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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”

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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.

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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!!

Gölä continued… Read More »

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.”

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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

I WANT YOU! Read More »

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.

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Art On Ice – Schwan – VIP After Party

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And, finally after singing Schwan year after year in the classroom, singing it on stage in front of a sold out Hallenstadion was a little like being grafted into Swiss music history for this native Texan. “Even though Gölä is doing his English thing now, his music along with Polo’s and Plüsch´s were my introduction to Swiss pop music. Those songs will always hold a special place in my heart and have become a staple of my secondary school curriculum. And singing it with Lesley, who was on the original recording, was the best thing that ever happened to my Bärndüütsch!” quips Hedreich, who also sang it at the VIP After party in Swissôtel.

And speaking of the after party, word has it that Hedreich is also a fine drummer who can hold her own with some of the best musicians in the business. After singing a few soul standards with Gary Scott’s band, Hedreich rocked the house by turning jam session drummer and hitting with Alex Auer (Gitarrist von Xavier Naidoo), Nikolo Kotzev und Wayne Banks(Gibb’s rhythm section sans Drummer) for a few tunes. The groove was enough to lure ice skating favorite Stéfane Lambiel op to the mike to do a crowd pleasing rendition of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”. And to round it all out, before her 3 inch heels drilled a hole into the bass drum pedal, Hedreich even managed to sing out a few good lines of “We Are Family” while playing. The crowd sang along and a good time was had by all.

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Coming up…

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And what’s on next? Music, music and more music—the paper kind. Except for appearing with Gölä in a quartet formation at the end of the month in Bern, Hedreich will finally have time to start moving the mountain of paperwork on her desk. In addition to the usual number crunching that goes along with this time of year, Hedreich will be meeting some deadlines and putting a backlog of arrangements down on paper. Need school choir, band, Gospel or Pop arrangements?
Send Hedreich a mail, perhaps she’s got just what you need.

Coming up… Read More »

“Chiratbella”

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Oh, and unlike a few of you thought, Hedreich is not the disco queen, she’s the crunchiest pickle in the land, “Chiratbella” winner of the Chirat Casting! Better go back and listen a bit more closely!! And come back again soon to see—and hear– what Hedreich’s got going on. Recorded or live, you’re sure to like it! www.chirat.ch

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Bürgermusik Flums

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After a whirlwind schedule (not packed houses schon wieder!) during November and December, Hedreich would usually be enjoying a bit of downtime—and snow. But this January has not been only unusually warm, it’s been unusually busy. The last weekend of the month sees Hedreich doing songs from some of her favorite musicals with the Flums Brass Orchestra in “Pantasia“.

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