Alan Moorhouse has been playing around Cologne and Central Europe for nearly thirty
years now. As a vastly experienced busker, pub entertainer, rock band front man
etc, it was inevitable that a band would eventually emerge to play the original
material. The songs are mainly character sketches and stories of other peoples'
lives. Alan is probably too boring to have any interesting songs about his own
life! The original "Alan's Abits" (Alan, Thomas Kärner and Markus Apitius) got
together in the early nineties, with occasional revivals and co-operation on recordings.
However, when Markus produced the first two solo albums, it became apparent that
a more permanent band was needed to take the songs out to their natural setting.
As the gifted multi instrumentalist Thomas Kärner now lives some 500km away in
Bavaria, Alan's best friend, Gerd Lewandowski, stepped in on guitar and accordeon.
Drummer Volker Neumann has now joined to give more structure to the bottom end.
(He is also a useful harmony singer). Alan's mug has appeared on Viva TV, presenting
"Kamikaze" with the eccentric VJ Nils Ruf as the "house band" (one man banding).
There has also have been a fair bit of footage of him at various festivals - particularly
the Pflaster Spektakel in Linz, Austria. Some years ago he made a TV film with
the German independent film maker Michael Schomers, in which he both performed
and gave an extended interview. The two CDs, produced by Markus Apitius, have
received airplay in the US, Canada, Ireland, Germany and the UK. The band is currently
working in new songs and will be active around the Cologne area this autumn. A
UK tour is planned for next June.
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