[FA Worldmusic] 17 Hippies need dates September

[Dmitri Vietze]

Dear presenter friends:

We have just begun working with 17 amazing hippies. Actually they are not
hippies and there are only 13 of them. (Which has caused much consternation
with certain meticulous Germans, "You're not hippies!" Response, "Well, the
Rolling Stones weren't exactly stones.") But they are called the 17 Hippies.
Some of us got to see them at WOMEX a few years back (I remember a sunny
Balkanesque blur of Tuba, like five guitars, and I think a hurdy gurdy, but
now they have a heavy metal drummer playing Persian santur, ukuleles, blues
harmonica, jew's harps, breakneck rhythms, and singing with rich voices. Very
catchy stuff: and when is the last time YOU booked a German band, eh? Trust
me: you'll like them.)

On their own volition, the Berlin band has put together some great North
American anchor dates in September, but they need more.

STEP ONE -- check their artwork (obviously very cool, right?)

http://www.rockpaperscissors.biz/rps-media/17hippies_cdcover.jpg

STEP TWO -- check out the existing routing

      9/15/2007 Milwaukee, WI Humboldt Park Bandshell
      9/16/2007 Chicago, IL Chicago World Music Festival
      9/18/2007 Chicago, IL Chicago World Music Festival
      lots of nice open space here
      9/23/2007 Washington, DC Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
      9/24/2007 New York, NY Knitting Factory
      9/28/2007 Bloomington, IN Lotus World Music Festival
      9/29/2007 Bloomington, IN Lotus World Music Festival


STEP THREE -- read what their "brilliant" publicist wrote (I'm not their
booking agent, by the way)

17 Hippies Storm North America: Top Secret Acoustic Rock from Berlin


What do you get when you take one ukulele and a Persian hammered
dulcimer-played by a former heavy metal drummer-and add that to an acoustic
Turkish take of the hip hop classic "Apache?" The latest album by 17 Hippies.
It sounds like a joke, but it's true. The Berlin-based group emerged after the
Berlin Wall fell. "It was like someone had opened a hidden door," explains
vocalist and lyricist Kiki Sauer. "New and exciting music from Eastern Europe
flooded into town with new grooves. All we could do was listen, learn, and try
to find our own musical connections."

The band started with a simple concept, says vocalist and musical mastermind
Christopher Blenkinsop. "We said, 'OK, so you play an instrument? Well, don't
bring it!'" Christopher picked up the ukulele (after playing bass in rock
bands); Kiki, who had been trained on classical piano, took up accordion; L||l
found a misplaced banjo; Dirk, the heavy metal drummer, had always wanted to
play guitar; Antje switched to clarinet, after classical flute training; and
off they went creating their own sound. Twelve years and 1200 concerts later,
this renegade acoustic sound is captured on Heimlich... read more at
www.rockpaperscissors.biz/go/hippies

STEP FOUR -- talk to Lee Williams at the Lotus Festival about his favorite new
band

STEP FIVE -- listen to streams of the band:

Schattenmann (the song where the santur got damaged)

http://www.rockpaperscissors.biz/ram/Hippies%20-%2001%20Schattenmann.ra.ram



Apache (yes, that's right, folks! The hip hop classic done acoustically and in
a Turkish 9/8 rhythm!)

http://www.rockpaperscissors.biz/ram/Hippies%20-%2008%20Apache.ra.ram


STEP FIVE -- contact the band and book 'em, Dano

Kiki Sauer - 17 HIPPIES <sauer at 17hippies.de>

Much respect,

Dmitri Vietze
rock paper scissors, inc.
(we have a NEW ADDRESS in be-you-tea-full downtown Bloomington)
511 W. 4th St., Suite 2
Bloomington, IN 47404-5171
TEL +1-812-339-1195
FAX +1-801-729-4911
music at rockpaperscissors.biz
www.rockpaperscissors.biz

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