As a white boy, how come you're playin' the Blues?
That is the most often asked question to musicians who are not born or did not grow up with the Afro-American culture & still have the "bad luck" to have fallen hopelessly for the Blues. Well, maybe Japanese musicians would look strange playing Viennese folk music at a "Heurigen". But generations of musicians, a long time before the Mojo Blues Band, have put this question to rest. Artists can not always explain why they are doing something. When it's in you, it has to come out. It's just as simple as that.
If possible or allowed to get a hold of a foreign culture, who could judge it better than the audience themselves?
Founded in 1977, the Mojo Blues Band must have done something right. The band traveled half of the world with it's typical straight ahead sound for 25 years. Playing the Blues & capturing people with strong feelings, the music always made an impression on it's audience.
| The Mojo Blues Band
understands itself as a preserver, and more importantly, not as a
conserver of precious music traditions. The "Mojos" scooped out a part
of the endless history of the Blues and, nevertheless, by cooperating
with so many legends of the international Blues scene, they became a
part of it. Almost no other band can appear with such a large variety of
material for sessions with endless Blues artists & most of it is issued.
Blues should not be interpreted, but the musicians want to let their life
& personality flow into the music with all of their passion. The tears & the
laughter, the pain & the joy … feelings that every one of us experienced are
writing the songs themselves.
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News: updated 07.10.2007
Dear friends of the Mojo Blues Band,
Our anniversary year was pretty exciting and its not over yet. Among many
concerts and wonderful open air festivals, we finally went into the studios
to record our anniversary album "Thirty Year Blues Affair". A session, which
turned out to be a lot of work, but at the same time we had great fun during
the recordings. The result is a double cd box including some acoustic tracks
and it will be released by middle of november 2007. Please do not hesitate
to order it directly from us.
We will celebrate our 30years "Birthday" during the "Mojo Blues Revue" at
the Kammerspiele theater in vienna on november 26th.
Many guest musicians of the music scene are expected and it's also planned
to get the the original band from 1977 together on stage!
We hope to see you soon at one of the concerts!
All the best
The Mojos
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Erik
Trauners brandnew Solo CD
"A Scarecrow's Moan" is out now !
Looking back at 2005 – and our trip to the US
2005 was another exciting year for us. In addition to a great many wonderful
gigs both in Austria and abroad, the absolute highlight of the year no doubt
was our trip to the US last September. Our first stops were Pittsburgh (McKeesport)
and Maryland (Laurel), where we had again been invited to play at two of the
most popular shag dance clubs.
After that, we made a side trip to Chicago, were our long-time friend
Taildragger would not let us go without having invited us to one of his
legendary BBQs. We got to jam with the likes of Willie Kent at the legendary
b.l.u.e.s. and were roaming through many of the city’s countless clubs every
day (or rather, every night…).
Then off to Myrtle Beach (South Carolina), the center of the shag dance
world, where we played at the Fun Monday Street Festival. As always, a warm
welcome was extended to us there. For us Europeans, always composed and not
used to just letting go, the intensity of this country and the enthusiasm of
its people is always an overwhelming experience. By the way, Dietmar Hoscher
has wrapped up some humorous impressions of the trip in the January 2006
issue of “concerto” music magazine.
1st MBB Blues Revue – October 1, 2005
This surely has been one of the greatest live experiences yet. Picture this:
months of preparatory activities, the cooperation between the organizing
team and the musicians, the sound check, and finally the concert itself as
well as the after hours party at the Vienna Hilton Hotel – all running
smoothly and harmoniously. How often do you get that?
On behalf of the band and everyone who attended, a special thank you to the
guys from Blues Convention and to Village Cinemas and the Vienna Hilton
Hotel.
Many happy returns!
Lineup changes
Upon returning from the US at end-September 2005, Silvio Berger (dr.) left
the band to continue to pursue other musical goals. Since then, Didi
Mattersberger and Bernhard Egger have alternated on drums, and both have
been doing a wonderful job throwing out a great beat for us. Didi will
continue to groove with us up and down the land.
Our bass player, Herfried Knapp, who joined the band at year-end of 2004,
has become part and parcel of the MBB sound and has greatly enriched our
band life, both personally and musically.
Peter Müller
Good – and surprising – news for every long-standing MBB fan: Since the
beginning of 2006, we have been back in touch with Peter “Miller” Müller,
who also expressed his interest in picking up his drum sticks for us. For
the first time in 4 years, Peter will be on drums on February 17, 20, and
21, 2006 (see Events).
Erik Trauner
Erik has just finished mixing his new solo CD and it will be out soon,
presumably in April or May 2006. Of course, the CD is all about acoustic
guitar blues, seasoned not only with some bottleneck goodies but also with a
contribution by Siggi Fassl as guest vocalist.
Watch out for “A Scarecrow’s Moan,” released by edel music.
2 Birds and A Bee
Among the most pleasant of last year’s discoveries certainly was the
singer-guitarist Gabi Bee, who together with Charlie Furthner and Erik
Trauner has already treated us to some greatly enjoyable Blues evenings. The
trio “2 Birds and A Bee” is fully dedicated to the true down home blues of
the 30ies and 40ies, but the country blues à la Memphis Minnie and Tommy
Johnson is also part of their repertoire.
Erik first met Gabi during one of his blues workshops, and they soon started
putting a program together. Gabi brings a whole lot of blues feeling to the
stage, and it is more than refreshing to have a female voice join in the
male voice choir that has dominated the Austrian blues scene. Come out and
enjoy!
Mark your calendars: 6th Mojo Blues Parade 2006
We are happy to announce that the year 2006 will see yet another version of
the Mojo Blues Parade in the courtyard of the tax office of Vienna’s 8th
district. It will take place on June 10, 2006, and we will get started at 6
p.m. For a complete line-up of this event, please check back with us soon.
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