Reverend Schulzz

Reverend Schulzz live 1993

Dirk Schulz (born August 29, 1965 in Hanau ) known as Reverend Schulzz , is a German singer-songwriter whose English-language songs are firmly rooted in American folk . Schulzz sings, plays the guitar and harmonica.

Career

From the beginning of his career, Schulz used the pseudonym Reverend Schulzz . The addition of the name Reverend is not religiously motivated, but is intended to create a reference to the blues scene, in which epithets such as Reverend have a tradition. He draws the main stylistic influences for his music from the blues and especially the folk, further influences come from independent and alternative rock . Bob Dylan on the one hand and the hardcore punk band Uncounted Faces of Death on the other left the most formative impression . He himself describes his music as a “folk-based alternative singer / songwriter style”.

Reverend Schulzz plays live, either alone or with different backing bands in different line-ups, depending on the occasion. Schulzz has worked with some musicians for years or even decades, for example with the guitarist Andi Kerl or the accordionist Burkhard Rieger, who has been his most constant live musician in recent years. During the years of their marriage, Schulzz's ex-wife Julia played the singing saw and still does so occasionally.

Schulzz gained his first musical experience in 1987 in the Gothic band The Rebirth .

In 1988 Schulzz founded the band The Swamp . The formation played punk folk rock and broke up a year later. The Swamp's only release was a self-published live tape recorded in Frankfurt.

Schulzz founded The Crow in 1989 with guitarist Andi Kerl . Kerl and Schulzz worked together for over 25 years, Kerl was guitarist in all Reverend Schulzz backing bands and played guitar on all releases until 2015. The Crow initially acted as a duo and released a tape simply titled The Crow with 7 tracks on the Hanau label Komista. From 1990 bassist Olaf Gerstner and drummer Michael Huebenthal completed the band. With this line-up, The Crow released the tape Ministrel Man and recorded their album Combat Folk Songs in 1992 . After the movie The Crow hit theaters and after staff changes, the band decided to change their name to Birdspookers in 1995 .

In addition to his activities with the Birdspookers , Schulzz took part in various bands in the nineties such as the punk trio Brainshakers or with Robsie Richter in the surf punk band Los Wrestling Mariachis .

In 1998 Schulzz released his first solo album Mayfly . On the album, which he produced himself, he was accompanied by Andi Kerl as well as the singer Claudia Fink and the bassist Oliver Kramer. In 2005, under the name Revernd Schulzz's Birdspookers, the album First Division Town followed , which was recorded by Schulzz, Andi Kerl, Burkhard Rieger, Claudia Fink, bassist Gregor Wilkenloh and drummer Holger Förster.

This line-up, albeit with the new drummer Christof Cho and supplemented by a few guest musicians, released the CD Hobo Submarine in 2011 as Reverend Schulzz & The Holy Service . A music video designed by the comic artist and painter Rautie was released for the song Drugstore Girl .

In February 2017 Schulzz retired with the musician and producer Gero Takke to the remote house of a friend in the woods of the Spessart. In the deliberately sought-after seclusion, the two recorded the album In the Land of the One Eyed Cat . Rautie was inspired by each of the songs on the album to create a painting and also painted the cover. The CD comes with a 24-page booklet containing Schulzz's lyrics and Rautenberg's pictures. The images were exhibited at the CD release party and also appeared in a portfolio with twelve art prints.

Biographical and personal life

Schulzz grew up in his native Hanau and lives there to this day. He attended the Eberhard Realschule in Hanau and passed his Abitur at the Business School of the Commercial Schools II in Hanau. He studied theology and philosophy at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt . Schulzz is divorced once and lives in a steady partnership. He has no children.

Discography

Albums

• 1989 The Crow The Crow (Komista, tape)
• 1991 The Crow Ministrel Man (self-published, tape)
• 1992 The Crow Combat Folk Songs (Twang! Records)
• 1998 Reverend Schulzz Mayfly (Cellarphone Records)
• 2005 Reverend Schulzz's Birdspookers First Division Town (Cellarphone Records)
• 2011 Reverend Schulzz & The Holy Service Hobo Submarine (Cellarphone Records)
• 2017 Reverend Schulzz In the Land of the One Eyed Cat (Cellarphone Records)

Sampler contributions

• 2002 Hanau rocks on tolerance # 1 (United Power Fields)
• 2005 Golden Trax from the Neighborhood (United Power Fields)
• 2009 A Tribute to Rich Hopkins: The Godfather of Desert Rock (San Jacinto Records)
• 2015 Hanau rocks on tolerance # 3 (United Power Fields)

Web links

• Reverend Schulzz Official Webpage
• Rev. Schulzz at Discogs (English)
• Reverend Schulzz's recordings in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Pamela Dörhöfer: Commercial success was never his goal. Frankfurter Rundschau, August 18, 2011, accessed on June 16, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Detlef Kinsler: Reverend Schulzz at MuF: Freshly cleaned shoes. Journal Frankfurt, July 18, 2014, accessed on June 16, 2017 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Reverend Schulzz. Official Facebook Page, accessed June 16, 2017 . 
4. ↑ Torsten Kauke: HU Punk History Part 7: The Swamp: "Home of the James". Unpop Media, November 16, 2010, accessed June 16, 2017 . 
5. ↑ Andi Kerl: before there even was drum & bass. (No longer available online.) Personal homepage, archived from the original on February 9, 2018 ; accessed on June 16, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ Booklet of the CD: In the Land of the One Eyed Cat . Ed .: Cellarphone Records. 2017.
7. ↑ Dieter Kögel: Release party for the new Schulzz CD: Reverend sings and Rautie draws for it. Offenbach Post, May 16, 2017, accessed June 17, 2017 .