Fragment, one of the most popular central European bluegrass bands ever, is celebrating their 30th anniversary by doing a reunion tour. Bass player and vocalist Jana Mougin is chronicling their tour for us at Bluegrass Today.
Day 9: December 1, Budapest, Hungary
The last show of our tour was actually Fragment’s first ever in Hungary. Even though Budapest is only a couple of hours drive from my hometown Bratislava, Slovakia, we’ve never had a chance to play here, as bluegrass has never had a wide fan base in this country. The times are changing and our southern neighbors are discovering this genre and musically, they are actually doing really good!
I was very impressed as we arrived to a nice Community House downtown in Budapest. The band on stage Poa Pratensis (scientific name for Kentucky bluegrass) was sounding great! We were the closing band of the event, and while we were enjoying home made goulash soup (thanks to Adrienn and Milan), we had a chance to listen to a folkier formation Tempered Sprits.
The concert was held in beautiful atrium of the Community House and despite a very small audience, the atmosphere was really great. Quietly listening fans, applauding after solos, enjoying every moment of our show made our first time performance in this country really enjoyable.
Big thanks to Hungarian Bluegrass Association for this well organized night! It was nice to meet new musical friends and fans.
Shortly after the finished the last show of our tour, we jumped back in the car, as the boys had a long trip home ahead. Even though everybody was tired, we felt happy.
Our 30th anniversary was simply a blast! I just hope it won’t take a long time until we get together again!
Fragment, one of the most popular central European bluegrass bands ever, is celebrating their 30th anniversary by doing a reunion tour. Bass player and vocalist Jana Mougin is chronicling their tour for us at Bluegrass Today.
Day 8: November 30, Pezinok, Slovakia
I woke up to another day of our tour in my cousin’s house in Roznava, where I had a chance to spend a few hours with my son. Sammy spent the whole time, while I was touring, with my family. They took great care of him and I can’t thank them enough. Even though I knew he was having a wonderful time, it was hard for me to say goodbye and leave him for two more days. The rest of the band picked me up on their way from Kosice and we continued traveling together to Pezinok, our banjo player Richard’s hometown.
The concert was held in the Cultural Center of this little town in the West of Slovakia, primarily known for winemaking. To our surprise, all the seats were sold out and we had to add a few chairs to accommodate all the fans who came to celebrate with us tonight. “Candy Floss”, the band from Zvolen, opened for us and they were well received again. They were easy to follow as the audience was very appreciative and happy. It reminded me of the release party of our album “Meant To Be” we played in this hall 10 years ago. The same atmosphere, the same familiar faces, maybe just a bit older now.
A special (and totally unexpected) surprise was a delicious cake we’ve received from one of our friends. It was another great concert and I started to be a little sad that our tour was drawing to an end. One more show in Budapest, Hungary tomorrow and we’ll have to say goodbye.
Fragment, one of the most popular central European bluegrass bands ever, is celebrating their 30th anniversary by doing a reunion tour. Bass player and vocalist Jana Mougin is chronicling their tour for us at Bluegrass Today.
Fragment DAY 7: November 29, Kosice, Slovakia
Our seventh day on the road was very special to us from many reasons. The invitation to play in Kosice initiated the whole idea of putting together our 30th anniversary tour. Through the years, we’ve played in this city on regular basis and we were looking forward to see our old buddies – musicians and fans.
To me, this part of my home country is even more special, because my mother was born in this part of Slovakia, and many members of my family live here. But the main reason, why this night was so exceptional was, that the concert held in the beautiful Old Town Hall, was a tribute to our friend Peter Dula. Peter was a great country singer, songwriter and guitar player, who lost his battle with cancer four years ago, at the age of 28. He was the lead singer/guitar player in Slovakian band Peter and The Rowers (Veslari). Fragment was honored to be a part of this event, along with three other formations Country Pohoda, Dusan Dobias & Erich Bobos Prochazka and Slovak Tango.
The tradition of the “Tribute to Peter Dula” started four years ago and as a part of the concert, Honorary Awards of Peter Dula are presented to a few personalities actively working on the country/bluegrass scene as publicists, festival or event promoters. Fragment, Henrich Novak, Richard Cifersky and myself were very honored to be inducted in Peter Dula’s Hall of Fame. On behalf of Fragment, our dobro player Henrich Novak also accepted Peter’s “traveling” guitar, that he will keep until the next year and pass it on to the next awarded artist.
To me, the highlight of the night, besides great music and wonderful audience, was meeting Peter’s parents for the first time. Along with Ladislav Sasak (family friend and a long time member of The Rowers) they keep the memory of Peter and his musical achievement alive. I’m thankful for that as it was a night I will cherish forever.
Fragment, one of the most popular central European bluegrass bands ever, is celebrating their 30th anniversary by doing a reunion tour. Bass player and vocalist Jana Mougin is chronicling their tour for us at Bluegrass Today.
DAY 6: November 28, Zvolen, Slovakia
Probably the hardest day of our tour. After five hours of sleep we got up at 6:00 a.m. and enjoyed full European breakfast in our hotel in Kaufbeuren. The tables were nicely decorated with Christmas centerpieces and candles, even for breakfast. Great start of the day!
By 7:00 a.m. we were on the road. The beautiful winter scenery and sunrise made our 10-hour-long trip more enjoyable. We traveled from southern Germany, through Austria to central Slovakia. The concert was held in the historic Town Hall in Zvolen. It was nice to see our friends from bluegrass band Candy Floss (based in Zvolen), who opened for us tonight. They played all original material and they put on a great show!
Again, we saw a few familiar faces in the audience and overall it was another wonderful night. We stayed with Candy Floss’ bass player Anton Naroda and banjo player Simona Schmidtova in their beautiful house in the vicinity of Zvolen. They took a great care of us, treated us with special locally-made food and drinks. It’s been a long and exhausting day.
Thanksgiving day is my favorite American holiday and I thought of my family and friends across the ocean. Even though we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Slovakia, besides many other things in my life, I was extremely thankful for the opportunity to play music in my homeland again, surrounded by friends.
Fragment, one of the most popular central European bluegrass bands ever, is celebrating their 30th anniversary by doing a reunion tour. Bass player and vocalist Jana Mougin is chronicling their tour for us at Bluegrass Today.
Day 5: November 27 Kaufbeuren, Germany
The last day in Germany turned out to be a bit cold, but beautiful. We left the hotel in Langenau and drove about an hour to Kaufbeuren.
When we arrived at the hotel, our guitar player Ondra found out that we were only fifty minutes from Neuschwanstein castle, a popular tourist destination in Bavaria.
We had approximately three hours until the sound check and everybody was up for taking a little trip to the “winter wonderland.” We jumped back in the car and in about half an hour we enjoyed beautiful winter scenery driving by the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. As we were getting closer, the castle emerged between the mountains and it really looked like something from a fairy tale. We didn’t have time to take the 30 minute walk to the most famous Neuschwanstein Castle, so we decided to walk up to the Hohenschwangau Castle close by. It was definitely worth walking up the icy stairs, as the view with two lakes, Alpsee and Schwansee below, was remarkable. Despite the cold weather (15 F), I wished we could have stayed longer.
Around 5:00 p.m. our routine began with loading the sound system into Sudhaus, a restaurant type venue, with regular bluegrass concerts. Among many others Claire Lynch, Chris Jones and The Night Drivers and Monroe Crossing played there earlier this year.
Our promoter Frank Rickal was worried about the attendance, as an important soccer match was on TV that night, but the first bluegrass fans started to show up an hour and a half before the show.
After the sound check and a lovely dinner – local specialty Kase Spatzle (dumplings with cheese and roasted onions), we were ready to start the show. We played three sets and during the intermissions we had a chance to chat with local fans/musicians at the merch table.
I have to admit, I was ready for bed when we finished the show with two encores, but yet we had to pack and load the sound system in the trailer. We got to the hotel around midnight and went straight to bed, to catch some sleep before our long trip back to Slovakia.
