Hedreich Nichols

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Summer / Live Earth

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Did you hear her?? Singing on the beach? Summer did find our artist singing on the sandy shores of Tuscany, but it was more like autumn’s blues after losing her Mother-in-law (she was the last grandparent) in early July.

It was in this reflective mood that Hedreich sang on the Live Earth Hallenstadion stage on 7.7.07. Live Earth was a 24-hour, 7-continent concert series that brought together more than 100 artists and 2 billion people to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis. With Swiss circuit favorites like Steve Lee and Lunik as well as household names like Genesis and Madonna all taking part, it was a moment of environmental solidarity for the music world.
For Hedreich not only her lifestyle but also her career reflects changes that positively influence the environment. Music for Nature being picked up by the WWF was a special honor. “The producers Lorenz and Beni don’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk. The whole project has been an extension of what they stand for every day. I learned so much good stuff for living while hanging with them!” says Hedreich, who proudly proclaims she lives much more environmentally aware now as opposed to 15 years ago.

Ten years of inspiration

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With next year being the 10th anniversary year of the Glarner inspirational Singers, the choir is busier than ever. Hedreich is working overtime as director and musical director putting the concept together. And after vocal classes and an all day workshop in addition to the regular rehearsal schedule, the singers will be ready to rock the house for the upcoming live recording session on September the 21st. The grand event takes place in historic Hänggiturm Ennenda and is open to the public.

Time to say goodbye

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All good things must come to an end and so it is with the Gölä Rock and Roll tour. After one last concert in Lenzerheide, this year’s comeback excitement draws to a close. „It’s been alot of fun, especially on the bigger gigs and festivals where partners and kids all joined the fun. When it works well, a band really is like a big ol’ family,” says Hedreich. Her son Chris bears witness to this fact. The man fans know as Gölä he calls simply “Lenny’s dad”.

And then…

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Finally, while getting all the final tests and grades done for school in June, Hedreich will be gearing up for a guest soloist appearance with Thomas Schuler and the Nuolen Kantonalschule on Friday, June 15th. After that a couple of weddings, one of which plays out in an old mine in the Glarner Alps and then finally–faster than a speeding bullet–down to the sea for a well earned vacation. So if there’s nothing much new to read between now and the end of summer, don’t worry, Hedreich will be singing somewhere–probably to the accompaniment of the sound of the ocean. In the meantime you’ll be hopefully enjoying some sun and sand yourself. If you listen real hard you might just catch her voice riding the wind and the waves…

On Tour with Gölä

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Remember that old Superman adage “faster than a speeding bullet”? Well, that’s what life’s like for Hedreich these days. “Trying to organize life as a singer, teacher and mother is rough but it sure can be fun!”” says the singer of the recent breakneck speed of life.

The Gölä tour opened to a sold out Mühle Hunziken and has since wowed crowds everywhere they’ve played. Even the tour’s first Open Air-Loveride –a motorcycle event to aid people with muscular dystrophy–was a smashing success with highlights like Born to Be Wild and Sweet Home Alabama, done with Gotthard’s Steve Lee. Not only has the response to the the Swiss working class hero and his English repertoire been positive. The allstar band is racking up Kudos, not to mention the singers. Never one to hog the stage, Gölä has “his two swans” front and center rocking the house with a bombastic cover of Mother’s Finest’s Baby Love which according to the Bieler Press sends a flurry of excitement through the crowd. In Thurgau, Hedreich and Freda impressed the press so much that he wrote, “the two lead singers were playing the wrong position (backfield) most of the night!”
After all that partying on the stage, it was icing on the cake to meet up with her old student John Prakesh. The talented young singer she’s known since the 90’s is now all grown up and was rockin’ the Loveride house himself. “It’s always especially rewarding when you’ve seen someone in their ‘musical infancy’ getting out there and doing their thing in a big way”

Workshops

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The same excitement that Hedreich brings to the stage hung in the air on Glarus for the Workshop day with the Glarner Inspirational Singers. The special atmosphere of the historic Soldenhofsaal over the city Library added to the spirit of the day. In preparation for their first CD as well as numerous engagements in the second half of the year the Glarner Inspirational Singers honed a few of the more difficult a capella pieces and worked on a couple of new songs for the 2007 season. Hedreich with her usual exuberance and learning is fun attitude made the day a memorable one for all.

And continuing with Workshops, Hedreich will be again doing the musical part of the project week at the Sportschule Glarus, a private school for gifted atheletes. The students, who have widely varying schedules in order to accommodate diverse competition and training programs, ban together for a week of work and fun in the name of school spirit. Since in 2006 Hedreich helped the students write and “produce” it’s first CD, a school Rap, expectations will be high. Hedreich hopes to satisfy both faculty and student body with this year’s program. After that the project week with her students at MPS Leutschen promises to be an interesting one. Together they will examine the popularity of styles like “Death Metal” and “Gangsta Rap” and it’s implication on larger society. If you’re interested in putting together a project like this for your school, contact Hedreich. Working with young people is one of her great passions.

Gölä continued…

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For those of you who are keeping up, you’re aware that Hedreich’s Swiss German repertoire is not just for the classroom anymore.

First the Hallenstadion live performance and then the Art on Ice TV broadcast. If you were witness to either, you got to hear Hedreich singing Gölä’s Swiss Rock Hymn „The Swan“ in her best (!) Bernese dialect. For those who love her and possibly even those who are just getting to know her, this was a pleasant surprise and sweet, in the way that foreigners are, when they do the unexpected. For the Rocker himself, maybe it was the fact that while playing that song he felt the love of the fans…or maybe it was that sweet but, ahh, Americanized version of the song that finally convinced him to do what even the Art on Ice moderator in a Swan Lake outfit failed to do—sing in “Bärndüütsch”.
Playing unplugged to a private audience near Bern, a Swiss German song about a blue collar man in a white collar world found its way onto the set list. This special “unplugged” performance featuring Walter Baumgartner on Harmonica and Hedreich on the duet „Easy Go“ set the perfect tone for the evening with “Büetzer” putting the icing on the cake.
Hedreich, who is usually featured on “Love Will Do” and “Have Mercy”, learned “Easy Go” especially for this performance and one three days later at the grand opening of Switzerland’s largest Do it Yourself store and mall in Lyssach. There, Switzerland’s own answer to Bruce Springsteen not only sang a fine short program ending in Büetzer. He even did an encore singing the beloved “Swan” as the musicians –real professionals who had never played the song in its entirety—called out the chords to one another! Hedreich was finally able to match her Bernese dialect to the original and it was a performance to be remembered!!

Memory Lane

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After a few choruses of “the hills are alive…” while vacationing in the Austrian mountains, Hedreich is turning her attention to arranging. The background vocals for the upcoming Gölä club tour as well as a couple of new pieces for the choir are in the works.

In commemoration of the death of Brenda Waters in March of 2005, Hedreich is arranging one of the beloved singer/songwriter’s compositions, “Absent from the Body”. When asked why she feels the need to re-arrange such a good arrangement, Hedreich replied, “Replacing my mom’s solo in that song is pretty impossible so I want to do the whole song, including verses, as a choir piece. At first I wasn’t so sure I could do the song at all without falling apart—it’s still so soon—but somehow I manage to swallow the lump in my throat and get through it. It’s such a beautiful song, it would be a shame to let it just sit on the shelf.”

I WANT YOU!

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And if you haven’t done it yet, you’ve still got time to download Hedreich’s voice off the website as the ring tone for your cell phone. And in case you need to hear her voice in the meantime, drop back by and listen in. We’ll leave a light on for ya! www.chirat.ch

Gölä and Art On Ice

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Although making out anyone on stage is almost impossible in the cavernous Hallenstadion, the brilliance of Göläs backline sound pouring out over the speakers couldn’t be missed. After creating the vocals that give Gölä´s Rock and Roll a distinct touch of soul it was only natural that he asked her to bring the studio sound to life in his comeback performance at this year’s Art on Ice. Rock ‘n roll, soul, disco and enchantment on the ice made for some magical moments. “I’ve always loved ice skating and saw the Art on Ice show back when Vanessa Mae did the live music. Now to be a part of the team putting out the sound for top ice skaters like Stéphane Lambiel or Sinead and John, singing while watching the beauty and fire of the skaters, well it was an absolute pleasure” Of course grooving to childhood favourites and doing the finale with Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees was also a highlight.