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ANDREJ ŠIFRER
It's not easy
to be a star singing for a nation of two million souls. However, following
the career of the singer-songwriter Andrej Šifrer in the small country of
Slovenia and abroad, all theories seem to lose their logic. Through the
last thirty years Andrej has become a member of every family in his
homeland and there is no end in sight to this harmony.
No other single artist in this small territory (but great land!) achieved the sales of near half a million copies of records like Andrej did through the years. Andrej Šifrer was born May 1st 1952 at Kranj. At the time of Woodstock in America in 1969 he joined his first band Ajvar & Co.
In the meanwhile he worked on his next albums, but also found time to get engaged in organising a festival called »The Children's Republic« which every year in his beloved Stražišče near Kranj attracted over 15 000 visitors. Of course, it was dedicated to all the children that could attend, but especially to his new-born son Martin, for whom he wrote a song that could be translated roughly as »Martin's ding-a-ling« for which he in the lyrics predicted that it might grow as high as the highest Slovenian mountain – Triglav – 2864 meters. This miracle never happened to the young man, but it happened to the song – it became one of the most popular airs for the youngest generations to come.
It was the main hit of his double album »Ideas from under the blankets«,
released in 1981 and sold over 100 000 copies.
After that Andrej, a graduate of law school who never practised
law, turned to other private
and social activities though he never quit performing. His next album »Hurry slowly« recorded without too much publicity
in Nashville with an outstanding group of musicians, came like a surprise,
and was released in 1990. According to the standards at that time, it was
three times platinum!
The Slovenian
and the Irish have a lot in common, and Andrej discovered that in his
early forties when he agreed
with Des Moore to arrange a recording session. One of the songs recorded
in Ireland was the legendary »Seven drunken nights« for the first time in
Slovenian but with the participation of the musicians from the Dubliners!
This Irish sounding album took Andrej again into the golden sphere. Andrej continued the Irish dream, inviting the Irish group Stockton's Wing for a tour in Slovenia one year later. It was a monster!
The fans waited for Andrej's next big adventure until 1998 when in June he took part in a classical /yet leading/ Slovenian festival. His winning song » For friends« became a major hit of the year, and that resulted in another hit album called “I’m Waiting”. As this was a standard tune arranged for orchestra with strings, at that time of his career Andrej decided to found a small orchestra with a string quartet, and for quite a while this was the country's main attraction, also owing to the hit song »For friends«.
Further exploring music, Andrej discovered the magic of blues in the company of fine musicians, featuring Charlie Musselwhite at the studio Route 44 West in Santa Rosa, California. This resulted in an album entitled » The Muse of my Blues«, release in Slovenia September 2000.
At this moment, for Andrej many anniversaries are planned. Upon these occasions, he sincerely hopes to be able to host as many as possible of his family, his musical and other friends at home and round the world.
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