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Michael Peterson steals the
show in Gstaad
By CSO European
Contributing Journalist, Christian Lamitschka.
(Click on the pictures to see the larger version)
The
16th Country Night once again was a huge success.
 The
Show started off at 6 p.m. with the Lonesome River Band (right), who are
at home in the world of Bluegrass Music. The band which was
founded in the Eighties and has been on tour with a variety of members
offered the audience a nice opening act. The Lonesome River Band
is one of the top bluegrass bands in the US. All present members
of the band are from the southern states. The five musicians
follow the traditional style of Bill Monroe and Flatt &
Scruggs. However, it is also important to them to include their
own sound in their music. One of the first highlights of the
Lonesome River Band was their album "Carrying The Tradition"
which was released in 1991. The album was voted "Album of the
Year" by the International Bluegrass Music  Association.
This award gave a great boost to the band’s career. The audience
in Gstaad loved the band and asked for an encore.
Jamie
O'Neal (right) and her band took the stage next. Jamie found her
way into Country Music through her parents. At the age of two, her
parents moved the family from Australia to Hawaii, where her little
sister was born. Five years later, the family moved to Las Vegas,
Nevada, America’s gambling capitol. It was there, that Jamie had
her first performance on stage at the age of eight. After
finishing high school as an average student she moved to Nashville,
Tennessee and started working towards her goal of being a solo
artist. She started writing and singing her own songs. In
1998 she received a contract from EMI, Nasvhille and the rest is
history.
After
Jamie O'Neal's set there was a 50-minute break while the crowds headed
for the concession stands.
Then
Michael Peterson (right) took the stage and the audience. Michael,
born in Tucson, Arizona, was the real star of the  Country
Night Gstaad. Right from the beginning of his show he made it
clear that he would do everything for his audience and right there he
stole their hearts. He talked with the fans, shared anecdotes from
his life, and offered tips on how a 'man' should behave before marriage.
In a very unique way, he encouraged the audience to sing along. It
was simply a pleasure to listen to Michael Peterson. His show had
the quality of stars like Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson. Michael
Peterson, a very experienced performer, released his first CD in
1986. It was a Christian CD, which is not unusual for the
US. In 1997 Warner Bros. Nashville released Michael Peterson's
first real Country Album. The self-titled-album included four hit
songs: "Drink, Swear, Steal And Lie", "From Here To
Eternity", "Too Good To Be True" and "When The
Bartender Cries". The album went platinum.
Following
this success, Michael caught the attention of Universal Music
International. They produced and released the album "Modern
Man" which soared in the European market like a rocket. After
the stellar performance and TV takes, Michael made himself available for
his fans until the wee hours of the morning, signing autographs for more
than 4 hours.
 Michael’s
part of the show was by far the most entertaining of the evening.
LeAnn Rimes (right) has an incredible voice. She is one of the
most recognized artists in the US and is successful worldwide. Her
set was done very professionally. At the age of 22 she is already
had almost a decade in the spotlight. We only wish she could
devote more of her time and energy to her European fans. The crowd
received her country tunes much more enthusiastically than the pop-rock
tunes which dominated her set.
One
of the delightful surprises of the Country Night in Gstaad was the short
performance of Ronan Keating on Friday night. All in all, the
Country Night was once again a big success and by the broad variety of
music from Bluegrass and Country to Country-Pop every fan found their
favorites. Everybody can already now look forward to the list of
artists participating in Country Night 2005.
Christian Lamitschka ( Ch.Lamitschka@t-online.de
)
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