Clannad Connections
FolkWorld
article by Christian Moll
The whole story started when 16 year old Thomas Loefke went to his first ever Irish concert of Clannad in the Seventies. Today, the German from Berlin plays harp in a band along with Clannad's own Duggan brothers.
Born in 1958 in the German Black Forest,
Thomas heard his first ever Irish record by the Fureys at the
age of 14. Two years later he heard his first ever Irish
concert, a performance by Clannad. "When I went to that
concert, I saw for my first time ever a harp; the instrument
fascinated me, and I directly thought that's the instrument
for me." At the age of 18 he bought himself a harp, his
first instrument. Soon after that, he went over to Dublin to
study politics; during this time he received harp tuition
from the likes of Helen Davies, Aine Ní Dh'uuacuteill and
Máire Ní Cháthasaigh. "In Germany, during that time,
there were not many harp players around to learn from; but in
Ireland it was different. So it was just the logic
consequence to learn over there." He soon began also
composing tunes.
Obviously his lessons were successful, as since then he has
represented Germany at the European Broadcasting Festival in
Norway in 1989, and even won first prize at the O'Carolan
Festival in Ireland.
As often as he could, Thomas went to see Clannad concerts, and in time they became close friends. At some stage the idea arose that they should do some work together. And that was the time when the band Norland Wind started, with Thomas Loefke on Celtic harp, Germany-based Scotsman Ian Melrose (guitar/whistles), German Kerstin Blodig (vocals, guitar), Noel (vocals, guitar) & Pádraig (vocals, mandolin, guitar, keyboards) Duggan of Clannad and Peter Jakk on bass. Their debut album with this line-up appeared in 1994, licensed to the international Celtic Heartbeat label (distributed by Universal). Norland Wind tours regularly in Europe and Scandinavia and has develop a strong following in both Germany and Norway.
So what was it like for Thomas, suddenly playing in the same band with his musical heroes? "Great. I can't say it in another way – it was nice, and it still is nice." Thomas thinks that for the Duggans, it was a welcome possibility to play once again in small clubs, as they had done with Clannad 20 years ago.
Norland Wind was part of the German St Patrick's Day Celebration Tour of Petr Pandula in 1995, at that time as a four-piece with Thomas, Kerstin and the Duggans. With the SPDC tour they have played also in bigger halls, but afterwards they have toured two weeks on their own to play in the smaller clubs. "That was nearly better fun than playing in the big halls. Because our music is based very much on being in touch with the audience; and for that, an intimate atmosphere is helpful", says Kerstin.
The name‚ Norland Wind actually was suggested by Kerstin Blodig. Prior to the formation of the band, Thomas Loefke toured Germany with Kerstin or Ian as a duo. Today, Norland Wind has two different line-ups: The small one with only Thomas, Kerstin and Ian, and once a year the bigger group with the Duggans and a bassist gets together for a European tour . "Both are good fun – it's different venues, a different character of the concerts, and also a different programme."
The two bands, Norland Wind and
Clannad, are closely connected – while the Duggan
brothers join Norland Wind once a year for a tour, Clannad
have invited Norland Wind's Ian Melrose to join the band, as
Clannad were looking for a guitarist. The Clannad connection
allowed the German-Irish band also to release their album on
Celtic Heartbeat. "Celtic Heartbeat was founded by the
management of U2 and the management of Clannad, and as
Norland Wind is a production with Clannad musicians involved,
and Celtic Heartbeat at that time were just starting to get
together a repertoire, they were happy to release the album
– and we were, too." And has the international
contract brought advantages? "Yes, it is something
different – when he toured with Clannad, Ian has looked
from time to time where the CD was available – so it can
be found in the shops all over the world; but that does not
mean we are having huge CD sales worldwide, it just means
that we could theoretically have them. And that is at least
better than not having the theoretical possibility."
Still, Norland Wind's composition‚ "The Snowy Birch
Trees", found on the sampler CD "A Celtic Heartbeat
Christmas", reached number 3 in the American World Music
Charts in December '96.
The lead singer of Norland Wind is the German Kerstin Blodig, singing in English, Irish and Swedish. Having started at the age of 5 on the flute, she discovered soon that she was fascinated by anything related to music. She started playing piano, then also string instruments, and sang in a choir; that was the start of her musical biography. Today she is also the half of the excellent Berlin based duo Touchwood where she - along with Cristina Crawley hailing from Northern Ireland – does some superb, exciting and unusual vocal interpretations of traditional and original songs.
Singing in Irish, Kerstin still does not know the Irish language. It is not that difficult to sing in a language she does not know, says she; "I have images going along in my head with these songs, as I do have with any song I sing. It is like a movie – I am seeing the things I am just singing about; and of course, my friends have told me before what the songs are about. Also, I do know already some of the words I am singing." She thinks that the Irish find it quite funny that she sings in Irish not knowing the language. Thomas remembers when he was once on a radio tour in Ireland, from radio station to radio station; and when he was in the Gaeltachts in Kerry and Connemara, the people were enthusiastic about Kerstin's singing and could not believe that Kerstin comes from Germany. "We have two very competent teachers in the band who teach us", he adds.
Up to now, the German
members of Norland Wind have only played on their own in
Ireland; the band as a whole has not been there yet . They
have made very positive experiences playing as Germans Irish
Music in Ireland; Thomas points out that it seems the Irish
have much less problems than many Germans with the fact that
Germans play Irish Music. He hopes to come over also with
Norland Wind some time.
Photo: Thomas
Loefke; by The Mollis
© The Mollis - Editors of FolkWorld; Published 12/98
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