Andrea says:

"It was an incredible feeling to visit the then village where my family came from and where I have spent many summers in my childhood with my Grandma and cousins. Now, after more than 20 years, Ibrány became a town and its face has changed a lot, with great modern buildings, a very nice, prospering little city - yet I arrived home to my folks, met several relatives and many people who all seemed to be friends with each other. Indeed, the atmosphere during my entire stay was great, very friendly, people enjoying the concerts and other events of the two days. 

I can't tell you how it felt to stand on the stage on the 20th of August when after the official celebrations I got to lead all those thousands to sing with me the National Anthem... At our concert, people were clapping, singing along, moving their bodies - I even got a "dance partner": a Gypsy man was dancing pretty good, right in front of the stage, and Soma, our accordeonist, showed the crowd who was the man, twisting his feet in a lads' dance from Transylvania.  

There is too much to talk about the other programs, all the delicious traditional Hungarian food of next day's cooking contest... 

Greatest thanks to everyone who organized this event and contributed to it in some way!"

Besides enjoying the few sunny days in and around beautiful Stockholm, the days have been busy here: watch out for very exciting new collaborations, the latest acapella album This Way, Sweetheart! soon on CD Baby, iTunes and all the good online stores, and for concerts.

The next, most anticipated show is in Ibrány (Eastern Hungary), for the St Stephen Festivities on the 20th of August.  

"For me, this national holiday is the nicest one of the three that we Hungarians have, and I am looking forward to this day very much. This is the town where my family is from (and as far as I know, all the Gerak families in Hungary), I spent a lot of time there as a child with my grandmother, cousins and other relatives. Now when I was invited, I got a bit emotional, for I have not been able to visit the place since the funeral of my Grandma, and if I imagine that I go back there after more than 20 years, and I will be singing on stage for thousands of people, it makes my heart beat faster..." - says Andrea.   

Andrea Gerak and Friends will give traditional Hungarian folk music on the city's Open Air Stage, starting at 20:30. (Click on poster for map)

Andrea Gerak and Friends in Szentes (Southern Hungary), 20 Aug 2009
(Csaba Soos - violin, Marton Eri - viola, Balint Tarkany-Kovacs - cimbalom, Akos Lukacs - contrabass)

The singer will be in Hungary for almost ten days around that day, a few further dates are still available.

Contact

- When can we expect a new album, and didn't you think about having such performers on your album as Ghymes, Katalin Szvorák, Márta Sebestyén, Muzsikás, Zsarátnok, etc?

- I am considering not only one album; one of them is a nice CD version of the digital album Árva Az A Madár (Lonely Is The Bird), the other one is an acapella solo album, with a few other folk songs on it, not only Hungarian ones (note: This Way, Sweetheart! is already released in the meantime). It would be a real honor for me to work with such great names, and there are more on my wish list. The album I have made with Barozda, a Transylvanian band living here in Sweden as well is sold out, we don't have a definite plan to re-publish it. Also, it would be too early to speak about another album idea I have.

- I have read that you managed to get well from a cancer and are on stage again, therefore my question: would you perform for children with cancer?

- This is true, it was not a long time ago. I get involved in benefits relatively often, so I would sing for children with cancer with pleasure, too. And if there is a need for it, I would talk with them and the parents about what helped me to conquer this disease.

- What would you like to achieve in music, in your private life and in life, in general?

- This three areas are pretty much interwoven for me, but I can try to separate them. In music: when I was a little girl, my mother always used to say: "Son, if you have a little mind, you will choose a profession by which you can travel the whole world." I still like this today as a private goal, and there are a lot of places where I would love to go and perform. Now not only so that I can see all those beautiful scenes, but also so that after Márta Sebestyén and a few other excellent Hungarian singers, the world will know a little bit more about the treasures of our nation which is basically just a handful of people. Beyond singing Hungarian and other folk songs in a traditional way, it is also exciting for me to see how can I play around with them a little bit, dress them up in new ways, with the help of my musician friends. In life, I also play on an international field: I would like to share my experiences with as many people as possible, info which they might need to live healthier and happier, physically and mentally as well. Obviously, to do that, I have to be myself in such a shape that I can give tips to others honestly and with certainty. And as a mother, I would love to see that my son will choose a profession where he will be really happy.

- Every singer is happy when their performances are rewarded by thundering applause…

- That's right... As for many other artists, the greatest experience for me is to stand in front of the audience and I can be completely myself through the songs. And it doesn't make any difference how big are the figures: I am trying to give my best to the smallest audience just as well as on a big stage. Beside applause, when they thank me for the nice moments, is also warming for my heart. I am getting feedback in many forms: guestbook entries, a few words on a website, emails, a friendly hug, a smile, a grateful glance... For me, the real happiness in singing is when I can give them something that will move them emotionally, or when it inspires other artists. Singing, humming just for myself, simply when I feel like it, gives me nice moments, too. Not to mention the joy when I have a chance to sing with others!

-How is it to be a Hungarian abroad?

- *It's a mixed feeling. I can see the similarities and the differences, and often it makes me sad - then I am glad that I don't need to be part of the rat race or in petty fights. Other times I am glad to see that Hungarians do certain things much better than others - those times I am trying to benefit from what I have learned at home and share it with my environment. Years ago, in one or two developed, envied Western Europe countries, it happened that people made me feel: I should go back home, but I haven't experienced this for a while. Here in Sweden people are quite okay with this subject, as a Hungarian, I am one of the many immigrants living together. My husband is always saying proudly where is his wife from. I think each Hungarian who is in any contact with non-Hungarians, inside or outside of the borders, is personally responsible for what foreigners think of us as a country or nation.

- One of the Hungarian "Martians" who have immigrated to the United States, wrote in his autobiography: "I have lived many decades here, but the home land is still the home land, I never looked at myself as an American. Don't you miss the smell of Hungarian euphoria?

- I can completely understand him. I will never consider myself Swedish, or American for that matter, should I end up there later. It is one thing where one lives, what are the practical rules, laws and such one is bound to, but another thing is that I take my cultural heritage with myself everywhere. This is a part of my identity. Even the biggest tree can't stay alive without its roots... There is a lot of things I miss from home: my family, countless of friends, with whom I can keep contact much easier now, thanks to the internet, the buzzing cultural life. "Smell of euforia" includes things like Hungarians can get enthusiastic much easier for things they find good - let it be a business model, a life improvement activity or a product - than Scandinavian people. There are a lot of things I can't find here which are very easy to get in Hungary. And of course, I miss some of my favorite food: mákosguba, gesztenyepüré, sztrapacska...

- What would you say to Hungarians in Upper Hungary (=parts of Slovakia with Hungarian inhabitants), when can we see you performing here and what would be your message to our readers?

- I will go to Upper Hungary with great pleasure: a beautiful area, I would love to see more of it than what I have seen so far, and I have dancer friends there. A few concerts are in the making, I can't give details yet, but I will gladly go where they want me for some events: I will be in Borsod for a while, and it is not a big deal to jump over to the other side of the border from there.

To my friends I haven't seen for long, I say it will be very nice to meet again, I was thinking of them a lot, through the years. And I am curious to meet new friends.

And for your readers I would like to say to do their best, individually and in communities as well, so that when they walk in the world and people find out where are they from, they would go: "Aaah, Gömör? That must be a good place, I would like to go there!"

The interview in Hungarian

*Andrea's note: this interview was taken a while ago, today I would answer this question a bit differently.

Watch video on YouTube (The sound quality on the album is better, you should listen to the song here too)

And a bonus: Easter fun :-))

Throughout years, groups of  volunteer ministers have been working at Ground Zero, the London bombings in 2005, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods in Europe, and wherever such help is needed, they are there in the front lines. Check out here what they are doing in Haiti right now.

Meet the contributing artists, listen to the songs and download them:

One World by Joel Kanning
Purple Raga by Matthew Montfort
Uche by Paul Kwitek
Ostracized Melancholy by Softcore
Help Me Believe by Emerald
Had I Known by The Heavens
God Only Knows My Shoe Size by Ludwig Amadeus 
Skimming Stones (Reach The Horizon Mix) by Sleepthief
Waterwheel by Mariah Parker
Ochun by Ancient Future
Beli Buba, Beli (acapella) by Andrea Gerak

There will be about 3 more songs added to the album very soon, and a few beautiful Haiti photos as a bonus for downloading the full album, watch out for the updates!

1.

The singer offers her brand new album for charity: download the acapella album This Way, Sweetheart! from BandCamp and any amount paid above $5 for the full album or above $1 for individual tracks, will be donated to the same volunteer organization supported by the Haiti Aid Through Music compilation

2.

Download the cross-genre compilation album Haiti Aid Through Music from BandCamp, and 100% of the sales go to volunteer ministers, check out who they are and what they are doing in Haiti

3.

Buy CDs or download Andrea's other albums, and CD Baby sends $1 from each full album purchase to American Red Cross or Mercy Corps.

Madárka, madárka (Little Birdie) Haunting A Cappella folk songs from various regions of the historical Hungary:

Árva az a madár (Lonely Is The Bird) New Age/World fusion, traditional Hungarian melodies with tunes from the Middle East and Northern Europe, Caribbean rhythms, wrapped in modern technology:

Authentic Hungarian Village Music Traditional Hungarian folk, with Transylvanian band Barozda:

Andrea Gerak wishes a great year to everyone with these words: 

"After the holidays mood, celebrations, parties, tomorrow, Monday morning everything goes "back to normal": people start the ordinary working days, kids go to school. Christmas decorations are already hidden in boxes, but hopefully the spirit of love stays with us and new year resolutions stick longer than a couple of enthusiastic days or weeks.

Despite the worldwide financial crisis and very hard, challenging events in my personal life, I can say 2009 was a great year for me, in terms of creativity and activity: I became an endorser of World March for Peace and Non-Violence, opened an online webshop with photo gifts, performed with excellent musicians in new collaborations, amongst others with Fabatka, created a few videos, like this one: There Is No Greater Sadness, started to write reviews on fellow artists and articles that are hopefully useful for others, published a new album: This Way, Sweetheart!,and got many new friends, fans, followers and contacts on various sites.

If I Was A River, at Celebration of Hungarian Jazz 2009, Budapest Jazz Club

Watch video on YouTube

2010 looks even better, with more exciting works with my composers Cambridge 2003 and Effi Shoshani and with other musicians to perform with, and I am looking forward to new collaborations with a few other international artists, to be named a bit later, festivals and other concerts, more songs, videos, perhaps one or two books and photo exhibitions.

This was the self-promotion part :-) but the point of my message is this:

No matter what happens, if you are able to keep on creating and giving out good stuff, life will be good to you - that's a stable datum I am operating on.   

That's my wish for you in the new year and the new decade: have you all a happy life, and create it in the way as it is the best for you and for the most people around you.

Love, Andrea"

Andrea's birthday wish

The first buyers already got Andrea Gerak's second acapella solo CD, with mostly Hungarian folk songs and an Irish, a Turkish and a Solomon Islands traditional tune, and the album is now available for download as well.

It's been more than eleven years now that Andrea recorded her first album, Madárka, madárka (Little Birdie), and the haunting Hungarian folk songs are still flying around the world, giving joy to listeners and being downloaded on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Last FM and other music sites, the CDs travel continents.

With a few thousand singing hours, more versatile vocal technique and performing skills, extended repertoire and intense life experiences under Andrea's belt since then, the time was well ripe for a new release. For many listeners loved the idea of having a voice only album, here is another one: the new album This Way, Sweetheart! features some of Andrea's most successful acapella songs, those that have become standard pieces of her performances through the years, as well as new favorites.

The songs tell us about various stages and emotional aspects of love, the meaning of one's homeland, and we also find soothing lullabies on the album.

"All these are traditional folk songs, old melodies, yet several of them reflect the exact situations in my life right now...", says the singer. "Since a long time I wanted to make another CD with my voice only, because I believe that the human voice is the most perfect music instrument: you don't need to carry big cases, spend a fortune on an excellent quality piece, it will not get lost or robbed from you, and what is most important: you don't need to use any physical object as a via, to communicate feelings and stories with your songs. In an ideal case for a live concert at a place with brilliant acoustics, you don't even need a microphone - what you scream and shout, lull and whisper, hum and chant, will be carried to the listeners only by air. And this is probably what I like most when I perform: to convey a piece of my soul to others, with as less things in between us as possible. Therefore I would like to give the feeling that on this album, I am there in your room when you want to chill out, or walking in the forest with you, sitting on a rock by the sea, laying in the grass and watching the clouds, standing on a mountain top, and I would just sing for you...

All I wanted with this CD was to try and see how can one communicate through these old songs, in their purest simplicity. No fancy effects, no lines recorded twenty times - just as you were here with me and I would sing for you, all the things I have to say.

Feelings of love, happiness, joy, sorrow and longing were the same in 1809 as they are today, in 2009..."

17 tracks, total time 45:24
Recorded in November 2009, Eskilstuna (Sweden), at fortissimo CD production

Buy a signed CD from right here
Download album from BandCamp in any format you wish and you set your price, from as low as $5! Bonus material when you download the whole album: concert video of 2 songs 

with a song: Yay, I've Been Freezing
a podcast: Electrical Language #193
and a few thoughts: Lonely Christmas, Lovely