rock'n'rill

Real Roots Café review My Rocket Ship

Tue, 21 May 2013 22:39:00 +0200

Here’s the original Dutch review (http://www.realrootscafe.com/2013/05/17/markus-rill-and-the-troublemakers-my-rocket-ship)

- and here’s my translation with Babelfish help.

Markus Rill is a German singer-songwriter (Frankfurt, 1970) who now delivers his tenth CD since 1997. He received his musical education (like many others) in Austin, Texas, where he lived in the 90ies as an English student. He was particularly struck by the music of Townes van Zandt and Guy Clark and decided to pursue songwriting himself. Here’s an interesting detail: Before he went to Austin, Markus was a multiple German wrestling champion.

Markus (guitar, harmonica, vocals) brings us a nice mix of rock, blues, folk and country with his band, The Troublemakers (guitar / banjo / mandolin, piano / organ / melodica / glockenspiel, bass, drums). There is outside help on fiddle, mandolin, dobro, various guitars and backing vocals. All fourteen songs on the CD are written by Rill, three of them with co-writers, among them Annika Fehling (who also sings on a few songs). The overall feel is that of an eclectic, surprisingly pleasant country-rock CD with startling originality. Rill’s gritty voice fits these songs very well and the musical delivery is excellent. Rill’s strong lyrics deal with the human desire to make sense of life or live meaningfully, an effort in which, unsurprisingly, trial and error occur.
‘My Rocket Ship’ is a zinger of an album by a German singer-songwriter whose English is flawless (not surprising after his studies!) and whose songwriting is outstanding. He leaves many Austin artists far behind him.

Rookie review of My Rocket Ship

Fri, 10 May 2013 11:22:22 +0200

There’s a new German magazine dedicated to Roots- & Americana music named Rookie. It’s written & produced by Rolling Stone writers & editors. Jörg Feyer has long been my favorite German writer on all things Americana and he wrote a lovely, perceptive review of My Rocket Ship.

Flying solo

Tue, 07 May 2013 10:24:32 +0200

The toys I used at analoghaus, some are mine, some are Tom’s

Hi guys,

last week I spent a couple days recording some solo songs at Tom Ripphahn’s analoghaus studio in Karben. I had a whole bunch of songs that I strongly feel are good songs worth recording. However, it’s clearly too soon to record a full-band follow-up to My Rocket Ship a few months after the album’s release date. I was also intrigued to find out what I could do on my own or how those songs might sound as a duo recording utilizing Tom Ripphahn’s many talents on guitar, mandolin, harmonium, piano, bass or drums.
In two and a half studio days I laid down solo versions of 14 songs. I played acoustic guitar, dobro, banjo, electric guitar & harmonica.
It’s good stuff, I like how the rough mixes sound. However, I’m a little unsure how to proceed.
Most of the songs sound good in these very sparse versions. Some of them could use an overdub or two.
Two thoughts about that:
1. It’s very hard to rein myself in on the overdub front. It’s very tempting to try this or try that but I’d still like the album to feel sparse. (It needs to feel different than a band album or else what would be the point of it.)

2. It almost feels like I’d be betraying the Troublemakers if I finished this record without their contributions. The original plan was to just have Tom & me playing on these recordings but the guys are my good friends and I love their playing so in a way it would feel unnatural not to ask them to play on it.

I’ll do some more thinking on this in the next few days.

Markus

Share the faith - excellent review from the UK

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:19:44 +0200

I admit that I’m particularly curious about reviews from native speakers. Here’s a good one from NetRhythms in the UK.

Markus Rill & The Troublemakers - My Rocket Ship (Blue Rose)

The second album in as many years from the German singer-songwriter continues to establish his credentials as an honorary Austinite, again evoking comparisons to Steve Earle. Although you’ll hear some dark Appalachian tones swirling around the loneliness, love and liquor themed One Fix Or Another and When The Night Calls filters in doo wop and Southern soul, he’s once more painting from a very Texan pallette. Brushtrokes range from the throaty, bluesy drawls like Edge Of Nothing and the funky boneyard stomp of Way Down to dusty, reflective troubadour numbers like the title track’s ode to his guitar and the poignant The Facts Of My Life, the lyrics based on the tweets of Lauara Kinney, a 31-year-old infant victim of viral meningitis born with club feet who’s never grown beyond 4’9” as opposed to the Marvel universe Wolverine clone.

There’s a streak of sentimentality evident on Far Too Long Too Far, a jaunty brushed snare and slide guitar road song letter home to his daughter while the strive-harder For The Stars casts a romantic optimist light, but there’s never anything less than honest emotions. Which is why the album’s closing track, The Late Great TvZ, a part spoken reminiscence of and homage to Townes Van Zandt backdropped by just acoustic guitar and lap steel, comes from the heart without any hint of cheese or corn. “God believes in me”, he sings on his award-winning ‘gospel’ song. You should share the faith.

Mike Davies, April 2013

http://www.netrhythms.co.uk/reviews.html#rill

Ehrenorden aus der Oberpfalz

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 15:39:00 +0200

Expuls, Kulturmagazin für die Oberpfalz, April/Mai 2013

Markus Rill & The Troublemakers - My Rocket Ship (Blue Rose)

Es ist unglaublich: Markus Rill kommt wirklich aus Würzburg und nicht aus einem staubigen Kaff irgendwo in Texas. Leider muss man fast sagen, dann wer kauft einem Deutschen denn dieses tief verinnerlichte Americana-Gefühl ab. Rill hat schon immer passable bis gute Platten gemacht, hier aber liegt sein Meisterstück vor. Mit rauer, intensiver Raspelstimme intoniert er Country-Rock, Folk-Noir, Southern Rock, Bluegrass, Muscle Shoals Soul, Rock´n´Roll und Blues, spielt auf einer weiten Klaviatur der Gefühle, beherrscht Balladen bald besser als stürmische Rocker, badet in allen Schattierungen des Gitarren-Sounds und wird hiermit der John Cougar Mellencamp „Pour Le Merit “ am Bande verliehen. Der Dirk Nowitzki des Americana.
5 von 5 Sternen

A Swedish review from Rootsy

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:50:13 +0200

Here’s a Swedish review of My Rocket Ship from http://www.rootsy.nu/recension.php?id=2144

And here’s a translation with the help of some Babelfish.

Markus Rill & The Troublemakers - My Rocket Ship
(Blue Rose Records)

As a young talented musician Markus Rill lived in Austin, Tx. for a while soaking up the music scene. He later played at the Bluebird Café in Nashville and SXSW in Austin. But apart from these brief stints, it is Germany that is his home. He didn’t grow up with Highway 61, Interstate 10, diners and honkytonks but rather with the Autobahn, currywurst, weissbier and Gasthaus. And with towns on the prairie called Wurzburg, Schweinfurt, Heilbronn and Waldkirchen. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

The 42-year-old Rill has eight albums under his belt. He makes authentic, credible Americana music based on his own life.

”To become an interesting artist you have to be yourself. I no longer write variants of Steve Earle songs. I have my own stories to tell.”

Still, when you listen Markus Rill & The Troublemakers some American Americana artists come to mind, simply because Rill plays in the same league as Chris Knight, Jud Newcomb, Jon Dee Graham, Kevin Gordon and Matthew Grimm (ex-Hang Dogs).

He demonstrates wonderful melodic fluency in songs like “When the Night Calls”, “For the Stars” and “Far Too Long Too Far”, creates a great atmosphere in “Edge of Nothing” and a calmer one in »My Rocket Ship”. In “One Fix Or Another« he contemplates the consequences and different points of view after a separation:

It’s been a while since I’ve been married
been a while since I’ve been dry
She says she left cause of my drinkin ‘
In says I drink Because she left behind Me

Album closer »The Late Great TVZ« is not a tribute to [Swedish TV channel] Z-TV but to his idol Townes Van Zandt whom Rill met backstage just weeks before he passed away. A meeting that still inspires Markus Rill in his artistry despite or because of the fragile shape van Zandt was in.

Urban Henriksson

Adventures past & present - the April newsletter

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:27:07 +0200

Würzburg/Germany, April 9, 2013

Hi folks,

plenty of news and since I’m an organized German, I’m breaking the newsletter down into three parts.

1. I’m very happy that No Depression - the bible for all things alt.country - have taken note of me for the first time. They’re calling My Rocket Ship “my best work to date” and flatter me with saying “Rill shows great depth as a songwriter, bandleader and producer”.
Country.de and Frizz magazine have written nice portraits, and other sites & magazines have chimed in about the album. Read all the reviews in
the review section of my website

2. I took the band out on a road trip to Berlin and Lauchhammer. We had an excellent time. Read our little tour diary in the blog and enjoy this video from the Bassy Club in Berlin. There may be another video or two up shortly.

3. There’s a few solo shows coming up that I’m really stoked about. On April 30 and May 1 I’ll be recording some solo stuff at Tom Ripphahn’s analoghaus studio. This may result in a website-only EP or in something more - we’ll see. But I’ll be road-testing some of the songs I plan to record in the upcoming gigs.

This Sunday, April 14, I’ll be at Die Salongesellschaft, a beautiful venue in Eltville-Martinsthal (near Wiesbaden). Your excellent hostesses would love you to make a reservation via www.diesalongesellschaft.de because they’ll be preparing a lovely supper for you. Vanessa Novak will open.
On Tuesday, April 16, I’ll be participating in intriguing event at Ausstellungshalle in Frankfurt/M. There’ll be art, literature, politics & music (- that’s my part): More info at http://deinlandmeinland.com/2012/05/23/uber-uns/

Then there’ll follow a string of gigs with my friend Eva Hillered from Sweden. Eva and I have co-written Girl Of Many Secrets and are looking forward to sharing some songs & shows.
We’ll be playing together on Wednesday, April 17, at Brot & Spiele in Schweinfurt, on Thursday, April 18, at Wunschlos glücklich in Würzburg, and on Saturday, April 20, at Songs auf dem Boot in Berlin hosted by Claudia Nentwich.
Back from Berlin I’ll be playing a hometown show on Thursday, April 25, in beautiful Aschaffenburg at the Erthaltheater. Very much looking forward to this!

The May preview:
May 15: Songwriter Night with Anny Celsi at Wunschlos glücklich, Würzburg.
May 16: Pädagog, Darmstadt with Vanessa Novak
May 17: Brückenkopf, Hanau. Vanessa Novak opens.
May 22: K4, Nürnberg, acoustic Troublemaker trio opening for I See Hawks In L.A.

You see we’re keeping busy. Check in regularly with rocknrill.tumblr.com, on Facebook or on Twitter to find out what’s happening.

See you around,
Markus

Four days on the road

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:23:04 +0200

Hi guys,

The Troublemakers had a great run this last weekend playing gigs in Uettingen, Berlin & Lauchhammer. On Sunday I played a solo gig at the opening of the Rock & HiFi Museum in Marksuhl/Thüringen.

A short recap.
Since regular Troublemakers drummer Aggi couldn’t make the trip, my longtime friend Leonardo von Papp took his place for these gigs. We had two afternoons of rehearsing and a warmup gig planned before our trip East.
In early March our planned warmup gig at Holzwurm in Marktheidenfeld fell through. The city has a ruling that there be no festivities the day before Good Friday.
So with the help of our friends in Lick And A Promise we arranged a private party in Uettingen on short notice. About a 120 people showed up, we played a rocking 90-minute set and things went well. Leonardo was very well-prepared. Unfortunately, we got the news that our keyboard player Jan was in bed with a fever and would not be able to play the next two shows with us.

On Friday we set off to Berlin for our gig at Bassy’s. Berlin is the only place in Germany that allows live music on Good Friday and Bassy’s is one of Berlin’s coolest venues - so we were happy to snatch that gig. It really is a very cool venue but Berlin being Berlin we were supposed to start very late - 10 pm.
After soundcheck the manager told us to start a little later, maybe 11 pm, then the sound guy Javier said “better start even later” and in the end we had to put our foot down to go on at 11.30.
We had a good crowd, a whole bunch of people were there to see us. Some had brought CDs to sign, one good man had even come all the way from Greece to catch our show (I’m not kidding). Via twitter Ruud had requested that we play Sarah Stein and even though it was not the most natural song to play at that venue, it went over well.
We had a good time and ended our show with the 1 pm curfew.
One of the BossHoss guys came in and caught the tail end of our show.

My only problem on an otherwise very enjoyable night: My pretty expensive and pretty new Fishman Aura Spectrum DI thingy started acting up. No signal.

Leonardo von Papp, our sub drummer

We stayed overnight at the Bassy Club’s artist apartment, Leonardo - since he lives in Berlin - stayed with his family.
Since Lauchhammer is less than two hours away from Berlin, we had a little time to explore Berlin on Saturday morning. Felix & Chris explored, I stayed in and read some in the enjoyable new Tom Wolfe novel Back To Blood. Then I went out and realized I was very close to my favorite English bookstore in Berlin so I went there and spent some money.

And onwards to Lauchhammer near Dresden. I’d been to Real Music twice before in 2005/2006. One time I opened solo for Chris Knight, the other time I brought my then-band, The Gunslingers.
Since then, Real Music have moved to a different venue that they have decorated and built beautifully. With us on the bill was Elizabeth Lee from Austin, Tx. and her Italian band, Cozmic Mojo. Sitting in on drums in her band was booker Christian Böhm, a pleasant surprise. He’s a good guy, I’ve met him a few times.

We went on first and went over very well. We changed up the set a little, bringing Natascha to Lauchhammer in exchange for Sarah Stein and exchanged a few more songs but again, Leonardo played like a champ and we did our best to keep up.
Elizabeth Lee was very complimentary about our set and invited Chris & me to join them on Dead Flowers (which went very well) and I Just Want To Make Love To You (which we weaseled our way through).
A very fun night. Lots of folks had brought CDs for me to sign, everybody was very complimentary. Felt very good.

The boys left early on Sunday to spend Easter Sunday with their families. I drove three hours to Marksuhl in Thüringen (where my Dad now lives) to play at the opening of the local Rock & HiFi museum.
The place is beautiful with lots of cool memorabilia, mostly great Stones stuff but also Traveling Wilburys stuff, an original autograph of all four Beatles and plenty of other really nice things.

I played two solo sets for maybe 40 invited guests. I enjoyed playing a few songs I hadn’t done the last three nights and having a very quiet, attentive audience. Surprisingly, I sold more CDs to those 40 people than I did the entire three previous nights combined in which we had played for maybe 450 to 500 people in total. Weird how that goes.

At any rate, that was a very successful and fun trip. I would love to be able to bring the band up north for some shows in Hamburg, Bremen, maybe Hannover. Would also love to play some dates out west in the Cologne/Dortmund/Ruhrgebiet area. Contact me if you want to book us, ok?

April will bring a whole bunch of solo & duo gigs. Should be fun!
See ya,
Markus

A couple of new reviews

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:41:00 +0200

Ein interessantes, etwas anderes Kurzporträt im Frizz Magazin:
http://www.frizz-online.de/stadtmagazin/aschaffenburg/magazin/b/bandbesprechung-42013—markus-rill-128

Eine Rezension von My Rocket Ship in der Wasser-Prawda
http://www.wasser-prawda.de/platten/songwriter/item/markus-rill-my-rocket-ship-blue-rose-records.html

CountryMag review My Rocket Ship

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:23:52 +0100

CountryMag review My Rocket Ship:

Great review from CountryMag

No Depression review of My Rocket Ship

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:59:26 +0100

No Depression review of My Rocket Ship

Go East on Easter

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:53:07 +0100

I’m very much looking forward to taking the band on a short tour this coming Easter weekend. On Friday we’ll be at Bassy’s in Berlin, one of the coolest clubs in Germany’s coolest city. And on Saturday we’ll be at Real Music in Lauchhammer near Dresden. The Real Music folks are excellent music lovers who have built this venue from the ground up and are constantly bringing great American acts to East Germany. We’ll be sharing the night with Elizabeth Lee & Cozmic Mojo.

And as a warmup gig, we’ll be playing a private party near Würzburg on Thursday with our friends from Lick And A Promise. (If you want to come to this show, just drop me a line and I’ll send you an invitation.)

The interesting thing about these gigs is that my longtime friend Leonardo von Papp will be playing drums for us. Aggi is otherwise busy this weekend but these dates were not movable so we had to find a sub. Leonardo is a good friend, he played with me in 2002/2003 before he moved to Berlin and a few times since (I saw him pretty much every time I played in Berlin, we usually also played some songs together).
I’m very curious as to how it’s going to feel with a different bus driver. Because, make no mistake, we all have to follow the drummer, not the other way around. Sure, he’ll take some cues from me when it comes to breaks or endings but for the most part, he provides the backbeat and we’re all gonna have to sit on it. And two different drummers will – even if they’ll be playing basically the same part – play with a different feel.
It’ll keep us on our toes and that’s probably a good thing!

So do come out and see us at these gigs, it’ll be unique!

Markus

Dying Bed live 2013

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:25:33 +0100

My mother passed on August 7, 2001. In the following days and weeks I wrote a lot of songs about her and her passing. Some angry songs, some self-pitying songs, some very sad songs. None of them seemed to do her justice or to encompass and convey my conflicting feelings.
I wrote this one - as I remember it - about half a year after her death so it must’ve been early 2002. It helped me then and it still rings true.

Felix and I played it this January at the Finest Tunes gig in Oberursel. The performance and recording came out good.

New song: A Poor Man's Set Of Wheels

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 14:22:00 +0100

Hi guys,

in the time between finishing the new album “My Rocket Ship” and its actual release I wrote a bunch of songs. Here’s a new one I like quite a bit.
I don’t usually write upbeat and very rarely write love songs but I think this one qualifies.
Jan and I recorded this for the CouchByCouchWest festival - a fun alternative for those of us who’ve stayed at home on the couch rather than attending SouthBySouthWest in Austin.

Hervorragendes Gespür für tolle Songs

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 23:56:00 +0100

Main-Echo, 2.März 2013

Hervorragendes Gespür für tolle Songs

Konzert: Markus Rill and The Troublemakers begeistern im Miltenberger Beavers

Miltenberg Ein volles Haus hat Markus Rill mit seiner Band The Troublemakers dem Miltenberger Beavers am Donnerstag beschert. Das Konzert entpuppte sich als eine spannende Reise durch verschiedene Gefühlswelten bei perfekt inszeniertem Klang in einer Mischung aus Rock, Pop, Country und Blues. Und doch greifen Genre-Beschreibungen zu kurz.

Treibender Rhythmus
Schon mit dem ersten Song, einer Country-beeinflussten, rockigen Nummer hatten Rill und Band das Publikum auf ihrer Seite. Nach vorne gehende Spielfreude mit treibendem Rhythmus, mehrstimmigem Gesang und Rills angenehme Stimme ließen aufhorchen. Dabei war der Einstieg nur eine Facette der Vielseitigkeit von Rill und Band. Schon danach überraschten sie mit einer sehr vom Schlagzeug betonten Nummer, die von einer viel raueren Stimme Rills geprägt war.
Die Musik offenbarte Blues-Feeling, und das i-Tüpfelchen war die »singende« Lead-Gitarre. Aber Rill und Kollegen hatten auch leisere Töne parat. Balladeske Melodien zum Songbeginn, getragene Strophen, die zu kraftvollen Refrains führten. Sogar bei so viel Abwechslung in einem Stück schaffte es Rill, während des Lieds noch einmal, eine spannende Steigerung bis hin zu einem epischen Finale einzubauen.

Aufregende Wendungen
Das Konzert war energiegeladen, mit aufregenden Wendungen, leisen, unerwarteten Abschnitten. Auch das immer mitklatschende, mitwippende und begeisterte Publikum wurde in Form von Mitsing-Spielchen eingebunden. Leicht vom Funk beeinflusste Töne, wie bei »When the night calls« nachzuhören, sorgten für Staunen bei den Gästen. Auch ein Country-Abschnitt während des Konzerts, mit Banjo und allem, was dazugehört. »Jetzt kommt noch so ein Country-Heuler«, witzelte Rill. Ein Country-Song, der das Vermissen anderer Menschen zum Thema hatte, ließ eine einzigartige Atmosphäre aufkommen. Zurückhaltend, aber dennoch rockig, wurde auch musikalisch thematisiert, was Rill am Herzen liegt.
Aber es ging gefühlsmäßig im späteren Verlauf des Abends auf der einen Seite noch melancholischer, auf der anderen noch rockiger. Rills Stimme war stets wandlungsfähig und hatte je nach Song immer den passenden Charakter, mal laut, mal leise, mal sanft, mal energievoll. Egal, was die Band gerade machte: Ein solch gutes Gespür für Hooklines, Spannungsbögen und einfach rund wirkende Songs haben nur wenige Musiker so wie Rill. Das sahen auch die Konzertbesucher so. Die verlangten Zugaben wurden gerne gegeben.
Marco Burgemeister

A great CD release show

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:53:00 +0100

Photo by Andreas Heimbeck

We had an excellent, wonderful CD release show on February 9 at Kellerperle in the band’s hometown of Würzburg/Germany. I trust you’ve seen some of the photos at www.facebook.com/markusrill.

I was kinda sick that week and we had played for too long the night before in Frankfurt.
We met at the venue at 3 o’clock on Saturday afternoon. The plan was to rehearse some with our guests and then maybe have time to go home and lie down for a while and change or eat a good dinner before getting back together for the gig.
Well, things didn’t go as planned. Some last-minute calls were made to find a sound man and our rehearsal-cum-soundcheck had me singing for four hours. By 7.30 pm I had no voice anymore and was shattered. I honestly didn’t know how I was gonna get through the show.

By 8 o’clock the place was packed. Frieder Graef played an excellent, musically rich and extremely funny opening set.

When we got started I felt that my voice was not at a hundred percent but there was a great vibe in the room and we played very well. My voice held up ok - thanks to adrenaline.
We ended up having a truly glorious night.

A good part of the set was caught on video. This should give you a rough idea.
Early on in the set, here’s a threefer of For The Stars, Hungry Heart and Carry My Load. 15 minutes uncut. You can tell by my between-song banter that I was having a ball.

Fade To Blue. About two thirds into the set we were joined by cellist Philipp Hagemann. This made me dig up a nugget from the Price Of Sin album that I hadn’t done in years.

Comforting Thought (near the end, exultation on stage and in the room)

None of our wild jam with Frieder got captured on video, the battery had run out. Chances are it was a better experience live anyway.

Johnny's Garden review of My Rocket Ship

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:20:00 +0100

Dutch website Johnny’s Garden have reviewed My Rocket Ship.
You’ll find the original Dutch review here.

http://www.johnnysgarden.eu/?q=content/markus-rill-troublemakers-my-rocket-ship

This is an English translation with the help of a few babelfish.

My first purchase of a Markus Rill album goes back to his debut Gunslinger’s Tale (1997). Since then I have always remained interested in his music although my eagerness for his work is not always constant. In contrast to the quality of the albums he has delivered which have barely wavered in quality - no lows but no triumphant peaks, either. I used to feel the same about Markus Rill as about Ad Vanderveen. Both artists deliver excellent albums in general but real emotion and much-needed tension remain studiously concealed under a blanket of aloofness. Perhaps the mostly conventional productions are to blame for this. I would encourage both artists to push the envelope a little more. You hear right away in a song like Way Down that this approach pays off. Despite my general reservations, My Rocket Ship is an album not to be underestimated.

The opener Free to Fly belongs to the category of “stompers”, the subsequent “Edge of Nothing” is of an entirely different quality and demonstrates for Rill’s true class: Living on the edge of nothing … and nothing ain’t enough. There’s a beautiful desolate atmosphere here backed up by some excellent guitar playing. Facts About My Life is also a powerful song. A more personal story provides access to a deeper emotion. There’s truly something to be revealed here.
“When the Night Calls” has the same effect as the opening song (I could have done without the sha-lala-lala backing vocals). God Believes (in me) is nothing but pure emotion, music that moves me. A few years ago, Rill released The Hobo Companion, simple recordings with some covers of Americana artists. Undoubtedly, Markus Rill knows his classics and I know intuitively that we speak the same language. Within this context The Late Great TvZ, a personal record of Rill’s memory of and tribute to Townes van Zandt, fits perfectly. In summary: Rill’s music could never accurately be called bad but My Rocket Ship shows a more sensitive side. You really get the impression that he has opened himself up and thus he reaches for the stars! An excellent album!

Dagmar Fulle presented my album My Rocket Ship in her radio show...

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 23:13:00 +0100

Dagmar Fulle presented my album My Rocket Ship in her radio show hr1 Lounge on February 13, 2013

Heilbronner Stimme review our gig at Red River

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 11:13:06 +0100

Heilbronner Stimme vom 16. Februar 2013

My Rocket Ship review in Main-Echo, Feb 9, 2013

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:47:00 +0100

Es ist das Feuer der Leidenschaft

Americana: Der aus Goldbach stammende Markus Rill veröffentlicht mit The Troublemakers das Album »My Rocket Ship«

Da ist dieses eine Lied, »Way Down«. Markus Rill und die schwedische Sängerin/Gitarristin Annika Fehling schrieben es, als nach einem gemeinsamen Konzert in Hamburg das Hotel wegen Feueralarms geräumt werden musste.
»Wir kamen aus unseren Zimmern, beide die Gitarre in der Hand, und gingen den ganzen langen dunklen Flur bis zur Treppe. Boom Boom Boom, Way down at the end of the hall …«, erinnert sich Markus Rill. Manchmal schreibt eben doch das Leben Lieder. Und das Beste daran: Das Leben bietet so viele Sichtweisen, so viele Blickwinkel.

Die Welten des Americana

»Way Down« ist auf dem gestern in den Handel gekommenen Album »My Rocket Ship« von Markus Rill & The Troublemakers enthalten – und auf der ebenfalls neuen und sieben akustische Lieder schlanken EP-CD »Light & Dark« von Annika Fehling und Markus Rill.

Zwei Versionen, die Welten auseinander liegen, weil sie ein Thema musikalisch vollkommen unterschiedlich modellieren und damit dem Zuhörer zwei gänzlich verschiedene Gefühlsebenen anbieten: Auf »My Rocket Ship« ist »Way Down« – vordergründig ein Lied über einen, der mit dem Feuer spielt – ein Rill-typischer Blues-Rock, vergleichbar mit »Carry My Load« von seinem vor sieben Jahren entstandenen Album »The Price Of Sin«: stampfend, treibend, pulsierend, voller Energie, jeder Akkord ein hart erarbeiteter Sieg – aber dennoch: ein Sieg. »you won’t get nothing for free / nothing ever comes for free« heißt es an einer Stelle des Lieds, in eine nicht zufällig an Tom Waits erinnernde Lautfräserei: Und durchaus lässt sich das so lesen, dass uns das Leben nichts schenkt, aber wir deshalb nicht hoffnungslos sein müssen. Wir müssen unser Leben nur anpacken, um es zu meistern.

Besser als in diese beiden so banal und beinahe schon klischeehaft klingenden Zeilen lässt sich das Hohe Lied auf den US-amerikanischen Pioniergeist nicht kleiden: Und die Musik von Markus Rill steht – so abstrus das klingt bei einem Nicht-Amerikaner, der zudem in seiner Heimat allenfalls regional bekannt ist – derzeit mit an der Spitze des Americana-Genres.

Musikalische Entwicklung

Ganz anders – und dieses »anders« bezieht sich ausschließlich auf die Interpretation und nicht auf die Qualität – dagegen »Way Down« auf »Light & Dark«. Akustische Versionen eines Lieds wirken in der Regel der Natürlichkeit des Klangs wegen wärmer. Hier herrscht Kälte, die stoisch gleichförmig gezupften Gitarrensaiten schwingen isoliert und nicht eingebettet in die Hülle aus Schlagzeug und Bass, Annika Fehling nimmt sich mit ihrem weichen Stimmfall deutlich zurück, die angeraute Stimme Rills wirkt gebrochen. gebrochen. Jetzt erhält die Liedzeile »you won’t get nothing for free / nothing ever comes for free« einen ganz neuen Sinn: Nicht der Lohn schweißtreibender Arbeit steht am Ende, diesmal eben gilt es den Preis zu bezahlen für all das, was war: vor allem für all die Sünden. Nicht nur, dass »Way Down« so dokumentiert, auf welche Arten wir uns dem Leben stellen können: Das Lied macht in den beiden Versionen die ganze Bandbreite im Schaffen und Können des Markus Rill deutlich.

Im Vergleich zu früheren Produktionen »stilitisch offener« sei ihm »My Rocket Ship« geraten, sagt Markus Rill, schon der Titelsong seine eine Hommage an stilistische Vielfalt der Musik: Denn um sie gehe es letztendlich doch immer für einen Musiker – nicht um den Erfolg. Natürlich zählen solche Sätze zum Marketing-Alltag der Rock- und Pop- Musik, was nicht bedeutet, sie hätten keine Substanz. Tatsächlich ist Markus Rill in den 15 Jahren seit seinem Debüt- Album »Gunslinger’s Tales« nicht stehen geblieben, hat Americana – die aus dem Kulturgemenge der USA erblühte Musik – aufmerksam studiert, Trends aufgenommen und Einflüsse integriert. Mit den 14 Liedern und 53:14 Minuten von »My Rocket Ship« ist mehr Soul in sein Gesamtwerk gekommen, der Sprechgesang hat Einzug gehalten, Versatzstücke einzelner Songs schlagen sogar den Bogen in die hymnische Pop-Musik nach Anmutung der Simple Minds (»The facts about my life«).

Poetische Sprachform

Viel wichtiger aber noch ist der inhaltliche Weg, den Markus Rill nimmt: Verweisen seine früheren Alben sprachlich sehr deutlich auf Aufenthalte in den Südstaaten der USA, weicht der Gebrauch deren Umgangssprache auf »My Rocket Ship« einer poetischen Sprachform. Das ist insofern eine bedeutsame Entwicklung, als sie Markus Rill noch tiefer in die Ursprünglichkeit der Americana-Kultur eintreten lässt: Viele der von ihm geschilderten Figuren befinden sich auf der Verliererstraße. Sie verkörpern das Schicksal, das in der US-amerikanischen Kultur und Kunst spätestens sei Ernest Hemingway (1899 bis 1961) zum Leid-Bild irdischen Daseins stilisiert ist – von Musikern wie Bruce Springsteen und den Solisten aus dem Umfeld von Bands wie The Drive- By Truckers bis in die Southern-Gothic- Literatur eines Willam Gay (»Nächtliche Vorkommnisse«) und Tom Franklin (»Die Gefürchteten«). Es sind Geschichten von Menschen, die nichts mehr zu verlieren haben in ihrem Leben und sich oft genug noch einmal aufbäumen, um am Horizont einen – ihren – Sinn zu erkennen. So lange dieses Feuer der Leidenschaft brennt: So lange ist alles gut.
Stefan Reis

Zur Person: Markus Rill

Namentlich bekannt ist Markus Rill am Bayerischen Untermain vor allem Ringerfans: Der im März seinen 43. Geburtstag feiernde Goldbacher ist mehrfacher deutscher Jugendmeister im Ringen und wurde zwischen 1987 und 1993 mehrmals deutscher Mannschaftsmeister mit dem AC Bavaria. Spätestens nach einem einjährigen Aufenthalt in Austin (Texas) entdeckte der Englisch- und Sozialkundestudent an der Uni Würzburg die amerikanische Folkmusik für sich. Der in Würzburg lebende Sänger und Gitarrist schreibt seine Lieder in der Tradition der amerikanischen Singer/Songwriter selbst und sieht sich beeinflusst von der unter dem Begriff »Americana« firmierenden Mischung aus Rock-, Country-, Folk-, Blues- und Gospelmusik. In der Szene gilt Markus Rill als einer der führenden europäischen Vertreter des Genres, als einziger Deutscher ist er bei der Plattenfirma Blue Rose (Abstatt/Heilbronn) unter Vertrag, die US-Größen wie John Hiatt, Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earle und Buddy Miller unter Vertrag hat. Während Markus Rill in Deutschland nur Liebhabern der Americana-Musik bekannt ist, genießt er in den USA einen erheblich größeren öffentlichen Stellenwert: Drei seiner Lieder wurden für amerikanische Independent- Filmproduktionen lizenziert, mehrere in US-amerikanischen Songschreiberwettbewerben mit ersten Preisen ausgezeichnet. (red)
Discografie: Gunslinger’s Tales (1997); The Devil And The Open Road (1999); Nowhere Begins (2001); The Hobo Companion (2004); Hobo Dream (2004); The Price Of Sin (2006); Live (2007); The Things That Count (2008); Bag Of Tricks