Echos of an Old Magic

These days, I'm updating my website, polishing and preparing for the upcoming release of my new project (a solo Album, more details will be shared soon!). While reviewing old materials, I revisited a wonderful project I once was involved in: a band named Wabash.

Wabash was a project initiated by the writer and translator Dominik Fehrmann. The concept was beautiful and heartfelt: going through old archives of traditional Folk American music, mostly exploring the field recordings archives of the Carter Family, unearthing old folk songs that were almost forgotten. Some were only fragments - missing sentences, lacking a melody, or surviving only as lyrics. Some of these songs were chosen, missing parts were written, new melodies composed, and the band - a group of musicians from Berlin - came together to perform them. Mixed in with these historical finds, Wabash also performed covers of more well-known classic folk songs, such as "Can the Circle Be Unbroken" and Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome". These songs, beautifully presented by the band lead singer Karin Pelte, were songs about love, death, and redemption, "pre-industrial songs for post-industrial times", as Dominik put it.

The band went through several rotations of members, but from around 2008 to 2011 it had a more stable personnel. I am happy I was one of them, holding down the double bass. During this time, we recorded two albums together before the band eventually dismantled.

When I look back at that time, one story in particular echoes in my mind - a moment of great awe. It is the story of a show we played in Sweden.

It was in Summer 2009. The Band squeezed into a van and made its way driving from Berlin to Sweden. A friend who just bought a farm in the forest in south Sweden insisted that we will come and play at the inauguration party, so we did. My wife back then came along too, heavily pregnant with our eldest daughter, Novi.

The drive took us two days. We slept one night in Copenhagen, and the next day we busked to pay our lunch - a few songs on the street, coins in the case, and that familiar mix of freedom and exhaustion.

Wabash, all so young, basking in Copengagen, 2009. From left to right: Roch Hannecart, Gidi Farhi, Hanna Epperson, Karin Pelte, Dominik Fehrmann, Ruth Slomski

Arriving at the farm, we enjoyed the first days chilling, strolling in the forest, picking berries and swimming in the lake. By the second or third evening - I can't recall - we set up to play in the old barn. One whole front wall of the barn was open, creating like a stage frame - the band inside, the audience outside on the grass. We played few songs. The weather was comfortable, sky were bright, typical for late summer night up north.

Then we started to play  'Dark And Stormy Weather'.

As soon as we began the song, the atmosphere changed. There was an electric charge in the air - I could sense it on my skin. The wind began to stir. The tension was palpable. During the first and second verses, heavy clouds started to amass. By the time we reached the chorus, the light began to dim. I looked at Ruth and Hanna who stood near me on stage, and their look confirmed that they sensed it too: something was shifting around us.

Karin stood at the microphone at the front of the stage. Between lines, she quickly glanced back, her eyes shining with anticipation. She, like us, felt what was about to occur. A few more seconds passed, and then it happened. Rain, with heavy drops, began slowly and very quickly turned into a full-blown, loud downpour, drenching the barn's roof and the audience.

And still, the band went on.

“Dark and Stormy Weather…” The audience, like us, was frozen in awe. Some people in the audience tried to cover themselves with whatever they had, some didn't even bother, but nobody wanted to leave. We just kept playing inside that barn in the rain. The song had called it in.

It was all magic.

And then, when song was over. You can guess - rain stopped and vanished as suddenly as it had arrived.

Listen to "Dark and Stormy Weather":

Epilog:

Wabash deserved more listeners. Please, listen, follow, enjoy.

Youtube, on Spotify, on Apple music

I've created a page for Wabash, with some pictures and the only video I could find.

Wabash in action at the Barn

Wabash first Album Cover

Berlin (Ohio) - Wabash" second Album Cover