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Hallo, ich bin Maya.Wie kann ich helfen?
BANDANA has been Europe's most booked Johnny Cash tribute band since 2001 with over 400 concerts in 8 European countries and more than 160,000 km traveled in the tour bus.
The name says it all: the songs of the master from the 1st single "Cry Cry Cry" to the last video "Hurt" performed in an authentic Cash sound with vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, double bass, snare, piano, and harmonica. And of course, the most beautiful duets with June Carter, portrayed by Isabelle Gerwig, an actress in Berlin, who shares short episodes from Johnny Cash's life and charmingly guides the concert with a wink. The audience can call out song requests to the stage at any time - as it was customary at Johnny Cash concerts.
The bandname BANDANA refers to the term originating from Mexican for the well-known cowboys' neckerchiefs, as well as a similarly named instrumental piece composed by Johnny Cash, with which he concluded many of his concerts.
The Real BANDANA Story
1992
Andreas Matthes gets hold of his father's tape with recordings from "Deutschlandfunk" and hears "I Walk the Line" for the first time.
1997
April 8
Andreas Matthes attends the Johnny Cash concert at the Kulturpalast Dresden and (secretly) starts practicing afterward.
2000
September 19
Andreas Matthes is invited by Johnny Cash's second eldest daughter Kathy Cash Tittle for lunch/dinner at the "Olive Garden" Madison/Nashville, while Dad is working in the studio. The "new band" that John and Waylon (Jennings) were in the studio with that day would later turn out to be the trio "Trick Pony."
2001
February
Andreas Matthes and Heiko Heeg on electric guitar audition at the Music School Chemnitz.
April
Founding "BANDANA - Sound of Johnny Cash" after an instrumental by Johnny Cash and first public performance at Hexenfeuer in Chemnitz.
December
Performance with Steffen (Heiko's friend) on bass, no further collaboration.
2002
February
Concert at the Music School Chemnitz with Michael John as electric bassist.
July
Heiko leaves the band for a job in Bavaria, Michael moves to Leipzig.
2003
March
New lineup with Mathias Hofmann (bass) and Björn Bochmann (electric guitar).
April
First performance of the band in the new lineup together with "Jo & Co." at the Gasthof "Zur Sonne" Röllingshain. "Jo" is considered the discoverer of the young talent.
May
During the performance at the 9th Burgstädter Kulturwoche in the Hotel "Alte Spinnerei," a certain Bodo Martin attends as a cameraman, in real life he is a drummer for the Wildwoodboys, and since that evening, he has been with BANDANA.
2004
February
"Johnny Cash Birthday Memorial" at the well-filled "Kaßca" Chemnitz as a sextet. The band subsequently performs in various lineups - similar to Cash.
June
Support for "Truck Stop" in the Stadthalle Limbach-Oberfrohna. "Mrs. B." has never stood at a mixing console in her life and represents the previous sound engineer Klaus M. so well that she still mixes the band today. "Besides," she takes care of our tour management, as we travel often and far.
June-Carter-Birthday-Memorial" at the "Theater im Hof" Cologne together with "Texas Heat" (Bernd Wolf aka "Marty Wolfe").
September
First concert with Julia at the Burgstädter Altstadtfest, initially as a background singer, later also as a duet partner and soloist. Julia also plays acoustic guitar and auto-harp.
October
Frank, guitarist of the "Wildwoodboys," hears the band at the "Tipi" Chemnitz and joins on guitar (he will marry Julia in 2006).
November
Andy is invited on stage as a guest singer at the concert "Gunter Gabriel sings Cash" at the Kulturhaus Zwickau.
December
Separation from guitarist Björn Bochmann.
"Country-Christmas-Time" in the Stadthalle Chemnitz, support for Tom Astor and Gudrun Lange & Kactus.
2005
January
First foreign gig at the club "CI-5" Prague.
February
Premiere for the self-made "Luther Perkins Signature Amp."
March
First performance in Switzerland at the Saloon "BONANZA" Bissegg.
May
Thousands of spectators at the "Trucker & Countryfestival" at the "Erlebnisrasthof Strohofer" Geiselwind, many cameras.
June
Open-air concert at the JVA Waldheim.
July
Julia and Frank leave the band. Andy now plays electric guitar himself as no guitarist can be found for Luther Perkins' typical "boom-chicka-boom" sound. Bodo takes over the acoustic guitar.
An ad appears in the "Stadtstreicher": Drummer looking for people (guitar, bass, organ or whatever else you can do) for Garage-Country-Desertrock-Americana-Soul-Blues (or something like that)-Band. And soon we have a new drummer: Oli.
Since then, many spontaneous guest musicians have taken a seat at our snare when we perform as a trio.
August
First joint performance with boogie pianist Andreas Werner, who from now on is a permanent member of the band and has always wanted to play the snare himself.
September
Country-Festival in the "Balver Höhle" (where the "Fantastischen Vier" produced their live unplugged album and the accompanying video).
2006
January
Pub gig with the "Schwarzwasserperlen" at the "Gerücht" Dresden, a pub where 1-2 musicians play every Sunday. It was agreed to sing in the background for 3 songs. The ladies had 12 completely three-part harmony songs prepared. No rumor.
Concert at the JVA Chemnitz.
February
Interview and band introduction in the country show on "MDR 1 Radio Sachsen" with Frank Michael Bauer. We play 3 songs live and have listened to the "home station" ever since, as sometimes they play the recordings.
Interview and band introduction on Sachsen-Fernsehen ("Drehscheibe Chemnitz").
"Johnny-Cash-Memorial-Concert" & "Trash liest Cash" with Roger Trash as speaker/guest singer at the "Kaßberg Gewölbekeller" Chemnitz (sold out, about 30 guests couldn't be admitted). Sorry.
"Bluegrass & Countryfestival" at the Karl-May-Festtagen in the Western town "Little Tombstone" in Radebeul (people stayed despite heavy continuous rain until after midnight).
May
On the way to the gig at the "Oderspeicher" Frankfurt/O., our bus stops at the highway exit "Dresden - Wilder Mann." Major engine damage. A real road movie...
June
"Donauinselfest" Vienna, the largest open-air festival in Europe with 23 stages and about 2.3 million guests in 3 days. The band was so well received that we were spontaneously booked again for the next year.
August
"Freakstock" Festival Gotha. Youth from other countries also take notice of us, and the press writes "great American Johnny Cash cover band," because we play the "English Show" - all announcements in English, not a word of German.
September
"Johnny-Cash-Memorial-Concert" at the sold-out "Chemnitzer Kabarett" with speaker/guest singer Cliff Häußler.
The "Country & Western Friends Kötz 1982" e.V. invite to the "Cash Memorial Day II" at the Schützenhaus in Leipheim. "Mandy Strobel," "Marty Wolfe & Texas Heat," and we will perform.
2007
January
We play in Northwest Germany at the sold-out "Heimathaus" Twist.
First Holland gig at the sold-out "EKKO" in Utrecht.
February
The legendary "Johnny-Cash-Memorial-Concert" at the "Theater Plauen" with Thomas Bille (MDR Figaro, MDR artour) as speaker. Production of the live DVD.
March
At the concert at the punk rock club "King Calavera" in Hamburg St. Pauli, Andy invites the present Gunter Gabriel for 5 songs as a guest singer on stage.
April
We participate in a benefit concert for the first time, and €1,000 is raised for the "Zwickauer Tafel."
May
Sun-Records-Tribute in Kiel together with an Elvis-double and Jerry-Lee-Lewis cover band. We play without any rehearsal with a bassist we only know from the phone: Ray Madison from Lübeck. And it rocked! Great cinema.
June
TV production in Kiel after 9 hours of highway travel.
July
Our new man on acoustic guitar is Markus "Onkel" Lang, Bodo now plays double bass. Mathi lives and studies in Dresden. All the best!
August
Benefit gala for the parents' association of children with cancer "Sonnenstrahl e.V." Dresden in Waldheim within sight of the JVA. We mainly play prison songs - maybe someone "inside" listened to us.
September
Live on Air in the "Ali Khan LateNightShow" on Radio Charivari Munich. Ali is some mixture of Harald Schmidt and Stefan Raab. Glad to do it again.
Record audience number at the Hotel "Herzog Georg" Bad Liebenstein: 2 (two).
November
For the soundtrack of the film "Mitfahrgelegenheit," bands with original songs are sought. We produce the 10-year-old "Dreams of you" written by Andy and are selected via online voting. Very nice, but original songs will remain an exception.
Concert with new singer Mandy Römer, who takes over June Carter's part at smaller gigs as an alternative to our "Carter Family."
2008
February
"CountryMusicMesse" Berlin. The old song: Us and the "country scene" - or the "country scene" and us? Or BANDANA vs. the "country scene"? Anyway, as it should be, with our own stand and concerts in Berlin all 3 evenings. This is called "positive stress." Signing the petition "Pro Postbahnhof."
March
3 days tour through Austria in 3 federal states. A modest 2,300 km in a VW bus.
Sachsen-Fernsehen produces a feature about us in the "Villa Markersdorf."
May
We play live for the first time before & after the movie "Walk the Line."
The band performs live on air for 2 hours on "Radio Euroherz."
July
We play for 2 consecutive days at the "AMCA European Chapter International Meet" in Dinkelsbühl. Big cinema.
Speaking of cinema: we sit in the Thalia Cinema Dresden watching "Mitfahrgelegenheit" - the film featuring our first released original song on the soundtrack and actually read our names in the end credits. In the cinema!!! Unbelievable.
August
We perform at the legendary LOGO (Hamburg) and 150 people follow the concert worldwide live on LIGX.DE.
September
JOHNNY CASH MEMORIAL CONCERT on the occasion of John's 5th death anniversary at the sold-out Chemnitzer Kabarett. Thomas Bille reads from the biography, Sachsen-Fernsehen records the concert with their brand-new OB van. Standing ovations after our last song. The audience stays for a minute of silence in John's honor. Then we play "Hurt," for which the cabaret has provided us with their concert grand piano. What a night!
November
Erdgasarena Riesa. There has been a series called "Live vom Balkon" for some years with select bands in the VIP area of the big hall. With cozy seats, leather sofas, candles, extra heating, a classy bar, and all. Concert starts at 7:30 pm. At 3 pm, we learn that our "June's" representative (who is down with severe flu) also cannot perform. A spontaneous call to Julia (see July 2005), who is having coffee with her guest. But "The Show must go on," right, so the guest is sent home, the script is dug out, and they head to Riesa. Respect!!! P.S. The lounge was sold out with over 200 tickets, only our much-admired Dresden boogie pianist Thomas Stelzer had an even larger audience there with 230 paying guests. We can live with that :-)
2009
February
We have found our new "June": Miriam Spranger, singer/songwriter from Chemnitz. And already the first concerts (Moccabar Zwickau, Tante JU Dresden, Kulturscheune Thyrow) were great. Very nice.
We had our stand again at the CountryMusicMesse in Berlin, no. 226 (Febr 26th...), and our 30 minutes on the CountryMusic24 stage at the Fritzclub (many thanks to the crew there). But somehow this event rightfully falls into the carnival season. Speaking of: Lennerockers at the neighboring stand had fresh beer from the tap; we had, as always, eggnog ;-) Helauwdy!
March
We could have sold out the Wasserschloss Klaffenbach two days in a row, but the second date would have been Friday the 13th, which the management didn't want to chance. So, we'll be playing there again on November 27th. But the concert on March 14th was very special and will hold an eternal place in the band's history. Mr. Murphy is a BANDANA fan, that's for sure.
April
While others are allegedly searching for eggs, we play a 3-day Easter tour in Paderborn, Lübeck, and Weimar, covering a modest 1,270 km. At the concert in Weimar, Mr. CrazyHair loses his health due to an excessive marzipan consumption in Lübeck, and it happens to be that the rockabilly band "Bedrock Five" loudly sings Cash songs in front of the stage - a quick replacement for the bassist was found. A drummer was also found on this occasion. The Show must go on - respect, gentlemen!
May
On the way to the gig in the Black Forest, a serious motorcycle accident happens shortly after the Geiselwind exit (unbelievable coincidences - see May 2005), and we provide first aid. Get well soon, old chap!! Even though you overtook us on the right at a felt 280 km/h just before. Our tour manager distributes autograph cards to the biker and the surrounding helpers. Spätzle and soundcheck are canceled, and the concert starts punctually at 8:30 pm.
By the way, our beloved tour bus hit its 400,000th-kilometer milestone - rewarded with a new TÜV & ASU. Keep it up ;-)
We play a spontaneous gig in Thedinghausen, with "Roxanna Red" singing and "Jack" drumming - both from CASH CARTER TRIBUTE. Unbelievable.
June
20-minute set at the "Welcome Mr. President Party" in Dresden on the Altmarkt in front of a really large audience. Rarely seen so many police officers, camera teams, OB vans, and such a parade. Thomas Stelzer plays before us (see November 2008), unfortunately, the master has no time to play with us.
Benefit concert for the "Association Wildwasser Zwickau Land e.V." in the Alte Gasometer Zwickau. 180 concertgoers donate €431.
We play at the Trucker & Country Festival Interlaken (Switzerland). 48,000 visitors, 1,400 trucks, 4,000 bikes, bright sunshine, and a breathtaking backdrop.
July | August
17 concerts and 5,800 km through 6 European countries. Highlight, of course, the final concert at the Béthune Retro Festival on the Mainstage.
Also very nice was our now traditional open-air concert for the summer festival at the JVA Waldheim. In the middle of 'Bonanza,' a gust of wind blows the stage set behind us down. Mr. Crazy Hair sees the disaster coming at the last second and catches the other half, which doesn't land on Andy's neck, instinctively with his head and elbow - of course not, without also bringing his already damaged bass out of the danger zone. Prisoners and staff come to help, no one is harmed. The 'Gitterkanal' keeps the cameras rolling, creating a truly remarkable live video. And once again it rained.
September
'Johnny Cash Memorial Concert' at the Chemnitzer Kabarett on the occasion of his 6th death anniversary. The 4th year in a row to a sold-out house. Kerstin Heine (Chemnitzer Kabarett) reads from the biography.
October
Nice concert in the 'König Albert Theater' Bad Elster.
November
Short concert with a sensational guest trumpeter at the Meistersingerhalle Nuremberg for the CountryMusicMesse.
Another sold-out concert at the Wasserschloss Klaffenbach.
Founding of the own record label BoomChickaBoomRecords.
December
New year's eve with and for the residents of the 'LukasHaus' Zwickau, with some fans also having booked tickets and attending. A very touching concert - never have we been so often hugged and embraced and hearted. Wonderful.
2010
February
Sold-out 'Johnny Cash Memorial Concert' for his 78th birthday at the 'Club Passage' Dresden with Thomas Bille as presenter.
April
Benefit concert at the Kinder- und Jugendheim Burgstädt on the occasion of the first anniversary of the 'Mother-Child-Group.'
Gunter Gabriel calls Andy and asks if we would be interested in being the backing band for the musical 'Hello, I'm Johnny Cash' at the Renaissance-Theater Berlin, with June Carter played by Helen Schneider.
May
At the concert in 'Club Charlotte' Potsdam, colleague Gabriel strolls into the backstage with director, author, and intendant in tow and sings a few songs with us on stage since he's already there. Responses from the extraordinarily numerous audience are divided. For this and also musical and scheduling reasons, it is quickly agreed not to pursue the project together after all.
We'd never have thought our sound woman would fall so in love with a mixing console - as happened at the 15th International German Grillmeisterschaft in Gotha: a DiGiCo SD8.
October
Markus leaves the band. Our singer Miriam now also plays acoustic guitar.
Welcome to the Sch'tis. 3 concerts in 3 days in Northern France and 2,150 km in the tour bus, 1 hour traffic jam on the highway near Lille, champagne already for breakfast, mysterious meat dishes, adventurous PA‘s, demonstration directly in front of the hotel against pension at 62 (we joined in and marched along), 2 gigs together with the sensational 'The Red Cabs,' detour to St. Quentin and the sandy beach of Dunkerque, THX to Hervé (Blue Devils, Arras) & Nels (Nels Tattoo, Douai)! No Problem.
2011
February
Our now traditional performance at the Country Music Messe in the Postbahnhof Berlin is also the opening concert of the 10th Anniversary Tour - the band celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The band bus has new TÜV - so it can start.
May
At the anniversary concert in the Brauclub Chemnitz, Martin Schmitt joins for the first time. He plays acoustic guitar, trumpet, and piano and has the strange habit of constantly climbing around on it.
June
The free BANDANA iPhone app is released.
November
Miriam and Oli leave the band. As 'June Carter,' Mandy Römer, Chrissy Gerth, or Marlen Reuter perform from now on. New drummer is Nino Richter, who has been a temporary member for the past 2 years.
December
Our iPhone/Android app is already installed on over 1,000 smartphones.
2012
February/March
4 out of 8 concerts sold out, including the most beautiful Johnny Cash Memorial Concert in the band's history on the occasion of his 80th birthday at the Stadthalle Chemnitz with Peter Tschernig as reader/guest singer, with the Schwarzwasserperlen as 'Carter Family' after a long time, Micky Romero as 'Carl
