20070427 Psarantonis All Tomorrow s Parties festival Butlins Minehead UK

Antonis Xylouris ( el, Αντώνης Ξυλούρης; born September 6, 1937), nicknamed Psarantonis ( el, Ψαραντώνης), is a Greek composer, singer and performer of

lyra Lyra (; Latin for lyre, from Greek ''λύρα'') is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and is one of the modern 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Lyra wa ...

, the bowed string instrument of Crete and most popular surviving form of the medieval

Byzantine lyra The Byzantine lyra or lira ( gr, λύρα) was a medieval bowed string musical instrument in the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire. In its popular form, the lyra was a pear-shaped instrument with three to five strings, held upright and played by ...

Biography

Psarantonis comes from the mountainous village of

Anogeia Anogeia (Ανώγεια) is a municipality in the Rethymno (regional unit), Rethymno regional unit, Crete, Greece. The municipality has an area of ., excluding the former municipal departments Axos and Zoniana. Population 2,379 (2011). When exact ...

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

which during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was

destroyed Destroyed may refer to: * ''Destroyed'' (Sloppy Seconds album), a 1989 album by Sloppy Seconds * ''Destroyed'' (Moby album), a 2011 album by Moby See also * Destruction (disambiguation) Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a ...

by the German occupying forces, when he was just two years old. Psarantonis is the younger brother of the late

Nikos Xylouris Nikos Xylouris ( el, Νίκος Ξυλούρης, 7 July 1936 – 8 February 1980), Cretan nickname: Psaronikos ( el, Ψαρονίκος), was a Greek singer, Cretan Lyra player and composer, who was and remains to this day among the most renow ...

, a notable Cretan singer/musician as well as the older brother of Yiannis Xylouris, an equally notable Cretan musician. Psarantonis is also the father of Cretan musician

George Xylouris Giorgos Xylouris ( el, Γιώργoς Ξυλούρης, born September 25, 1965), also known as ''Psarogiorgis'' (Greek: Ψαρογιώργης), is a Cretan laouto player and singer. Xylouris was born into a musical family (his father is Psaran ...

. Psarantonis is known for the special timbre of his voice and his

playing style. Apart from the lyra Psarantonis plays various traditional instruments. He first played the lyre at the age of 13 and recorded his first single in 1964, titled "I Thought of Denying You" ( el, Εσκέφτηκα να σ' αρνηθώ). He has released many recordings since then and has represented Greece many times in festivals abroad.Interview (Greek)
Retrieved 20 October 2008 In May 2005, Psarantonis performed at the World Music Institute's 20th anniversary benefit concert at

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, New York. In 2007 at the festival Rock "All tomorrow's Parties" in

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National P ...

, UK. In January 2009, he gave memorable performances in the rock music festival

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the song came from Reed's observation of Andy Warh ...

hosted in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Sydney and

Mount Buller Mount Buller is primarily a resort town on the slopes of Mount Buller in the Shire of Mansfield of the Australian state of Victoria. It is located approximately northeast of Melbourne. It is popular with snowsports enthusiasts in winter due t ...

(in Victoria) and curated by

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its career and pr ...

. In 2007 he worked with Daemonia Nymphe on their album ''Krataia Asterope'' doing the vocals and playing the lyra in the track ''Dios Astrapaiou'' He has also worked with the Italian singer and songwriter

Vinicio Capossela Vinicio Capossela (born 14 December 1965) is an Italian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. Capossela is renowned for the highly original and poetic lyrics of his songs. Many of them draw from traditions of Italian folk music, especially those ...

, similarly as his son Labis.

Discography

*1973: Κρητική Ξαστερία *1976: Η Μάχη της Κρήτης *1976: Πηγές *1978: Σαϊτέματα *1982: Αναστορήματα *1983: Οι ρίζες μου *1985: Εκτός Εαυτού *1986: Να κάμω θέλω ταραχή *1989: Τα μεράκια του Ψαραντώνη *1990: Από φλόγες η Κρήτη ζωσμένη *1991: 30 Χρόνια Ψαραντώνης *1991: Μαθήματα Πατριδογνωσίας *1991: Ο γιος του Ψηλορείτη – Son of Psiloritis *1994: Παλιό κρασί 'ναι η σκέψη μου – My thoughts are like old wine *1995: Μουσική Ανοιξη *1996: Από Καρδιάς – De Profundis *1997: Cretan Music – The way of Psarantonis *1998: Νογώ – I reckon reflexions *1999: Ιδαίον Άνδρον -Idaion Antron *2000: Τέσσερις Δρόμοι για τον Ερωτόκριτο *2000: Λεόντιος Μαχαιράς – Χρονικό της Κύπρου (Μουσική Ψαραντώνης) *2000: Χαϊνιδες – Ο Ξυπόλυτος Πρίγκιπας *2001: Νίκος Κυπουργος -Τα Μυστικά του Κήπου *2002: Ριζίτικα – Rizitika *2002: Παπά-Στεφανής ο Νίκας-Αγρίμι και Κοράσο *2007: Ψαραντωνης & Βασίλης Σκουλάς – Άνθη του Χρόνου *2007: Να 'χεν η Θάλασσα βουνά – Had the Sea mountains *2008 :Σαν Πυροβατης *2008: Αντάρτες των βουνών – Mountain rebels *2009: Εκειά που θέλω

References

External links

Official Web site of Psarantonis
{{Authority control Cretan musicians 1942 births Living people Greek songwriters People from Anogeia