TøNDER, DANMARK (Top40 Charts) Diversity is assured when
Blackberry Smoke from Georgia, USA, take the stage at Tønder Festival. They have a huge following both in USA and Europe, and will certainly delight those festivalgoers with a taste for rock music.
Blackberry Smoke deliver heavy south state rock, blues and country rock.
From a different corner, to wit Quebec in Canada, come the É.T.É trio, who serve up their own, fresh interpretations of traditional folk music from Quebec.
Then we have a regular: Niels Hausgaard. He cannot let us down. He is as essential a part of Tønder Festival as the guy ropes on Tent 1. Niels Hausgaard appears with pianist
Martin Schack.
Poul Krebs set up the Home concert to foreground the plight of young homeless people. As well as Poul Krebs himself, Steen Jørgensen, Kira Skov, Kajsa Vala and
Henning Kvitnes will be on stage.
We're having another visit from northern Jutland songwriter Mikael K, who is bringing his new band Landstrygerne (The Vagabonds). The return, too, of one of last year's successes: Folkhistorier (Folk Stories) with podcast hosts and music journalists Klaus Lynggaard & Henrik Queitsch.
... and there is more. Come and sing along with Kunsten at glædes i kor (The Joy of Singing Together.) Enjoy the popular songwriter sessions Women´s Circle and Gentlemen´s Circle, half-a-dozen musicians on stage together, playing along on each others' songs. On Friday forenoon there's a school concert with folkBALTICA and Mallemuk, and throughout the festival, artist interviews at Gaffa Talk and Jyske Vestkysten Talk.
The official Tønder Festival 2023 opening ceremony is on
Thursday 24 August, with Culture
Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt and Tønder mayor
Jørgen Popp Pedersen.
THE MUSICIANS:
Blackberry Smoke (USA):
Solid country rock, the raw roar of raucous axes from Atlanta, Georgia: the rock band
Blackberry Smoke tops out the Tønder Festival programme for this year. And it will not be quiet.
Blackberry Smoke have a weighty international reputation and they burn real energy when they hit the stage. They are a classic American rock band, drawing on south state rock, country, folk and blues. The band formed in 2000 and released their first album in 2003. They have since made six studio albums and two live albums. Traces of ZZ Top,
Lynyrd Skynyrd and Gov't Mule are undeniable, as is the inspiration from the legendary Allman Brothers Band, also from Atlanta.
Gregg Allman actually plays on Blackberry Smoke's 2016 album Like An Arrow. The year before, the band released the album Holding The Roses, which made first place on Billboard's Top Country Album list. Their most recent effort is the album You Hear Georgia (2021).
Blackberry Smoke toured
Europe in March and April of 2023, including a show at Amager Bio in Copenhagen. Tønder Festival sees their only Danish festival appearance in 2023.
www.blackberrysmoke.com
É.T.É (CAN):
The É.T.É trio are from Quebec in Canada and play new versions of traditional Québécois folk music. The band name is just the first letters of the musicians' names: Élisabeth Moquin, violin, vocal and step dance; Thierry Clouette, vocal, multi-instrumentalist with bouzouki as his lead instrument, and Élisabeth Giroux, cello and vocal. All three are classically trained at conservatory and university, with a grounding in jazz and folk music. They formed É.T.É in 2015 and soon earned their place on the Canadian music scene. Their first release, Le boire des minuits, appeared in 2017, and soon won the Canadian OPUS-prize in the Discovery of the Year category. With their delicate vocal harmonies, their musical facility and their mastery of traditional step dance, É.T.É are a band with new ideas to enhance the strong Québécois music culture. Their latest album is Sur Ces Eaux from 2022. Their only Danish festival in 2023.
www.etemusiquetrad.ca
Niels Hausgaard and
Martin Schack (DK):
It would be no exaggeration to say that Niels Hausgaard has been on a 'never ending tour' since the early 1970s. When he tours the country for four months every winter and spring, he fills halls everywhere. This year, the show is entitled The Danish Dane, and, as last year, pianist
Martin Schack sits at his side on stage. Besides his annual tour, Niels Hausgaard has another fixed date in his calendar: Tønder Festival. The Danish poet, satiricist, songwriter, polemicist and entertainer has made his mark on Tønder Festival since the 70s, and he's making no exception in 2023. Niels Hausgaard (born in 1944) is a bit of a national hero. His audience is broad, of all ages, and on stage he leaves himself plenty of room for improvisation and for response to audience reactions. His timing and fecundity of imagination have inspired countless colleagues, and his talent for razor-sharp satire is legendary.
www.nielshausgaard.dk
Home: Songs for Young Homeless Folk (DK, N):
Home is the title of a 90-minute show at this year's Tønder Festival. The idea was Poul Krebs', and the concert is comprised of songs dedicated to young homeless people. On stage will be a number of Danish and foreign musicians, among them Kira Skov, Steen Jørgensen, Kajsa Vala,
Henning Kvitnes and naturally Poul Krebs himself. "We want to spread information, communication and understanding of the plight of young homeless folk.
Christina Strauss, leader of the SAND organisation, will tell her story, which is far more desperate and moving than any song I could ever write," says Poul Krebs. He has of course written a song about just that, and the other musicians' songs have the same focus. Tønder Festival is proud to stage this show. "Folk and roots music often comes from vagabonds, homeless and travelling musicians. The 'hobo' is part of Tønder Festival's ethos, and we hope that this Home concert will help draw attention to young homeless people," says
Maria Theessink, artistic director at Tønder Festival.
Mikael K & Landstrygerne (The Vagabonds) (DK):
Songwriter Mikael K has been making music for 20 years with his band Klondyke. Now, his first solo album, Stille Uro (Restless Peace), will be released at this year's Tønder Festival.
Mikael K has hitherto written songs about the people he has met and the places he has lived: Copenhagen and its characters, and life in the country. This time, the songs are close-ups, from love songs, drinking songs, about regret, children, separation and divorce, about being outlawed and rejected, about arrogance and flight, and about the restlessness and the peace in a grown man's heart. Mikael K has played many roles - musician, composer, writer, columnist and TV host - but first and foremost he is a modern troubadour. He has won
Radio Denmark's P4 prize, the Bjørn Afzelius prize, the Gelsted-Kirk-Scherfig prize as well as a Danish
Music Award-Folk as Songwriter of the Year. At Tønder Festival 2023, Mikael K's new songs will see the light of day at the presentation of the new band MIKAEL K & LANDSTRYGERNE.
www.klondyke.dk
Folk Stories with Klaus Lynggaard and Henrik Queitsch:
The two hosts, Klaus Lynggaard and Henrik Queitsch, have made over 200 episodes of their popular podcast Rock Stories, covering many aspects of the musical world, from lullabies to frazzled rage rock, from rebel soul to heart-broken country, from musicals til metal, and much in between. Their mantra could be that there are only two kinds of music, good and bad. And they reserve the right to distinguish. Sometimes they have a guest in to play some of the numbers that have meant a lot to them as people and musicians. Over two days at this year's Tønder Festival, Folk Stories will invite a couple of festival musicians in for a chat about the music that changed their lives. Folk Stories began at Tønder Festival in 2022.
KUNSTEN AT GLÆDES I KOR (THE JOY OF SINGING TOGETHER)(DK):
The Wadden Sea is the epicentre of The Joy of Singing Together, Danish songs and hymns sung by choir and audience. The nature and culture of the Wadden Sea region is the springboard for the music. "It's very simple. Our ambition is to gather the biggest audience choir in the Wadden Sea area to share our pleasure in singing together, so that the songs and the music involve everyone," says musician
Casper Mikkelsen, one of the originators. KUNSTEN AT GLÆDES I KOR has featured at several Tønder Festivals. Now the singers and musicians are back, hoping that you, the audience, will join in. And they emphasize that anybody can be part of it, choirs and individuals, professional and amateur singers, veterans and beginners.
Tønder Festival 2023:
Graham Nash (USA),
Sarah Jarosz (USA),
Blackberry Smoke (USA), Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms Country Band with special guest vocalist
Lukas Graham (USA, DK),
David Ramirez (USA), Aoife O'Donovan (USA), Jim Lauderdale (USA), Joachim Cooder (USA),
Nickel Creek (USA), Liam Ó Maonlaí (IRL), Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker & John Doyle (ENG/SCO/IRL), Allan Olsen (DK),
Sierra Ferrell (USA), The Dead South (CAN), The Unthanks (ENG),
David Ritschard (SE), Ariel Posen (CAN), Sorten Muld (DK), Frankie Gavin & De Dannan (IRL), Emily Scott Robinson, Alisa Amador & Violet Bell (USA), Lawrence
Maxwell (CAN), Jeremy Dutcher (CAN), Buffalo Nichols (USA),
Israel Nash (USA), The Local Honeys (USA), Adyn Townes (CAN), Ross Ainslie, Ali Hutton & Owen Sinclair (SCO), The Mary Wallopers (IRL), Lisa O'Neill (IRL), Dustbowl Revival (USA), Altan (IRL), Kíla (IRL), Roo Panes (ENG), Tejon Street Corner Thieves (USA), Leftover Salmon (USA), Aysanabee (CAN), Niteworks (SCO), Shane Smith & The Saints (USA), Hackensaw Boys (USA), Mec Lir (SCO), Gnoss (SCO), Margo Cilker (USA), Joshua Ray Walker (USA), Kelsey Waldon (USA), Willie Stratton (CAN), É.T.É (CAN), HOME m. Poul Krebs, Steen Jørgensen, Kira Skov, Kajsa Vala,
Henning Kvitnes (DK, N), Niels Hausgaard and
Martin Schack (DK), Mikael K and Landstrygerne (DK), Mallemuk (DK), Det Yderste Hav (DK), The Tarantino Twist Show (DK), Bjonko (DK), AySay (DK),
William Torp (DK), Baby Did A Bad Thing (DK), FolkBALTICA Ensemblet (DK, D),
Twang (DK), Kristian Bach (DK), Folk Spot Denmark (DK), Folk Stories with Klaus Lynggaard & Henrik Queitsch (DK), Kunsten at glædes i kor (DK), Women's Circle, Gentlemen's Circle, Gaffa Talk, Jyske Vestkysten Talk.
Tønder Festival 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th August 2023
www.tf.dk
www.facebook.com/tonderfestival
Twitter: @tonderfestival
Instagram: TONDERFESTIVAL
Tickets: www.tf.dk
Maria Theessink
Tønder Festival
+45 26 22 67 11
