"The best is yet to come," as the saying goes. In Hannes Schöner's case, the best is here right now - in the form of a solo album richly stocked with 15 songs, which doesn't conform to any genre and spreads sheer joy of playing. While others his age (Hannes turns a tender 70 this year) are retiring or have long since retired, Schöner is turning the big wheel once again.
The work is called "Close to me" and the joy begins with the cover. Hannes looks into the distance and at the same time covers his eyes with his hand. How is that supposed to work? Look at it yourself! "A married couple of artist friends came up with this idea. We get a lot of praise for the cover because it suggests introspection (close to me) as well as foresight (looking into the distance). It definitely works brilliantly."
Pre-order "Nah bei mir": https://HannesSchoener.lnk.to/NahBeiMirCD
This also applies, and especially, to the album. For the first time, the musical thoroughbred - Schöner is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer in one - was able to implement his musical ideas "without any constraints in his head". "For years, the unwritten rule was that every song had to pass a carnival meeting. But in 2020, with the start of the Corona break and even more so after I left the Höhner, that was no longer a criterion for me. I could do whatever I wanted!" And Schöner made full use of this freedom. "Snapshots without censorship..." is what the text of "Freunde der Nacht" says, and consequently Schöner operates with numerous colors and forms - from the hoarse lament of whining lap steel guitars to polyphonic choral singing to ingratiating pop melodies, moderate ballad temperatures, brisk boogie or tight rock rhythms. Musically, he processes experiences and memories, his love for the Beatles (»Du bist mir nah«) as well as his jazz-rock past. Hannes Schöner tells subtle love stories (»Now say goodbye«, »I won't hold you tight«) or, as in »Christmas Eve«, addresses the dementia of an old lady who wanders helplessly between precise memories and complete disorientation. Beautiful choirs (»I won't hold you tight«), gasping harmonica parts (»Das mit Dir«), small radio play-like sequences, heated saxophone (»Was war das schon«) – Schöner uses all the means at his disposal to create this clever album.
The fact that »Nah bei mir« would be available and would form the foundation for a new phase in a career was not necessarily to be expected after Hannes Schöner left the Höhner. There is not enough space here to tell everything that has been condensed into a moving musician's biography, but a few stations and anecdotes are exemplary - for example, the night-time meeting with a fairly tipsy Roy Black in a Berlin hotel bar and his confession that he was actually a rock'n'roll singer, the collaboration with heavyweights such as Harold Faltermeyer or the self-proclaimed pop titan Dieter Bohlen, third place in the ESC preliminary round in 1982 with »Nun sag schon adieu« (!!), the founding of the band Fair Control, which released five English-language songs, the songs that Schöner wrote for Rex Gildo, The Lords and the Saragossa Band, »Vielleicht werden Du nie geboren«, the cover version of the Chris Norman song »Broken Heroes« from the Schimanski crime scene »Gebrochene Blüten«... and so on. "After 40 years in the music industry," laughs Schöner, "it's about time for a biography, because we haven't even talked about the 30 years with the Höhner yet!" Schöner enjoys great success with the ›Mundart- und Stimmungsband‹, contributes repertoire gems as a songwriter and makes the difficult transition from a seasonal carnival band to a constantly busy, nationwide rock-pop formation. In 2020, family man Schöner, who originally wanted to become a radio promoter, decides that he has had enough of appointments, tours and pressure to succeed.
»Henning (Krautmacher) has managed the generational change well and thanks to the gradual departure of Peter Werner and Janus Fröhlich, the Höhner are always up to date and not a cover band of themselves!«
"You might think it was perfect timing, but then Corona came - "and suddenly I had a lot of time!" Hannes Schöner, still 69, scion of a large family from Cologne-Longerich, took advantage of the unexpected time off and created an album that surprises the listener again and again with new nuances and fresh sounds. The "bouncer" is "Weck mich" with lines like these: "Wake me up when winter is over, when spring awakens life... wake me up when it no longer matters what someone thinks, wants or does... wake me up at the end of the ice age, when the first bird sings again." Folks, spring is here! And Hannes Schöner is "way ahead" (song title!) with his solo album "Nah bei mir" ... "near me".
"Nah bei mir" will be released digitally and on CD on October 20th!
Related Links:
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