Summary
Fiddler's Green is a German band that plays Irish folk music. Formed in 1990, their first concert under the name of Fiddler's Green was at the Newcomer-Festival in Erlangen in November 1990. Their debut album entitled "Fiddler's Green" was released in 1992 and featured both live and studio tracks, some traditional and some original material. It was released on their own label, Deaf Shepherd Recordings. The band has been signed to a major label, but chose to go back to being independent. The band members themselves refer to their music as Irish Speedfolk, as opposed to Folk rock or Irish folk.[1]
Fiddler's Green | |
|---|---|
 Fiddler's Green in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Erlangen, Germany |
| Genres | Irish folk, Folk rock, Folk punk, Speedfolk |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels | Deaf Shepherd Records |
| Members | Ralf Albers Tobias Anton Heindl |
| Past members | Dr. Robert Oppel (1990–1991) Eric Obst (1990–1995) |
| Website | www.fiddlers.de |
The band has kept up the mix of traditional Irish or Scottish songs and self-written tracks, though the self-written tracks have progressively become less and less folky. The band's influences are wide and varied, but obviously heavily influenced by Celtic rock bands like the Pogues, the Waterboys and Great Big Sea. Recent albums also see a clear influence from Gothic rock music. Having enjoyed growing success in and around Germany, the band reached 1000 played concerts in 2004 (the only band member to play them all is bass player Rainer Schulz), which was celebrated with a concert at Castle Hoheneck. This concert was filmed and released on two DVDs: Celebrate! and Jubilate! The concert saw participation from former band members and other guest musicians. Main lyric and music writer Peter Pathos left the band in summer 2006 and was replaced by Patrick 'Pat' Prziwara. A live DVD Folk's not dead was released to celebrate the band's 20th anniversary in 2010.[2]
Members edit
Current lineup edit
- Ralf "Albi" Albers - vocals, guitar, Irish bouzouki, mandolin (1990–present)
- Rainer Schulz - bass (1990–present)
- Stefan Klug - accordion, bodhrán (1991–present)
- Tobias Heindl - violin, vocals (2000–present)
- Frank Jooss - drums, percussion (2001–present)
- Patrick "Pat" Prziwara - vocals, guitar (2006–present)
Former members edit
- Robert Oppel - violin (1990–1991)
- Eric Obst - drums (1990–1995)
- Tobias Rempe - violin (1991–1995)
- Tobias Schäfer - violin (1995–2000)
- Wolfram Kellner - drums (1995–2001)
- Peter Pathos - guitar, mandolin, banjo, flute (1990–2006)
Discography edit
Studio albums edit
| Year | Title | German album charts[3] |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Fiddler's Green | — |
| 1993 | Black Sheep | — |
| 1995 | King Shepherd | — |
| 1996 | Make Up Your Mind | — |
| 1997 | On and On | 61 |
| 1998 | Spin Around | — |
| 2000 | Another Sky | — |
| 2002 | Folk Raider | — |
| 2003 | Nu Folk | — |
| 2007 | Drive Me Mad! | 74 |
| 2009 | Sports Day at Killaloe | 52 |
| 2011 | Wall of Folk | 24 |
| 2013 | Winners & Boozers | 7 |
| 2015 | 25 Blarney Roses | 30 |
| 2016 | Devil's Dozen | 22 |
| 2019 | Heyday | 7 |
| 2020 | 3 Cheers for 30 Years | 91 |
| 2022 | Seven Holy Nights | 40 |
| 2023 | The Green Machine | 5 |
Live albums edit
| Year | Title | German album charts[4] |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Stagebox | — |
| 2005 | Celebrate! | — |
| 2005 | Jubilate! (DVD) | — |
| 2010 | Folk's not dead (DVD) | 76 |
| 2012 | Acoustic Pub Crawl (unplugged) | — |
| 2015 | 25 Blarney Roses: Live from Cologne | — |
References edit
- ^ "Biography - Fiddler's Green". Fiddlers.de. Retrieved 14 August 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Sascha, Blach (16 July 2010). "Fiddler's Green proklamieren: "Folk's Not Dead"!". Zillo MusikMagazin (in German). Zillo MusicMedia Verlag GmbH.[dead link]
- ^ "Discographie Fiddler's Green". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ^ "Fiddler's Green Longplay-Chartverfolgung". Musicline.de (in German). Phononet GmbH. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
External links edit
- Official website
- German Fansite
- Der grüne Geiger - Tobias Heindl
- Not to be confused with Fiddler's Green also the name of an Indian jam band playing acoustic folk music from all around the world. Band members are Arko Mukherjee, Diptanshu Roy, Ritoban Das & Shamik Chatterjee
Image https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p037b73x/p037bbsl http://fiddlersgreen.in