rock'n'rill

A profile

Photo by Daniel Biscan

Hi guys,

I’ve recently been asked to fill out a questionnaire with some info about my career, favorite books and movies and stuff like that. I thought maybe some of you might be interested. So here goes:

Name: Markus Rill

Date of birth: March 20, 1970

Instruments: Guitar, vocal, harmonica

Place of residence: Munich/Germany

Motto: „Today’s music ain’t got the same soul, I like that old time rock’n’roll“ (Bob Seger)

Musical influences: Bob Dylan, Townes van Zandt, Steve Earle, Dave Alvin, Bruce Springsteen, Rolling Stones, Johnny Cash.

Musical history: I started playing guitar relatively late at age 18. Started trying to write my first songs soon thereafter. After a few music-inspired trips to the US, I enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin - a city that is a hotbed for songwriters and roots-oriented musicians. The Austin ethos is still the foundation of everything that’s important to me as a songwriter and performer: authenticity, depth, no frills. Later on, I recorded three albums with some of the finest musicians on the Americana scene in Nashville, TN. I also played festivals and club dates in the US. Since the birth of my three-year old daughter, I’ve been focusing on gigs and tours in Europe - solo, with international friends or with my band, The Troublemakers.

Favorite musical genres: Rock’n’roll, folk, country, soul, blues

Favorite movies: Slingblade, Boys Don’t Cry, Pulp Fiction, The Last Picture Show

Favorite novels: The Catcher In The Rye – JD Salinger, The Last Picture Show – Larry McMurtry, To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee, The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway.

Hobbies: Sports, literature, movies

Other peculiarities: German champion in wrestling, several times between 1980 and ca. 1994

7 August 2012 ·