Interviews & special items
Dani Wilde (with Nora) in Kenya - c. Dani Wilde
On 31 January at the Harmonie you can hear great music and also contribute to a good cause. The ‘Girls with Guitars’ are back with RUF’s Blues Caravan and Dani Wilde, is back after a new visit to Africa. Here she writes about her fundraising project for children in the slums of Kenya, her work towards giving them a better education, and how every cent can bring a smile to a young face.
3SongsBonn caught up with Will Wilde in Cologne’s Yardclub recently to find out what it felt like to be headlining a tour of Europe for the first time, and whether I should treat my harmonica to a Coca-Cola…
With three young starlets currently playing on the ‘Girls with Guitars’Tour, the question might be asked “Does Thomas Ruf really need another female Blues musician on his impressive roster at Ruf Records?” If you’ve been lucky enough to catch Dana Fuchs on one of her European Tours, or on the road in the States, Then you will know the answer is an emphatic ‘yes!’ The girl fromNew York has been playing to ecstatic audiences throughout Europe in promotion of the new ‘Love to Beg’ CD. I managed to track her down between concerts, acting, and photo shoots to find out more about Dana Fuchs, her Blues roots and the ‘Church of Rock n Roll’ as she describes her energy laden shows.
Raymond Searson
The Fiddlers Irish Pub in Bonn has long been a favourite place for english speakers both visiting and resident to relax. It’s not just a cool pint of Murphy’s Irish Stout or a plate of Fish & Chips that brings people to Endenich though. It’s also the many events that take place all year round. From Karaoke to Pub Quizzes. Football to Poker. TV Sport to Comedy. The Irish also love a good sing song, so naturally music is also high on the agenda. 3SongsBonn asked Fiddlers owner Raymond Searson about the pub and his own thoughts on music and it’s part in his locations success.
Her motto is ‘Fighting Cancer One String At A Time’ and Elisa Guida is doing just that.
Elisa’s jewellery website offers necklaces, pendants and bracelets with a difference: each is fashioned from a guitar string donated by a celebrity musician.
String Attack! - Oli Brown in Bonn
Jon Bon Jovi, Buddy Guy and Joe Bonamassa are just some of the many guitarists who have answered the request to pop their used strings in an envelope with a note of authenticity and send them to Pennsylvania. Money raised from the sales goes to providing help for Cancer patients with such things as medicine costs, and providing access to treatment information. Guida had the jewellery idea after having battled cancer twice herself.
Strings 'n' Things
“The strings are usually thrown away. With my foundation they can be recycled and the customer can recieve a piece of musical history, along with knowing that they are helping someone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer”
Closest I'll get to owning a Vanquish Guitar like Oli Brown's
I gave the site a try myself. The good news is that there are plenty of attractive items to look at. The bad news is that they sell so quickly that most things are gone even by the time they seem to appear online. Luckily I got a heads up from Graham Brown that his youngster had recently donated some strings – Oli Brown also being one of my musical heroes I clicked onto ‘Strings for a Cure’ immediately. Even then almost everything had been snapped up. I did find a 1.09mm string from Oli’s show at Spirit of 66 in Belgium last October though. Having seen a pic of his blistered fingers a while ago I suspect that Elisa’s first job would have been to remove the blood – if so, she did a fine job. The string fragment is bent into a Cancer ‘Awareness Ribbon’ shape, held in place by its original brass ferrule.
If you’re interested in some unique musical jewellery and helping a good cause at the same time check out the website:
3SONGSBONN managed to grab a few words from rising German Blues star Henrik Freischlader before his concert recently at the Harmonie in Bonn.
A lots happened since I saw you play here last year. Most of it good but some of it bad. I’m referring of course to Gary Moore’s tragic death. What are your thoughts on that.
Yes of course. I’m deeply sad because he was my first guitar hero. He brought me into blues music and on the path of music generally. I picked up the guitar when I was fourteen after hearing Gary play the song ‘Cold Day In Hell’ from ‘After Hours’ and that was my initiation into Blues and into guitar music. It’s very sad because he was almost like a family member to me.
Did you meet him?
I met him in Germany in fact, in a small town called Mosbach (July 2009). We played support and after the show I had a chance to meet him backstage. We talked for about one and a half hours and it was like all my dreams had come true.
