When you look at the combined histories of the members of Talking Water, ranging from Clannad, Sally Oldfield,
John Lord, Farfarello to Norland Wind and Kelpie, you begin to get an idea of the diverse influences which make
up their unique sound. Two renowned musicians from the Celtic Scandinavian world-music scene combining
forces with three virtuoso representatives of contemporary rock-pop-lounge.
The brand-new album by Talking Water is a powerful
mixture of old and new, an eclectic cocktail of
acoustic and electronic sounds. Contemporary
song-writing fuses with elements of folk traditions (original Celtic reels, Norwegian and Gaelic poetry, Icelandic ballads), which in turn are combined with
ambient-, chill-out-, ethno- and rock-rhythms to produce
Talking Water‘s archetypal melodic groove.
With all members being virtuoso multi-instrumental-ists,
the palette of sounds range from the timeless acoustic charm of harp, guitar, piano, whistles, dobro, mandolin, drums and percussion to the modern cutting-edge sound of programmed beats, key-boards and samples.
All of this potent creative ability is there to serve the
song, the feel, the message: ballads of life, love and death, of moon and sea, ebb and flow, of transcending
man-made inhibitions and boundaries, of ancient powers carried by the beautifully crafted arrangements,
the layered vocal harmonies and the ethereal, soaring lead vocals of Kerstin Blodig. "Power of the Moon" is sometimes minimalist and hypnotic, sometimes effervescent and surging. It is music for the soul.
"The music owes much to traditional Celtic music, with traditional-sounding melodies and instrumentation, but
updated with a very modern sound. The music is densely layered (much like Clannad, of which Melrose is a
touring member) and masterfully produced and played. Blodig is the main vocalist and is absolutely superb…"
Dirty Linen (USA)
KERSTIN BLODIG (vocals, guitar, mandolin) - Internationally known as one of the most important interpreters of Scandinavian and Celtic world-music, her musicality shines through, not only as founding member of Touchwood and Norland Wind, the project Women on Stage and the duo Kelpie with Ian Melrose, but also as a solo artist. With a voice described as “clear as Norwegian fjord water” and her virtuoso, groovy guitar-playing she recently released her highly acclaimed 2 nd solo album Trollsang (Westpark Music) - original compositions and intricate arrangements of
traditional Norwegian songs – which sets an even higher standard than her debut album, Valivann (Westpark), which won the German critics prize in 2002 and was released in North America by the renowned world music label Alula.
IAN MELROSE (guitar, whistles, vocals, dobro) - from Scotland, belongs to the cream of Europe’s acoustic guitarists. He is an internationally acclaimed composer and arranger, lead guitarist with Clannad (World Tour, grammy award-winning CD "Land-marks"), and plays with Kerstin in Kelpie and Norland Wind. He produced and arranged the new CD "Rubicon" by Clannad‘s Noel & Pádraig Duggan. A major aspect of his work is solo guitar: based on Celtic finger picking
style, his compositions blend Irish dances, Scottish ballads and classical formats with Brazilian samba and Argen-tine
tango to create real world-music on the guitar. He has played major festivals across the world ranging from e.g. the Montreal Jazz Festival (CAN) to the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow (Sco), where a new project, The Island Tapes (live Celtic music to silent films) premiered to sell-out crowds. His solo CDs "Wolves", "Between the Sighs", "A Scottish Legacy", and most recently "A Shot in the Dark" (Acoustic Music Records), have gained him rave reviews in the international music press.
URS FUCHS (bass, vocals, percussion, programming, piano) -
since 1977 active as a studio- and live musician for various well-known artists including Jon Lord, Sally Oldfield, Frank Duval, EROC, Farfarello, Kathy Kelly and Peter Kraus. He has composed film music for television and video productions such as “Family in a boat” and “When Steel Cools” for German TV, “Quest Spirit” (Yukon Quest documentary) for Canada, Sweden and the US. Since 1992 he is member of the classical/ pop instrumental group Farfarello. He has produced and played on over 40 albums for prominent artists in the German jazz and folk genres, and continues to expand his repertoire of projects with harp, piano and vocal groups.
WOLFRAM CRAMER VON CLAUSBRUCH (keyboards, piano, accordion, percussion, Celtic harp, vocals)- is a supremely talented multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger. After completing his degree in music in 1988 (guitar and piano) he soon became a well-known figure in the German live- and studio-scene. 20 years of professional experience have brought forth many projects in very varied styles: Nippy Noya, GNU (improvised music), Manfred Ulrich Trio (close encounters with German folk music of the third kind) and Haralds Klangplantage (electro-acoustic songs without words), tour commissions for e.g. the German National Railway Company and the cinema chain Cinemaxx, as well as complete studio productions for the advertising industry (LTU, Persil, Ramazotti, Diebels among many others).
INGOLF KURKOWSKI (drums) - A true rhythm "Wunderkind", he received his first drums at the age of two, started taking lessons at 11 and by the age of 15 he was already doing studio session-work! He has become one of the best live- and studio drummers in Berlin and indeed Germany. He toured regularly with the African band Saraba, who often
topped the world-music charts in Europe, and his long list of performing credits reads like a who’s who of the
German music scene. In addition to his drumming he is also an excellent mandolin and dobro player.
Talking Water