Alpine rock

For years, Austrian Hubert von Goisern traveled the world, playing his music. Most recently, he sailed the Danube and Rhine rivers on a freight ship that had been turned into a stage, and gave concerts while docked at harbors along the way. Then von Goisern hunkered down in his Salzburg studio and composed short, crisp songs for his brand new album "Entweder Und Oder" ("Either And Or") that convey a whole lot of love for his homeland.

On his last album "S'Nix," he had poured his experiences while traveling on the ship into epic tracks, but this latest work feels downright minimalistic. This development makes sense, the musician from the Alps feels. It's the pendulum moving in the other direction. "After that last big tour, I decided to compose more miniatures," he said. "I just couldn't have topped what we did on the ship - unless, of course, I'd play with a chamber or symphony orchestra."

Exotic nature-boy

But the musician isn't interested in that kind of bigger-and-better-than-ever aim. Instead, Hubert von Goisern presents pieces that can be played without an orchestra; only a guitar or harmonica is necessary. He's cut his band in half and gotten rid of the keyboard, too, because it's always had that orchestral sound, the musician said. "I wasn't sure whether I'd manage being able to pare down so much - both in terms of content and sound, but I think it's turned out pretty well."

The opening piece "Brenna tuats guat" certainly shows that the Alpine fire of his youth still burns inside him - the powerful rock-driven song once again revealing his daredevil nature-boy persona.

Von Goisern wouldn't be von Goisern if he didn't sprinkle his Alpine tracks with some other exotic sounds. Even on this 18th album of his, he's got his signature mix: Heidi of the Alps goes reggae; on the "Indianer" track, cow bells can be heard under the guitar.

The nearly 60-year-old von Goisern has always been fascinated by unusual, often exotic sounds from around the world. "Of course, I bring back musical memories from my trips, but I couldn't say that I consciously put them into my compositions," he said.

"I don't think about how someone would make something sound in Trinidad or Tanzania. I just tap into my musical memory and let it go to work," he explained.

On a quest for the unknown

Hubert von Goisern was born "Hubert Achleitner" and started his musical career as a brass band trumpet player in his home village in Austria's Salzkammergut. But the band dumped him - both because of his long hair, and because he carped about the group's repertoire too much. So he escaped the stale cultural air of his native region and headed to Africa, Canada and the Philippines, taking the name of his village with him. From then on, he was "Hubert von Goisern."

He's certain that his travels allowed him to discover new sides of himself. "If you're in a familiar setting, you go about things very automatically - you live life in a very routine way," he noted. "But if you go somewhere and don't know a soul, you don't speak the language, and you don't know what's around the next corner, then your senses become sharpened."

Once back in Austria, Hubert von Goisern gained fame with his "Alpinkatzen" (Alpine Cats) band, his accordion and his unforgettable songs in Goisern patois. He aimed to turn tradition upside-down, even destroy it. "I wanted traditionalists to feel the cut of the pick-axe. I wanted to pull things apart because all that stuff from yesteryear completely annoyed me," he recalled.

Von Goisern has mellowed since then, and become an established musician. He relies on Buddhism now to help him find inner peace and muster up energy for new projects. Naturally, then, "Es is wias is" ("It is What is") sounds like the Alpine version of "Om."

Back home

Nowadays, globetrotter von Goisern doesn't feel imprisoned when he locks himself up in the studio for months on end either. "My mind goes traveling then," he said. It shows in his music. His tales are sometimes angry, sometimes forgiving, and they always have a message. His music is most powerful when he reflects on life and makes clear that things aren't "either/or," but are "either and or."

And he's come home again in a different way. He's involved in the Greens party, is committed to the struggle for Tibet's freedom, and helps disadvantaged youth. Most recently, he's begun fighting for the survival of the little taverns and inns of his home region. The local pub in his home village high up in the Alps, where he owns a hut, had to shut down years ago, for instance. So von Goisern wants to bring culture back into the villages, and save the tiny mountain inn stages from extinction by playing his music there. Stale air and all.

Author: Suzanne Cords / als
Editor: Rick Fulker