Who is this emgee person?
<<emgee>> (aka Martin Granacher) is a singer and emerging songwriter from Heidelberg, Germany. His first public appearance was in 2004 at the annual Chanson Gala hosted by singer-songwriter Bernhard Bentgens, where he has been a regular guest during the following years. He published his first short CD almost blue in 2006. And he sang tenor in the A cappella group Soundaround.
Having sought professional help from classical, pop, chanson and jazz artists on a regular basis, he is still refreshingly undecided when it comes to his own style. Somebody compared his singing to Bryan Ferry, someone else to Marianne Faithfull. No way. Although…
What does he do?
He's quite proud of his CD "almost blue". It is based on an upbeat love song that he wrote in 2004, recorded in state-of-the-art studios (yes, real studios in real buildings) with state-of-the-art musicians. The song comes in three quite distinct arrangements: pop, cappella and piano, with voices all over the place. The packaging is very look-and-feel, the idea being that it should offer uncompressed value over mp3. So what are you waiting for? listen
His public performances have been limited to the annual Chanson Gala event in Heidelberg and a few more intimate evenings, to which he contributed such incongruous material as piano-style Queen, Herman van Veen, Angelo Branduardi, REM or Depeche Mode, but also some of his own material. And there has been the occasional evening with the A cappella group.
A few songs in German are in the pipeline. And the first full-evening programme "Enjoy the Silent Mode" was premiered in 2008. If you haven't guessed from the title, it's a tribute to the sad and beautiful ballads that Martin Gore (another emgee) wrote for Depeche Mode. What it sounds like? Like "Enjoy the Silence" on a grand piano with a lot of silence between the notes. In 2010 he is looking for a band for a similar project with songs by REM. Or maybe come out with some material from the wordsmithy? Or maybe go synthetic and sound like the Pet Shop Boys? Let's see.
Where can I see and hear him?
You'd have to click on the "Wann" link to find out. You might have to prepare for a pilgrimage to the old town of Heidelberg as he isn't famous enough to be flown around.
What about some sounds and sights?
Go to the Was noch? link to have some fun with sounds and video and pics and lyrics and so on. Don't worry too much about about some of the content being in German, just play around and enjoy.
