Biography

Business Contact: Dave Schmidt
Double Time Music, Inc.
dave@krugerbrothers.com

Agent: Jim Fleming
jim@flemingartists.com
734-995-9066

Media Contact: Claire Ratliff
claire@penguinpublicity.com

Comments about this page: Tom Macie
tom@krugerbrothers.com

Discography available in this account to date:
Lucid Dreamer
Christmas Magic with the Kruger Brothers
Best of the Kruger Brothers
Appalachian Concerto
Forever and a Day
Between the Notes

Follow this link to visit the Kruger Brothers artist profile on Airplay Direct.

Jens Kruger (Banjo and Vocals)
Uwe Kruger (Guitar and Lead Vocal)
Joel Landsberg (Bass and Vocals)

1. Watches the Clouds Roll By 5:42 Between the Notes
2. Black Mountain Rag 3:25 Choices
3. People Get Ready 7:08 previously unreleased
4. Carolina in the Fall 3:34 Up 18 North
5. The Plan 3:01 Forever and a day
6. Cork Harbor 3:30 The Bridge
7. The Lights in Our Village 2:33 Christmas Magic
8. Forever and a Day 4:23 Forever and a Day
9. Beautiful Nothing 4:27 Between the Notes
10. Choices 3a;47 Choices
11. The New Country 5:04 Appalachian Concerto
12. Winterport 5:04
13. Long Black Veil 5:34 Carolina Scrapbook Vol 2.
14. Alabama Bound 3:48 Travel the Gravel
15. Honey Babe Blues 4:21 Carolina Scrapbook Vol. 2
16. Sweden/Running Down the Mountain 2:44 Carolina Scrapbook Vol. 2/Profile

“…and you know you won’t turn back, as you move along the track…” “Choices”

In the liner notes to the album “Forever and a Day”, Uwe wrote that, “When we began our career in 1975, nothing could have prepared us for the journey that lay ahead.” As we approach the 40th anniversary of that beginning, it is difficult to comprehend the full extent of what is, by any measure, a truly remarkable journey. We see glimpses of it from time to time. Jens mentions writing music in a castle tower in Switzerland; the song “Carolina in the Fall” tells about the move to the United States. Somewhere in there they hosted a national radio show in Switzerland, Uwe and Joel played at the launch of Microsoft Windows 95, Jens updated the design of the Deering banjo line, they were awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, hosted an annual music festival, established a recording company, collaborated with a ballet troupe, and most recently have received a commission from the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada. They also found opportunities to realize some things that, at one point, would have seemed like unattainable dreams, such as playing on stage with childhood heroes Doc Watson, Bobby Hicks, and Bill Monroe.

Theirs is a career that has traced a remarkable arc, from a couple of rag-tag musicians busking for spare change in Munich’s Marienplatz, to an international trio playing with symphonies and in concert halls throughout North America and Europe. There are now 15 albums under the Kruger Brothers name, presenting everything from traditional clawhammer tunes to a collaboration with a classical string quartet.

But of course all of those things are really just moments, stops along the way, not the journey itself. When Uwe talks about the journey he is speaking of those moments, but he’s also speaking of the musical adventure that connects them and provides a context for them; for Uwe, Jens, and since 1995, Joel Landsberg, it has been a consistent path of creativity and discovery. And with that perspective in mind, all of the various movements recede a big and begin to appear a little less unlikely. These are three musicians who have simply followed their musical curiosity, one discovery leading quite naturally to the next. In so doing, they’ve also shown that the distance between some musical ideas isn’t nearly as great as it might seem, such as the distance between traditional Appalachian folk music and classical music.

As Joel has said about their work as recording artists and performers, they often feel that their role is to share their discoveries with their audiences, as if saying “look at this, look at what we found.” This collection comes from that same place. Each track is a moment, some of them from some time ago, such as “Cork Harbor” and “Alabama Bound,” while others are more recent, such as “The Lights of Our Village” and “People get Ready.” If they look disparate, this collection shows that, in fact, they really aren’t. All were guided by the same hands, by the same curiosities, and in so doing they all help to tell the larger story of the Kruger Brothers.

This summer, with a premiere at the Banff Centre, the journey continues into new territory, geographically, musically, and collaboratively. And, for the Kruger Brothers, there’s nothing surprising about that at all.

Produced by Jens & Uwe Kruger, Joel Landsberg

Executive Producer: Philip Zanon

All songs copyright Binary Barn Music, except People Get Ready (Curtis Mayfield, Warner-Tamerlane BMI), Long Black Veil (Maryjohn Wilkin/Danny Dill, Universal Songs of Polygram BMI), Honey Babe Blues (Traditional)

Photos by Glan Vaitl

Cover Design: Lody van Vlodrop