Calvin Russell

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Calvin Russell, 2007

Calvin Russell (Calvert Russell Kosler, born November 1, 1948 in Austin , Texas , † April 3, 2011 in Garfield , Texas) was an American singer-songwriter , a typical representative of roots rock , which had its roots in country , folk and has blues . His life experiences in the lowest social class made him a mouthpiece for the underdogs and the uprooted.

biography

Calvin Russell, born under the name Cavert Russell Kosler, said he was the sixth of a total of nine children. Red Kosler, the father, was a cook, his mother Daisy a waitress. They both worked in a pub called Sho Nuff Café. Russell learned to play the guitar when he was twelve; He gained his first band experience as a rhythm guitarist in a garage band called Cavemen a year later. While he was enthusiastic about contemporary rock music at an early age , for a long time he could not do anything with country & western , his parents' favorite music. Russell came into conflict with the law at a young age. After the first juvenile prison sentence , among other things because of the trade in marijuana , there was a steady change from life on the street, prison stays and attempts to establish himself as a pub and street musician. During a prison stay in 1985 the first songs were written.

Due to the strong local musician competition, Russell was initially denied a breakthrough. His new band The Characters , a formation based on the early style of ZZ Top , came under contract with the German independent label Line in 1988. The debut CD, however, flopped. Nonetheless, Russell managed to make a name for himself in the Austin alternative country scene. As a musician and singer, Russell has collaborated over the years with a number of well-known genre greats such as Blaze Foley , Billy Joe Shaver , Lucinda Williams , Steve Earle and - above all - Townes Van Zandt . The real breakthrough, however, was a chance encounter - the meeting with Patrick Mathé from the French alternative country label New Rose Records . The debut album A Crack in Time recorded for New Rose was particularly successful in Europe - a focal point of awareness that was not to change in the following years. Along with the New Rose debut, Calvin Russell recorded 14 other albums - including Crossroad (2000), the title track of which was one of Russell's most famous pieces, and the critically acclaimed Rebel Radio from 2002.

Calvin Russell increasingly relocated the center of his life to Switzerland . He was married for many years to a Swiss woman from the canton of Valais whom he had met on a concert tour. Calvin Russell died of liver cancer on April 3, 2011 in Garfield, Texas and was buried in Cook-Walden Cemetery in Pflugerville, Texas.

music

Typical of Calvin Russell's music was the sudden change between straightforward, punchy roots rock influenced by electric blues and guitar- dominated but equally expressive songs in the singer-songwriter and folk style - a style that occasionally coincides with the the American band Steppenwolf was compared. Russell named the struggle for dignity, respect and acceptance as an important intention of his music creation. He expressed himself pessimistically to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung about the possibility of successfully relieving the pain : "I went through hell on earth, and this pain (...) can never be overcome even with the greatest success." At the end of the 1990s, he also commented skeptically about the prospects of success for roots music in the USA: “Our sound is not considered cool in the USA. It is funny, however, that young rock groups like the Smashing Pumpkins draw from their roots and pay great attention to us Americana musicians: their CDs are not overproduced, wild and lyrical, I like that. "

Above all, the European media attested Calvin Russell's above-average authenticity. Another unique selling point of Russell is the simplicity and precision of his music. Heinz-Jürgen Rippert wrote in an obituary on the Suite101.com website : “Calvin Russell quickly made an impression on a face marked by life. His voice was hard, rough and his songs were authentic. The songs are about life away from the established classes in the USA, beyond the glossy pages that are so popular in the media. They tell of life on the street, in prisons and the longing for dignity and a little happiness. It was no coincidence that the singer-songwriter was referred to as the Charles Bukowski of music. ”On the occasion of the release of the album In Spite Of It All, the music website musik-base.de wrote : “ Calvin Russell is one of America's most authentic songwriters. He wears his heart on his tongue, every corner of his great soul is clearly recognizable for music fans. Russell's bluesy songs tell of freedom and adventure, of longing and vulnerability, of immortal love and deep disappointments, of the prairie, of overland railroad trains that never reach their destination and the rugged beauty of the wild west, as it still exists today is. "

Discography

  • The Characters - Act 1 (1987/1988)
  • A crack in time (1990)
  • Live At The Kremlin (1990)
  • Sounds from the Fourth World (1991)
  • Soldier (1992)
  • Le Voyageur - Live (1993)
  • Dream of the Dog (1995)
  • Calvin Russell (1997)
  • The Story of Calvin Russell - This is My life (1998)
  • Sam (1999)
  • Crossroad Live Album (2000)
  • Rebel Radio (2002)
  • A Man in Full (2004)
  • In Spite of It All (2005)
  • Unrepentant (2007)
  • Dawg Eat Dawg (2009)
  • Contrabendo (2010)
  • The Last Call, In The Heat Of A Night Live Album (2011)

Web links

Commons : Calvin Russell  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ↑ Calvin Russell dies , Basler Zeitung Online, April 4, 2011
  2. ↑ a b R ussell, Calvin , article from Munziger Pop-Archiv International 05/97, accessed on May 22, 2011
  3. ↑ Who went through hell - Der Outlaw Calvin Russell , Neue Zürcher Zeitung , March 22, 1995 (archive)
  4. ↑ Calvin Russell also wants to gain a foothold in his home country , Bänz Friedli, Facts , issue 14 of April 3, 1997
  5. ↑ Calvin Russell Portrait , musik-base.de, accessed on May 22, 2011
personal data
SURNAME Russell, Calvin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician, representative of roots rock
DATE OF BIRTH November 1, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Austin , Texas
DATE OF DEATH April 3, 2011
Place of death Garfield , Texas