WOMAD

17 Hippies

From Germany

Berlin's glorious answer to Taraf de Haidouks
Let's get things straight from the start - there are 13 of them and only three or four have allowed their hair to descend below the collar. But what 17 Hippies lack in mathematical skills and hairstyles, they more than make up with their joyous transcontinental sound. Armed with myriad instruments to be plucked and blown, they inhabit the point where The Pogues and Taraf de Haidouks intersect, albeit proudly wearing a distinctive Middle European stamp. There's a whiff of Weimar cabaret about their sound, along with a warm caress of French chanson and several blasts of Balkan fury. But it's a seamless, unified sound, honed by 14 years and 1,500+ gigs together, and fuelled by a self-belief that often leads them down some unexpected strassen. As The Independent declared, they're "often weird and mostly wonderful". Indeed, any band willing to haul a euphonium up onstage certainly has our blessing.

(Biography written by Nige Tassell 2009)
www.17hippies.com

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