"I sing a song for you"
Dismantling the image that involves heroes in scandals or putting them into forced retirement - the supposedly perfect world of folk music is in a serious crisis. Where a few years ago still 15 million enthusiastic fans mitschunkelten, turn off ARD and ZDF today Marianne and Michael the light, the separation of Stefan Mross and Stefanie Hertel shook the already battered Schunkel industry even more.
There is hope But there is hope! High up in the mountains of Styria, one has set out to breathe new life into folk music. Andreas Gabalier (26) is well on the way to becoming the new top star of the scene. Because he is different. Forget betuliches swaying. When this man takes the stage in tight T-shirts, sexy battered leather, and rock'n'roll greats, the girls screech from eight to eighty, as if the young Elvis had risen. At least in Austria. But in Germany and Switzerland, the Andi is on the rise. With hits like "I sing a Liad for di", which has now covered even DJ Ötzi, jump even Nordic-cool Deerns of the chairs. For the fans it is clear: Only he can save the folk music. Neat and genuine, with an honest love for nature and the mountains, free from chic-look and the affectation of big city dwellers in designer suits. The singer himself, however, remains modest: "Three years ago I did not know anybody, " recalls Andreas Gabalier adds: "Sometimes I can hardly believe what's going on around me." Three years ago, everything started with a poem that the law student wrote for his then-girlfriend. "So i picked it up, " he sang at a tent festival and sent the song on a home-made CD to an Austrian radio station.
He writes the songs himself. There they played him and the phones were hot. Since then it has been a steep uphill for the guy who writes all his own songs and has the best mountain climbing ideas. Andreas Gablier's godfather established contact with Klaus Bartelmuss, who as a producer had already made Nik P. ("A star bearing your name") a star. And with his support, the singer from the state achieved the qualification for the "Grand Prix of Folk Music" in 2009, where he finished with "So liab lifted I di" 8th place. Ever since his appearance with Carmen Nebel, where he brought the audience to rave in April 2011 with his sexy hip swing, the gabalier fever has also broken out in Germany. It is probably only a matter of time, when in Hamburg, the leather pants will be acceptable again. In Austria, teens and twens have long been proud of their costumes when they visit his concerts. The red-checked cult cloth is the hit in his live performances, because only there you can buy it for three euros. Always in a good mood And what is it, apart from the pithy appearance that makes it so unique? Andreas Gablier himself says: "Folk music has lost much of what it used to be. Much sounds so uniform today. I like how the landlords play on the pastures for their guests. This has greatly influenced my music. " To drop his dialect and try it in High German, was never in question for Andreas Gabalier : " I do not let me bend, quite apart from the fact that it sounds just funny when I sing High German, " laughs the cheerful Austrians, who always has a good mood.
And that, even though he had to overcome a bad blow at a young age. In 2008, his father and sister voluntarily left life. All the tighter is the relationship of Andreas Gabalier to his mother, where he still lives when he is not traveling. The good news for all female fans of the sexy Styrian: Andreas Gabalier is still available. "My last relationship unfortunately broke up a few months ago, " he regrets. "She was a very sweet girl, but the job and the many trips make partnership almost impossible at the moment."
An own family In a few years Adnreas Gabalier wants to have a family of his own, because "I grew up in a big family and I love to have people around me." But first of all the "people's rock 'n' Roller ", as he calls himself, the music in the foreground. "Volks-Rock 'n' Roller" is also the title of Andreas Gabalier's third album, which has recently been released. And one thing is clear: Soft-rinsed uniformity is not to be found on it. Instead, songs of a real nature boy, which makes even more fans screech and makes the folk music afloat again. Honest, credible and strong!
