2007

German Press Agency dpa, Profile, September 29/2007

A poetic cowboy from Wuerzburg/Germany:
Markus Rill – Rock’n’Folk music star
by Barbara Mack, dpa

Markus Rill’s outfit couldn’t fit his voice any better: A plaid red flannel shirt, a dark pair of jeans, and a pair of rugged leather boots for all occasions. Standing at the microphone he comes across as a cowboy with a deep and deeply moving, seemingly irrepressible voice. A cowboy from Wuerzburg in Franconia/Germany who has been hailed by leading authorities like Rolling Stone magazine or Rootstime as “Europe’s premier Americana artist”.

And yet, the 37-year-old with the John Travolta hairdo has to explain his musical genre quite regularly. it’s a mix of rock’n’roll, folk, country, and blues, he says, pointing out similarities between his music and his erstwhile hobby, wrestling. “It’s hand-made, honest stuff that doesn’t rely on glitz and glamour.” Rill holds a master’s level degree in English, Sociology, and Political Science. The “baby, baby-type stuff” is not his thing, he explains. Peter Näder, the only full-time appointee for popular music in the state of Bavaria, agrees. “Rill’s music and lyrics digress from the mainstream. It’s not utility music to iron clothes to”, Näder says.  

Although Rill’s music sounds soaked in whiskey, cigarettes and wild west melancholia, he shuns cowboy clichés. He doesn’t smoke nor drink. Even with six albums under his belt, his poetic folk-rock music is vaguely exotic outside of North America.  But in the US, the greats of the Americana genre give kudos to his work. His album “The Price Of Sin” was recorded with the help of esteemed Nashville producer George Bradfute. In 2006 it earned Rill international recognition in magazines aas well as on festival and club stages, including a short tour of England. Rill also stood on stage of the world-famous „Bluebird Café“ in Nashville, Tennessee. A few of his songs have been used in American indie movies, most recently “Haunted House” in director Lyle Holmes’s film “Lost On The B-Side”.

The Frankfurt-born artist picked up the guitar at the relatively late age of 18 – but he had been drawn to the world of songwriting for quite a while. Spending a couple semesters in Austin, Texas later on influenced him further. As did meeting his idol Townes van Zandt, a wonder of songcraft himself. Influenced and impressed by Bob Dylan, his undisputed “King” Elvis Presley, as well as writers like Ernest Hemingway, Rill began creating very personal songs. Rolling Stone magazine praised his lyrics as “shimmering beautifully with ambiguity” and awarded his albums four out of the five highly coveted review stars.

On his 7th album „The Things That Count“ – due out in early 2008 – Rill says he has built a bridge between North American themes and Germany. The album combines rugged performances and atmospheric sounds, dominated by acoustic and electric guitars and harmonicas, with insightful lyrics about maturity gained by loneliness, regret, and change. One of Rill’s personal highlights is “Sarah Stein”. With his deep voice and moving words, Rill sings of a young Jewish dancer emigrating in the 1930ies from Austria to the USA.