Die Rhöner Säuwäntzt are a

skiffle Skiffle is a music genre, genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. ...

-blues band from

Eichenzell Eichenzell is a municipality in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Fulda, 7 km south of the town Fulda. The letter-processing center for Deutsche Post (, ) is a brand of the DHL Group (listed as ), ...

-Lütter in Hessen, Germany. The line-up consists of Martin Caba, Christoph Günther and Christoph Leipold playing Skiffle-Blues with lyrics based on

Rhön Mountains The Rhön Mountains () are a group of low mountains (or ''Mittelgebirge'') in central Germany, located around the border area where the states of Hesse, Bavaria and Thuringia come together. These mountains, which are at the extreme southeast end o ...

dialect and other

Hessian dialects Hessian () is a West Central German group of dialects of the German language in the central German state of Hesse. The dialect most similar to Hessian is Palatine German language, Palatinate German () of the Rhine Franconian sub-family. However, ...

varieties. The expression ''Säuwäntzt'' means

pork belly Pork belly or belly pork is a boneless, fatty Primal cut, cut of pork from the Abdomen, belly of a pig. Pork belly is particularly popular in American cuisine, American, British cuisine, British, Swedish cuisine, Swedish, Danish cuisine, Danish, ...

and refers also to untidy or unruly children and youth.

Background

The band started as a one-event session at a local festival in

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

in 1994. An unexpected success led the members to continue working together. The band members have a blue-collar background and express this in their lyrics and musical style. The band's motto, ''Musik von den Baumwollfeldern der Rhön'', translates into ''Music played on the Rhön

Cotton Fields "Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)" (also known as In Them Old Cotton Fields Back Home) is a song written by American blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly, who made the first recording of the song in 1940. Early versions Reco ...

''. The band members present themselves in

hillbilly ''Hillbilly'' is a term historically used for White people who dwell in rural area, rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in the Appalachian region and Ozarks. As people migrated out of the region during the Great Depression, ...

costumes, with corduroy trousers, braces and wooden shoes, and the acts include story telling and musical comedy on stage. Among the musical instruments in use are milk churns, electric shavers and

wrench A wrench or spanner is a tool used to provide grip and mechanical advantage in applying torque to turn objects—usually rotary fasteners, such as nuts and bolts—or keep them from turning. In the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand ...

es;Schmalkalden: Bauernblues, so rauh wie die Rhön, (peasant blues, as rough as the Rhön mountains)

Thüringer Allgemeine ''Thüringer Allgemeine'' (''TA'') is a German newspaper with its head office in Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a populati ...

, 29 July 2011 – 05:30 Uhr sometimes brass elements are added as well. The musical styles besides the peasant blues include Latin American rhythms, techno and also German pop, and they sometimes also make ironic use of

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

lines and melodies or standards, adapting them in line with their hayseed image. The band has played at regional festivals and events in Germany. It has been presented in German TV and radio. Contributions to major festivals include among others Internationales Tanz und Folkfest

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, within the Thuringian Forest, to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north. The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide ...

Bardentreffen The Bardentreffen (German for bards' meeting) is an annual open-air music festival in Nuremberg, Germany. The first Bardentreffen took place on the 400th anniversary of the death of meistersinger Hans Sachs in 1976. Setup The venues are s ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

and the international street musician competition in

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

. The band has been described as a peculiar folk music invention with both rural down-to-earth and anarchic aspects. image:Rhoener_Saeuwaentzt_Session.jpg, Session with friends image:Rhoener_Saeuwaentzt_Caba.jpg, Frontman Martin Caba image:Rhoener_Saeuwaentzt_Guenther.jpg, Christoph Günther, bass image:Rhoener_Saeuwaentzt_Leibold.jpg, Christoph Leibold, wash board and milk churn

Lyrics

The band's lyrics involve more or less burlesque and serious aspects of life and work in the countryside, some

ribaldry Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to indecency. Blue comedy is also referred to as "bawdiness" or being "bawdy". Like any humour, ribaldry may be read as conventional or subversive. Ribald ...

, bumpkin blues and horseplay included.

highlighted a typical text example: In 2014, the "Antiwindkraftlied" (anti-wind power song) went viral with anti-wind power activists in Germany after having been started on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

. The song is referring to negative impacts of a specific wind power project in the

Rhön Biosphere Reserve The Rhön Biosphere Reserve includes the entire central area of the Rhön Mountains, a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Thuringia. Aim In 1991 the Rhön was recognised at international level by UNESCO as a biospher ...

.Antiwindkraftlied der Rhoener Saeuwaentzt eingeschlagen wie eine Bombe
(Saeuwaentzt anti wind power song hit like a bomb) Osthessen Zeitung, 19 February 2014

Discography

* ''Die Rhöner Säuwäntzt''; 1995 Rhön Records * ''Die Indianer aus dem Biosphärenreservat'' (red Indians from the biosphere reserve); 1997 Musikverlag Caba * ''Dorfweisheiten'' (village wisdom); 1999 Musikverlag Caba * ''Die Botschafter der Rhön'' (Rhön ambassadors); 2000 Musikverlag Caba * ''... das Beste aus 10 Jahren''; 2005 Musikverlag Caba, best of sampler * ''Ballerwantzt am Guckaisee'' (beach party at Lake Guckai, close to

Poppenhausen, Hesse Poppenhausen is a municipality in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. it is the home of Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co is a major manufacturer of sailplanes located in Poppenhausen, near Fulda in Germany. ...

); 2006; Musikverlag Caba * ''Die Frauenversteher'' ( woman whisperers); 2008 Musikverlag Caba

References

External links

Homepage

''Der (Rhöner) Blues darf einfach nicht mehr fehlen''
Gießener Anzeiger 14.3.2008
Die Rhöner Säuwäntzt
at

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhoner Sauwantzt #Die German bluegrass music groups Skiffle groups 1994 establishments in Germany Musical groups established in 1994