Two musicians who write songs from and for the heart. Daniel Bongart is a local folk music treasure and Roxanne De Bastion is rapidly developing a name internationally as both a singer songwriter and author. The cosy Rheinbuhne on Oxfordstrasse in Bonn was a perfect location for this talented duo.
As an employee of the Paralympic Committee here in Bonn I would have to say that Rheinbuhne is not a location where ease of access seems to have been considered. The way in leads down a steep set of stairs, most of which are without a handrail, leading to concrete steps at the very bottom which seem designed to catch careless visitors unawares in the dark. The good news is that, if you do manage to navigate the way without accident or incident then you are rewarded with a cosy hall that has a small stage surrounded by plush red curtains giving the entertainers thereon something of a Punch & Judy appearance.
On this particular evening, ‘Punch’ was the ever-popular Daniel Bongart and ‘Judy’ a very talented lady from England named Roxanne De Bastion who supported Katie Melua on Tour not so long ago, and more recently has done book signings including one at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Two super-nice people, and both high in my estimation for writing emotional and thought-provoking lyrics.
I’ve seen Daniel Bongart many times live since his first tentative appearances at Bonn Folk Club. He continues to evolve as a first-rate singer and lyricist with every song in itself a world-in-miniature. The themes of his songs vary but the central importance of human emotion is at the core of everything Daniel does. His own experiences largely drove his early songs, and indeed tonight the very first song he performed (and I remember it well), ‘The Old Man‘, was a part of the set. A celebration of a life lived and a sorrow of a life ending(Daniel’s Grandfather). The finality of one verse “…the old man died” still always hits me even though I know it’s coming.
More recent songs from Daniel have wider themes but are not less moving. ‘Empty Halls’ describing the washed out, flood devastated ruins left behind in his native Bad Neuenahr after the 2021 catastrophe. ‘Fill up your heart’ mixes descriptions together from drinkers in a bar where, as the song title suggests, meeting with others is not just about filling your glass.
Some Bongart ‘classics’ were also in the set. ‘Her Silhouette’ is still a favourite of mine, as is ‘We’ll meet again’. Both are delicate descriptions of emotions, which is something Daniel does so well and reminds me at such times of Ralph McTell. He’s not someone to dance too, but when the tempo is pushed up a notch or three then it’s always a welcome change as in the frantic ‘Where are you?‘
An excellent set then by Daniel, time for the lady who was sitting behind me during his set sipping a mug of tea to step into the spotlight.
I challenge anyone not to immediately take a liking to Roxanne de Bastion before she even sings a word. The combination of white pixie boots and impish smile is irresistible. It’s so easy to overlook that the lady’s lyrics are razor-sharp whatever the emotion behind them. The witty pop song ‘Molecules’ ponders on what is human and what is God made, with the chorus “That might be God. He might have created that!”. On ‘Wasteland’ she ponders addresses homes becoming ‘mere’ wasteland through misguided housing policies. She also takes on a punk element with the largely one-string rhythm on ‘Skin’, one of four tracks on Roxanne’s new EP ‘Ultraviolet’, all of which get a play this evening and all of which are as good as anything she has released in the past. That’s saying something, with songs of the calibre of ‘Heavy Lifting’ and ‘Ordinary Love’ already in her back catalogue. Listen to Roxanne sit down at the piano to sing the new ‘Relentless’ though and that wistful ballad presentation of hers continues to be a magical experience.
There are many comparisons to Daniel’s and Roxanne’s sets this evening. Both have up-tempo moments on guitar and beautiful ballads at the piano. Both too present an early song in their respective sets. In Roxanne’s case it’s ‘Train Tracks‘ and her realization that the music biz was not what she expected when she started in it:
“Do what you love
Do you what you can
Don’t buy into their shit
Do it with style
Do it with grace
And never loose your temper when you’re in the thick of it”
With so much excellent music there were nevertheless two moments in the evening that tugged especially hard on the heartstrings. One of these was a song, as yet unreleased, co-created by Daniel and Roxanne about her father Richard who was a great favourite at Bonn Folk Club (and it’s through that connection that the two met). The song, ‘Your Love Still Grows’ is a sad but at the same time positive appraisal of the Man who himself had a song written for him by his own Father, Stephen, The piano player of Budapest wrote the lullaby ‘Sleep, Sleep Little Boy’ for Richard’s 1st Birthday. In this then Roxanne is passing on a family tradition.
The most beautiful and moving moment of all though was to hear Roxanne switch on a recording of her grandfather and accompany his beautiful echoey keyboard strokes down the years with a tender ballad ‘Vienna’. You could almost reach out and touch those distant voices from Stephen, his wife Edith and their visiting friends from another space and time.
An evening then well spent with two musicians possessing a special talent for finding the perfect words to match their emotions. Next stop is a synagogue concert in Ahrweiler. I can imagine the emotions will be strong ones, the two musicians present though will I’m sure capture them perfectly.
