IDEA - Ian Davies Entertainment Agency

Description

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 NГ­ Dh'uuacuteill and MГire NГ­ ChГthasaigh. "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) & PГdraig (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 .

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