Winzer Krems | Concert Evening 1

Ríoghnach Connolly and her band serve a "blend" of English and Irish folk with a big dash of soul (think Van Morrison!) and a pinch of jazz. And Biff Roxby's trombone evokes the ska bands of the 1970s and 1980s (The Specials, Madness, etc.). In short, it’s a mix that can only be created on the British Isles.

The singer with the seemingly unpronounceable name (approximately: Ri-án-na) hails from County Armagh in Northern Ireland, where she grew up with Irish folk music. Connolly is a songwriter, activist, flutist, and singer with a powerful voice – though she can also be experienced as vulnerable and delicate in other formations, such as in the intimate duo The Breath.

In 2019, Ríoghnach Connolly was awarded Folk Singer of the Year by BBC Radio 2. She and the rest of the band now live in the music city of Manchester, where they made a splash at WOMEX 2024. Honeyfeet has released four albums (and two EPs), but the band is particularly impressive to experience live: in concerts where Ríoghnach Connolly's humor is the only thing that remains dry.

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Incredible 30 years are being celebrated by Die Strottern – and their audience – with this concert and new album. "Finally, a collection of songs for our anniversary year," says Klemens Lendl. The singer and violinist, together with guitarist David Müller, lead perhaps the finest edge of the current Wienerlied scene: the subtlest wit, the finest irony, and the tenderest love songs can be found with Die Strottern, as well as the art of making the most absurd seem natural and questioning the obvious.

Die Strottern have proven this in so many ways over these three decades – with music for theater, in collaborations with Franui, Hannes Löschel, Christoph Bochdansky, Matthias Schorn, Matthias Loibner, Willi Resetarits, Lukas Kranzelbinder (with us on July 24), the Jazzwerkstatt Wien – that one could quote the words of their house poet...