Hubert von Goisern

The latest show Hubert von Goisern is playing on the world's stages joined by his band and the American pedal steel player Bob Bernstein, sounds effortless: the rhythms of country and bluegrass music needn't be cobbled together, they fit like a glove with the Austrian sounds and grooves - as if there had never been any other way. It's extraordinary how Hubert von Goisern manages this time after time: you simply feel as though the whole world is your home. Powerful rock tunes and swinging country songs, soulful ballads. Pedal steel and cajun accordion merge with the alpine sounds of Goisern.

Hubert von Goisern got the blues. Hubert von Goisern also has: the variety, colorfullness and shimmering energy of New Orleans. This special southern states feeling. He balances all this with his own tradition, coming from the Alps in terms of geography, but breathing and embracing the whole world with his music.

HvG live - what the audience says:

“I'm struggling for words to adequately convey how awesome Hubert von Goisern was in concert last night. A major star here in Germany, this Austrian multi-instmentalist, band-leader and world-music pioneer has a faculty for mastering, assimilating and then re-defining regional and ethnic styles, that’s on a par with American counterparts such as Taj Mahal, David Lindley, Ry Cooder, Doug Sahm, Gatemouth Brown and Los Lobos.
His original, German sung songs take familiar American forms such as gut bucket blues, Dixie-Land jazz, tex-mex cajun and zydeco rhythms (after all he’s a monster accordionist), Gulf Coast pop, reggae and gospel and refocuses them through a lens of traditional Alpine folk melodies. It is those mountain tunes where the songs originated from before migrating across the Atlantic and into the great American songbook.
His current album Federn throws well known roots staples such as Colinda, Amazing Grace, Corina Corina and Jambalya into the pot and brings them to a slow boil, transforming them into something that’s fresh, vibrant and exciting. Who knew Hank Willams would sound so good in Austrian? And please don’t make the mistake of thinking that the results are some dry, academic exercise in musical archaeology, these are heady, vibrant tunes custom built for drinking, dancing, singing, fucking and fighting.
Live his band swung like an elephant’s dick, the hardest rocking folk band I’ve witnessed since the Pogues, Mano Negra or the Joe Ely Band. Such energy and joie de vivre. The best roots music show I’ve been to since seeing Los Lobos in London in the late 80s. Did I mention that he's also a yodelling mother-fucker too? Cherry on the cake!”

The artist:

Hubert von Goisern has been performing on stages across Europe for more than 25 years – as a musical ambassador for Austria, a renewer and revitalizer of folk music, someone who breathes new life into tradition, and an individualist. Simply put: as himself. Hubert von Goisern has never done what is expected of him and has been very successful in so doing: from his beginnings as an alpine rocker with the song "Koa Hiatamadl", and his expeditions to Tibet and Africa, to the Linz Europe Tour on a converted cargo ship and the game-changing success of "Brenna tuats guat". Hubert von Goisern is still full of ideas and energy; he remains curious about the world around him and challenges his audience with something new each time. It's authentic. It's thrilling.