance for their album The Kingston Trio At Large.

Among their subsequent releases were The Ballad of Reuben James and Pete Seeger's anti-war protest song Where Have All The Flowers Gone?, which they sang on the White House lawn to an audience that included President Lyndon B Johnson. The Kingston Trio could claim some of the credit for bringing folk into the mainstream of popular music, where it was taken up in the 1960s by artists such as Bob Dylan; Joan Baez; Peter, Paul and Mary; and the Byrds.

Reynolds played one of the trio's acoustic guitars and harmonised with the melody line, and for a time the group's music enjoyed great commercial success – in 1959 they had four albums in the top 10 chart, a feat equalled only by the Beatles.

Nicholas Wells Reynolds was born on July 27 1933 in San Diego, California. Demonstrating an early love of music, he took part in singalongs with his two sisters and his father, a captain in the US Navy who brought back from his travels songs from around the world and taught his son to play guitar and the ukulele.

When Nick enrolled as a Business student at Menlo College, California, in 1954 he struck up a friendship with Bob Shane, a fellow student whom he had noticed sleeping soundly throughout a class in accountancy. Shane introduced Reynolds to Dave Guard, a graduate from nearby Stanford University. Guard and Shane knew one another from playing music in their native Hawaii, and the three students got together to form the Kingston Trio. All three played acoustic instruments, with Shane singing most of the lead vocals while Reynolds harmonised, typically a third above him.

In early 1957, while the group was still unknown, the trio was playing at The Cracked Pot club in San Francisco when they were spotted by a young publicist called Frank Werber. As they packed up their guitars and banjos after the show Werber approached them and signed them on the spot, scribbling a contract on a paper napkin. After professional voice training the three young men were booked by another club, The Purple Onion, for a week-long engagement that eventually extended over several months.

A subsequent American tour took them from the west coast to Chicago and New York, and during a four-month residency at the Hungry i club in San Francisco the trio recorded its first album.

One of the tracks on the album was Tom Dooley which, thanks to heavy airplay on local radio stations, became a hit in America; it also did well in Britain, charting at number five in November 1958.

When Guard left the group, he was replaced in 1961 by John Stewart. But by 1967 the Kingston Trio's music was outmoded and no longer had popular appeal. Reynolds left the group that year and moved to Oregon where, with his wife, Leslie, he brought up four children in a rented log cabin. Having bought a 300-acre ranch, he took up sheep-farming. He also ran a local theatre.

In the mid-1980s he moved back to California, where he rejoined Stewart to record an album. In 1991 Reynolds teamed up once again with Shane in a reconstituted version of the trio, remaining with the group until he retired for good in 2003. John Stewart died in January this year.

Nick Reynolds is survived by his wife, their two sons and two daughters.

Colosseum Country Festival (and more) brings imaginary wild west to Rome

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Italians seem to be succumbing to the public expression of the Imaginary Wild West.

The phenomenon isn't as widespread as in some other countries, but it's certainly now there, or beginning to be there -- as testified by the upcoming "Colosseum Country Festival" to be held near Rome at the beginning of October, whose main attraction seems to be line-dancing.

Western riding and horsemanship have long been at the heart of the trend in Italy

Already half a dozen years ago I attended the "Western Games" at a "ranch" near Lake Bracciano northwest of Rome, which was a mini-rodeo and riding competition set among displays, Indian dancing, and general wild west themed family entertainment attractions. There were even "live" American cowboys brought over from Oregon.

Western Games, Bracciano, 2005. Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

The prime mover behind that festival, Andrea "Drew" Mischianti, has long been a key figure in Italy's western, horse, riding and cowboy scene for many years and long wrote a column about the cowboy life for an Italian wild west magazine. He and his wife Natalia Estrada run a "Ranch Academy" to teach and take part in "buckeroo" skills and lifestyle. They also take part in competitions and exhibitions of skills.

But country music -- unlike in other countries -- had little, if any, attraction. At festivals I've attended in France, Germany, CZ, Austria, Switzerland and PL, for example, music and line-dancing were major and something THE major, draws. But at the Western Games, this band played to an audience of ZERO. 

Western Games, Bracciano, 2005. Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

Line-danging, bluegrass and country music now seem to be making some inroads in popularity, particularly in northern Italy, where there have been some festivals. The Genoa-based Italian bluegrass group Red Wine is considered one of the best in Europe and tours in the U.S. The Rome-based banjoist Danilo Cartia also has been making a name for himself. This month, the American banjo great Tony Trischka will be performing with Red Wine before going on to at banjo workshop in Urbino.

Even in the little village festival in Collelungo, in Umbria, a (sort of) country duo called Western Strings was one of the acts chosen to perform in the piazza. Among the songs they played were the two all time European favorites -- Country Roads and Sweet Home Alabama.

Italy also, of course, has a thriving Cowboy Action Shooting scene -- I'm a member of the Old West Shooting Society and have attended a number of events, which I have posted about.

OWSS match, 2009. Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

Bluegrass -- I may actually see Bluegrass in America!

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Over the past few years, I've been to bluegrass concerts, jams and festivals (and festivals with bluegrass performers) in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland and Italy -- maybe elsewhere. But I've never been to a bluegrass festival in the United States. If things go well, this should be remedied this weekend -- I'm currently on a fellowship near Boston (at Brandeis University) and I hope to go the Joe Val Festival at nearby Framingham this weekend.

If I get there, I'll report on the intercontinental similarities and differences -- some of the performers on the bill, in fact, have toured in Europe: I've posted on this blog, for example, on some of banjo player Tony Trischka's gigs in CZ and Poland, as well as on various other European events, including the first European Bluegrass Summit, which I attended a few years ago. The third such summit is taking place this weekend. It includes a concert marking the 10th anniversary of the European Bluegrass Music Association. (The EBMA blog is a great resource.)

So watch this spot.

International Banjo -- Symbolism?

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

At the Silesia Folk and Country Festival in Ustron, Poland, the American banjo virtuoso Tony Trischka found symbolism in the men's room.... he guarded the door as I took the picture:

Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

"I'm someone who sees banjos everywhere," he said.

Poland -- Silesia Folk and Country Festival under way

Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I got in to Ustron, in the way south of Poland, last night, driving from Oswiecim (Auschwitz) of all places....and into the Silesia Folk and Country Festival. It still gives me a thrill? chill? quick hit of the odd? when I hear a Czech band (in this case "Drops" this afternoon), in the market square of a Polish village (Ustron is a spa town at the foot of the Beskidy Mountains near the Czech border) singing "All Across America." Aside from the great banjo player Tony Trischka, who plays with Druha Trava tonight, I'm probably the only American here.

Drops. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

This is called an International Folk and Country Festival -- last night highlighted singer-songwriters: a group called Czerwony Tulipan (Red Tulip), the Warsaw-based singer Tomek Szwed, whom I have heard at other festivals and also interviewed a couple of years ago, and an English troubador called Pete Morton, who "sang out" with an energetic set that I have to admit was a little too spiritually uplifting for my taste! A bit hit with the crowd, though, even though he sang in English.

Tomasz Szwed. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

This afternoon, I was interviewed by Polish TV-Silesia for the feature they are doing on the Festival for the evening news tonight -- will post the link when it is up online!

Last night's concert was free, as was the afternoon performance today on the market square. Tonight's costs 10 zloty, I think -- about $3. It will be a mix of acoustic and more rocky stuff, with DT and the Slovak band Peter and the Rowers, one of the top European country acts.

I MUST photograph the food stalls -- last night I kept eating little pieces of local smoked goat cheese, grilled til almost melting and served with jam. Yum. Most of what else is on offer is what I have come to recognize as festival fare -- grilled sausages and chops, and other meats of various varieties. Oh yes, and beer. And honey vodka...

Nashville considers overseas country music

Dierks Bentley, Country Rendez-vous, Craponne, France, 2008. Photos (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

As the Country Music Association's annual festival and fan fair kicks off in Nashville, the AP runs a story about American country music artists touring and trying to reach an international audience. Readers of this blog will have seen reports and pictures of mine on several American country and western (and bluegrass) acts on the road here in Europe. Some big name acts tour, but most of the acts on the European circuit are independent, lesser known or niche performers. They play at some of the dozens of country music and bluegrass festivals held around the continent from spring into the fall, and also at clubs, saloons and even concert halls. (Kris Kristofferson performed a couple years ago in one of Vienna's top classical music venues -- a wild scene with the audience in cowboy hats and boots, amid the rococo decor.)

Writer John Gerome starts his AP article with an interview with Dierks Bentley about a recent tour of Australia with Brooks and Dunn and then looks at other acts who tour, mentioning the size of the market.

Few contemporary country hitmakers tour outside North America with regularity. The international market for country isn't anywhere near what it is in the U.S., and the cost of hauling a crew, band and equipment across continents is brutal.

"Most country acts are reluctant to go overseas because they can't make the same money," remarked Joe Galante, chairman of Sony Music Nashville. "But you have to go there and spend some time and build a marketplace."

A few are making a go of it. Besides Bentley, Keith Urban regularly tours abroad. Brooks & Dunn, Sugarland and Taylor Swift are also making inroads. Alan Jackson and Martina McBride are both preparing to play shows in Europe.

Read full article


I saw Dierks Bentley himself, in fact (along with Asleep at the Wheel and others) at the Country Rendez-vous festival last July in Craponne France.

The Country Rendez-vous, one of the premiere country music festivals in Europe, always books American artists as the vast majority of its acts. Its roster over its more than 20 years of history is impressive -- everyone from the father of bluegrass Bill Monroe to Marty Stuart, Joe Ely, the Derailers, to Billy Joe Shaver, Mark Chesnutt, Guy Clark, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Rhonda Vincent, Whiskey Falls, and many, many more -- see a more complete list by clicking HERE.

Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel. Country Rendez-vous, Craponne, France 2008. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

The Country Night in Gstaad, Switzerland each September also features mainly U.S. acts. This year's headliner will be Kenny Rogers.

Other acts that have toured recently include Ricky Skaggs, banjo great Tony Trischka, Kris Kirstofferson, Lynne Anderson, Roseanne Cash, Dale Watson, and on and on.

For more about country music in Europe -- see earlier blog posts here, or take a look at the lengthy paper I wrote (you can access it from a link in the sidebar).