Gruff Rhys and Jolie Holland at Grüner Salon Berlin / Monday 06.10.2014

Following his sensational performance with Neon Neon at Berghain in summer, Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys returns to Berlin for a special acoustic solo show of material from his brand new album American Interior.

httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=FPXgbbTcMtM

“In 2012 I embarked on an investigative concert tour of the American Interior, retracing the steps, and looking for the grave of a relative called John Evans. John Evans left Wales for Baltimore in 1792 and walked into the wilderness of the Allegheny mountains in search of a lost tribe of Welsh-speaking Native Americans, believed to be the descendants of Prince Madog.

httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=d6YG0oceu7w

Over seven eventful years, with very little in the way of resources, he embarked on a series of incredible adventures, lived with several First Nation tribes and left a trail of political chaos from which America never recovered. I took his cue and travelled through the Midwest playing gigs and writing songs. In St Louis I picked up Kliph Scurlock from The Flaming Lips, who joined me on drums.

httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=bQvfdYsv1ZU

We powered up the Missouri River by boat, playing more shows on the shore. In Omaha we went to Mike Mogis’s Arc studio and cut a record, then carried on upriver to play the UMOnHOn and Fort Berthold reservations. Dylan Goch who directed a film called ‘Separado!’ about my previous investigative concert tour joined me again and shot a new documentary on the way. When I got home I wrote a book about the tour and John Evans’s epic adventure. It’s called American Interior. The film is also called American Interior. As is the album. Just so there’s no confusion there’s an App that tells the same story in a brand new way. It’s called American Interior too.

httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=7jYtlPUMRZ8

Evans was last sighted in New Spain in 1799 under a new name: Don Juan Evans. Did he find the tribe he was looking for? What became of him? What is it that sends men and women to the ends of the Earth in the vain pursuit of glory? I’ll try and explain all in a PowerPoint presentation (across the nation) this summer.”

– Gruff Rhys

httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=4ul6kP887xA

Jolie Holland is an American singer and performer who combines elements of folk, traditional, country, rock, jazz, and blues. She was one of the founding members of The Be Good Tanyas. ANTI- labelmates Tom Waits and Sage Francis are both outspoken fans of Holland’s: Waits nominated her for the Shortlist music prize[3] while Francis has said that Holland’s album Escondida was his most listened to album of 2005.[4] Holland collaborated with Francis on two tracks on his album Human the Death Dance.