STEFAN HISS

Stefan Hiss Stefan Hiss was born in 1965 and has been playing the accordion since then (well since he was 8 years old anyway). For some reason he lost interest in his local accordion orchestra and its stock of traditional German folk music and began playing rock'n'roll and blues instead. To begin with he thought he was the only one who tormented his squeeze-box in this way, but after a while it dawned on him that he had struck a rich seam. The accordion is not an archaic piece of German history, it's an instrument which always comes to the fore when cultures merge: In northern Mexico it plays feather-light polka, in Louisiana groovy blues and cajun.
This revelation resulted in his current work: the band HISS unites the most diverse genres of rock and folk. Blues meets polka, waltzing into the cumbia with electric guitar and accordion - from Old Europe to the New World. Stefan Hiss has worked with Sol Bruguera (Argentina) and Jesús G. Ojeda (Mexico) amongst others.

Discography:
2006 - HISS - 10 Jahre HISS (DVD & CD) (10 years of HISS)
2003 - HISS - Polka für die Welt (Polka for the world)
2002 - Stefan Hiss solo - König der Schmerzen (King of pain)
2001 - HISS - Tränen, Tabak und Tequila (Tears, tobacco and tequila)
1998 - HISS - Tut Buße (Repent!)
1997 - HISS - Herz und Verrat (Heart and betrayal)


RALF GROHER

Ralf Groher Born in 1970, Ralf started playing the flugelhorn at the age of nine. Between the ages of 11 and 16 he toured throughout Germany, Hungary, England and Holland with the brass band from the Music Club in Nenningen. At 19 he began his singing lessons with the mexican singer and guitarist Arturo Luna. At the same time he switched from the flugelhorn to the trumpet and played funk, jazz and experimental music.
Ralf is a founder member of the 'Kronzeugen', a band with accordion, trumpet, acoustic guitar, double bass and drums which unites tango, polka, waltz, reggae and latin american sounds with an unforgettable style. Since 1995 they've done about 150 gigs in Germany, France and Austria. His work with Edo Zanki, the german soul legend, led to an appearance together at the international accordion festival in Vienna.

DDiscography:
2000 - KRONZEUGEN - Süße Strafe (Sweet punishment)
1999 - KRONZEUGEN - Freispruch total (Full acquittal)


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