Is there anything the Irish and Franconians have in common? Quite a lot! First and foremost, there is probably a very special attachment to their homeland and a love of traditions that have been handed down for many generations, with which people in both the Emerald Isle and the red and white Franconia dedicate themselves to their customs. There is also a certain likeable way of doing things your own way. And last but not least, an almost death-defying conviviality with which the Irish and Franconians alike unwaveringly celebrate life with all its ups and downs. Characteristics that Fiddler`s Green have combined in their rousing high power sound for more than three decades. Since its formation in 1990, the Erlangen sextet has earned its status as one of the most popular, successful and enduring formations within the European folk rock community. A well-oiled Irish speed folk machine that is now at the peak of its creative powers with its new studio album „The Green Machine“!
Fiddlers Green currently have an impressive 25 albums, four DVDs, many hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic fans around the globe and over 214k monthly Spotify listeners. Ralf Albers (vocals, guitar, mandolin), Patrick Prziwara (guitar, vocals), Rainer Schulz (bass), Stefan Klug (accordion, bodhran), Tobias Heindl (fiddle, vocals) and Frank Jooss (drums) feel just as at home in cozy beer cellars and pubs as they do on the stages of large concert arenas throughout Europe and Asia – whether at the Lowlands and Pinkpop Festival in Holland, the Scandinavian Sweden Rock, celebrated appearances at the legendary Wacken Open Air and the world-famous Montreux Jazz Festival or on their extensive tours of Japan, where the Franconians regularly create a great atmosphere in the land of smiles. Following the release of their live album „Acoustic Pub Crawl II – Live in Hamburg“ (2020), the anniversary compilation „3 Cheers For 30 Years“ (2020) and the Christmas longplayer „Seven Holy Nights“ (2022), Fiddlers Green now present their first studio album in over four years with „The Green Machine“!
While working on their last three albums, the idea for „The Green Machine“ began to develop in parallel, mature and finally take on a life of its own. Together with the proven producer Jörg Umbreit (In Extremo, Grave Digger, Die Toten Hosen), a living organism was created over the past 36 months in the seclusion of the renowned Principal Studios near Münster, which now presents Fiddler’s Green from their most varied and multi-layered side. Twelve songs long, the band spans the stylistic arc from their cherished full-throttle party sound to touching ballads and poppier pieces to driving mid-tempo rockers and even country and western-influenced tracks that have never before been heard from the Erlangers in this form. 50 Shades of Green, so to speak, in which the fiddlers combine plenty of energy with an unparalleled attention to detail and high-percentage storytelling.
We took a lot of time for this album. The songs were created in various stages, during which they grew and constantly changed. We were happy to give them this freedom and finally distilled the essence. This record shows what Fiddler’s Green sound like in 2023,“ says bassist Rainer, looking back on the recordings for „The Green Machine“.
This time, the sextet received energetic support from fellow musicians Dritte Wahl, whose powerful choirs add a special extra oomph to tracks such as the instantly infectious stadium anthem „Hangover“, the exuberant party song „Good Old Irish Bar“ or the high-speed remake of the Irish traditional „Mursheen Durkin“. „The recordings were a lot of fun. The guys from Dritte Wahl are great musicians; of course we can also be heard on their new album in return. This special unity of music, lyrics and the sound of the words has always been important to us. It all has to form a coherent and dynamic whole“, as Fiddler`s Green already demonstrate with the full-throttle opener „Shanghaied In Portsmouth“: A fast-paced harbor pub romance that ends just a little later in chains on the high seas, where the (love) drunk protagonist finds himself an unwilling sailor on a sailing ship to hell to the original melody of the Irish traditional „Portsmouth“.
Fiddler’s Green take their fans from swaying ship planks into nature on the playful folk earworm „The Bog“, before raising a glass to the good old days in the „Good Old Irish Bar“. An era of conviviality and exuberant partying, which the Franconian sextet brings back to life again and again with their powerful speed folk sound. With the catchy, light Irish folk pop song „My Fairy Of The West“, the fiddlers have a genuine love song at the start, which whets the appetite for the coming spring. Alcoholic temptations, on the other hand, are known to find their lovers at any time of year, as the band proves afterwards with the high-proof and tongue-in-cheek Marilyn Manson homage „I Don`t Like Alcohol“, which makes your throat and liver glow. After the powerful Irish folk ballad „A Fleecy Cloud“ conveys a lot of comfort and hope in difficult times, the band dedicates a very friendly „Fuck You!“ to all the unsympathetic people on the planet with the mid-tempo earworm „May The Road Rise Up To Meet You“. This song will never lose its topicality.
Just like the fact that they combine foreign traditions in a respectful way, as Fiddler’s Green demonstrate in their well-loved manner on the groovy social critique „I Need A Volunteer“, in which typical Irish instruments such as banjo or tin whistle are mixed with Eastern European influences to create another exciting timbre. The band describes the solemn stadium anthem „Hangover“ as an „autobiographical song from the old days with current references to the present“, not without self-irony, in which the sextet tells of the consequences of a long night out. And of the famous morning after, when memories of stout and whiskey are reassembled in fragments.
Towards the end of the driving party number „Ready For The Ball“, Fiddlers Green pay homage to the American Gothic writing icon Edgar Allan Poe and his creepy tale „The Masque of the Red Death“, in which a distinguished ball society is haunted by the Grim Reaper. But of course the (Franconian?) protagonists on „The Green Machine“ bravely defy their fate and literally party like there’s no tomorrow. A philosophy that continues in the last two tracks, with which Fiddlers Green remain true to their custom of performing at least one remake of a traditional folk song on every album: With the uptempo interpretation of the Gaelic-derived „Muirsheen Durkin“, the band has now realized a long-planned version to give the new album a particularly emotional conclusion with their version of the popular Scottish folk song „The Parting Glass“.
Stream the Album here on Spotify: