Trails by Klaus Adamaschek & Shiregreen

Musical dream trip through the western United States

In 2011, singer and songwriter Klaus Adamaschek – stage name Shiregreen – traveled the western United States with his guitar for more than six months. Together with his wife Angelika, he has covered 25,000 kilometers in an old mobile home, commuting between secluded nature reserves and lively cities, between small clubs and big festivals. The musical result of this very personal search for traces is the highly acclaimed Americana and songwriter album TRAILS.

Sixteen songs take the listener on a captivating journey through the western United States. Each of the songs tells its own story: For example, the touching Some Rain in Santa Rosa, which takes place in a run-down town somewhere on Route 66 in the New Mexico desert. Other songs are inspired by stunning landscapes: Colorado is a grand anthem for a great river, which Shiregreen has followed for nearly 1,000 miles through canyons and plains. However, TRAILS stays far away from glorifying campfire romance. Tales of Tohona reflects depressing experiences in the Arizona desert in the middle of the reservation of the Oodham Indians, whose water was literally dug up by the whites.

Musically, the album moves relaxedly between folk, rock, blues and country, musical borrowings from songwriters such as Neil Young, Kris Kristofferson and Gordon Lightfoot are unmistakable. The sovereign TRAILS band consists of the Dane Tom Eriksen with his Stratocaster, Paul Adamaschek on bass and keyboards, the violinist Lukas Bergmann, Peter Lavell from Amsterdam with his lap steel and Frank Schäfer on the drums.
The graphic design of the album is as exceptional as the entire TRAILS concept. The booklet unfolds into a historical map of the West, outlining the itinerary of the tour and anchoring each song with image and lyrics. The impressive photos were taken by Angelika Adamaschek, a passionate photographer who documented the tour in over 20,000 pictures, some of which were even selected by the travel magazine Merian and presented online on SPIEGEL.

Angelika and Klaus Adamaschek brought together the most beautiful pictures and songs in 2012 in the picture concerts Six Moons in the West of the USA and TRAILS II, which has not only inspired music lovers, but also photo friends and America freaks nationwide ever since. This completely new concert format with 600 images on the big screen and 16 songs live on stage takes the audience on a captivating journey through the western United States. The musical travel diary of Klaus and Angelika Adamaschek was also published by the music magazine FOLKER under the title "In Search of the Holy Grail of Folk Music" (http://archiv.folker.de/201106/04heiligergral.php).

Klaus Adamaschek touches his audience with intelligent songwriting, a charismatic voice and deep thoughts. Musically, he combines influences from American folk, rock and country music with the classic German singer-songwriter tradition. Klaus Adamaschek has already released 14 albums as a solo artist and also with his Shiregreen Band. His songs and albums are highly praised by the critics.