Bitter Beautiful Folk Storytelling

The Devil’s Trade

Roadburn Festival 20200418

All musical genres found its way to the internet. Elton John hosted the iHeart Living Room Concert with e.g. Dave Grohl and Alicia Keys. The Global Citizen’s “One World: Together at Home” features The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Lizzo and more. Andrea Bocelli, responsible for the Teatro del Silenzio, sang at the cathedral of Milan. And the Roadburn brings subculture right to your place.

After Dr. Space and Conny Ochs, it’s The Devil’s Trade’s turn to take over. He played at Vienna with Celeste and Der Weg einer Freiheit about a year ago and should have returned those days with Darkher. Meanwhile he found home at Season Of Mist, where his next album will be released, as he tells. And so you find yourself at his home, with vintage furniture, a big plant and the record cover of “What Happened To The Little Blind Crow” on the wall.

As in regular live concerts, he starts with holding the banjo right in front of his face and singing. In his music lies a lot of beauty and bitterness. From the already mentioned last release, he plays “St. James Hospital” and “Your Own Hell”. One viewer compares him to Zakk Wylde, what seems quite right coming to his voice especially. Between the songs he shows his talent as storyteller. Before doing a traditional cover a Hungarian folk song from Transylvania himself, he tells that the “Outlaw Song” of 16 Horsepower is a cover as well.

He also talks about his dog and guitar, and that “No Arrival” he first played when on tour with Crippled Black Phoenix. It also was the first one after the record, getting him out of emptiness and panic of not being able to write something new. As final one he picks “No One Here”, that has an important story he usually recalls but will tell it next year on the road (about the village Bezidu Nou, Annot.).