The border crossers

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The border crossers
General information
origin Bremen , Germany
Genre (s) Folk
founding 1989
Website www.folksong.de
Founding members
Vocals, guitar, accordion
 Michael Zachcial
Singing, mandolin, forest zither
 Klaus Levin
Current occupation
Concepts, singing, guitar, accordion & a.
 Michael Zachcial
guitar
 Frederic Drobnjak (since 2014)
Accordion, vocals
 Felix Kroll (since 2009)
Cello, vocals
 Annette Rettich (since 2009)
former members
Singing, mandolin, forest zither
 Klaus Levin (1989-1991)
Double bass, vocals
 Reinhard Röhrs (1990–1993)
Arne Wagner (2003–2007)
Drums, vocals
 Friedemann Bartels (2000-2004)
Accordion, vocals
 Florian Oberlechner (2008-2009)
Mandolin, banjo, violin, concertina, bumblebee, cister etc. a.
 Jörg Frose (1991-2013)

Die Grenzgänger are a folk band founded by Michael Zachcial and Klaus Levin in 1989 in Bremen .

In the tradition of Zupfgeigenhansel , Liederjan , Ougenweide , Hannes Wader , Peter Rohland and similar artists, they play German folk songs , clearly differentiating them from traditional songs. The cross-border commuters have been awarded the German Record Critics' Prize five times and have been guests of the Goethe Institute in several European countries.

Artistic concept

Right from the start, the cross-border commuters were concerned with remembering little-known chapters in German history and rediscovering lost and forgotten folk songs and making them interesting and attractive for today's audience. They also see themselves in an international tradition with artists such as Woody Guthrie ( Sacco & Vanzetti album), Johnny Cash (Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian) or Bruce Springsteen (Seeger sessions) . The musicians see themselves as "border crossers" both in terms of time and style.

Temporal cross-border commuters

The border crossers use the German folk song, historical poems and other texts as comments on current political events. In view of the xenophobia and the arson attacks in Hoyerswerda , Mölln , Solingen and Rostock-Lichtenhagen, they remembered German emigrants to America and their fates. This included, for example, a speech by a US politician who warned against foreign infiltration by German immigrants who would multiply en masse.

Stylistic border crossers

In their music, the border crossers mix old melodies with swing , jazz , blues , reggae , rap , oriental rhythms and even the collage technique. So they put on their album stick out of the bag , the Song of Germany by Hoffmann von Fallersleben reassembled and mixed the songs with quotes from politicians from Helmut Kohl to Joseph Goebbels .

Prizes and awards

Discography

  • The Ships to America - Emigrantenlieder (1995, German Record Critics' Prize)
  • Stick out of the sack - Hoffmann von Fallersleben (2002, German Record Critics' Award)
  • 1920 - Songs of the March Revolution (with Frank Baier ) (2006, German Record Critics' Award)
  • It was dark, the moon was shining bright - songs of the children (2012, Zaches & die Grenzgänger)
  • Fly maybeetle! - Lost songs 1914–1918 (2014, German Record Critics' Prize)
  • Don't worry, Leschinsky! (with Frank Baier ) (2014, new edition of: " 1920 - Songs of the March Revolution" )
  • And because man is a man (Lager songs resistance) (2015)
  • Brot & Rosen (love songs, guest; Cynthia Nickschas ) (2017, German Record Critics' Award)
  • Songs of a Living (Georg Herwegh) (2017)
  • The wild songs of young Marx (2018, Karl Marx)
  • Revolution (2018, songs about the November Revolution 1918)
  • Hölderlin (2020, 14 songs with texts by Friedrich Hölderlin)

Sampler

  • German Folk Prize (1995)
  • The Travellin 'Companion 3: A Musical Journey to Germany (2003)
  • O bitter time - camp songs 1933–1945 (2007, German Record Critics' Award)

Web links