Otto und der Rausch
Band history

Otto B. And Jonas Rausch first met in 1830 in St. Petersburg. By then they already had heard of each other, mainly through their mutual friend the count of Saint Germain. They shared interest in exotic music soon lead them to the southern states of the US, where they got accquainted with the singing and the drumming of the plantation-slaves, which inspired them to develop their own music, the Blues. In America the Blues fell on fertile ground and left a distinct imprint on the american culture and language. Whilst the blues flourished in the U.S. „Otto & der Rausch“ brought the blues, in the language in which it was conceived, Otto B.'s mother tongue Viennese, back to Europe. But the same music that let afroamericans express their deepest soul in an unadorned and sincere manner, was way too strong subject matter for the rigid social conventions of Europe. Valiantly „Otto & der Rausch“ threw the gautlet of authentic artistic expression into the waxen face of their contemporaries – and harvested the hate of the bourgeoisie. In those times „Otto & der Rausch“ played their music covertly, despite the attacks of self entitled sleaze watchdogs. They played it wherever unminced words were cherished, be it among the disenfranchised or among outlaws, under bridges, in box cars or rough dives – until their paths split as they decided to further their numerous other interests and studies. In 2013 their paths should cross again in a small town in southern Germany. Instantly their old passion for the Blues arose again and they decided that the time had come to play a bit more overtly. At their rare public appearances music-afficionados have now the opportunity to witness what the music historian Alan Lomax once called „The root of all Blues“.

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