They say a rowing pair without a helmsman or –woman is a boat class of its own. It takes the right rhythm and exceptional perception to create the energy for the optimum momentum to go forward.

FRIEND N FELLOW is also a pair with rhythm, perception, energy and grooving forwards momentum in its most brilliant form. But stop! This is where sports and the arts go different directions! Because when Constanze begins to sing with her velvety timbre and Fellow’s guitar seems to carefully pick up her words, then magic, suspense, humor, melancholy, love and interaction fill the air. Then there is art.

After a creative break, FRIEND N FELLOW are returning to the concert stage with their new program. Along with the obligatory evergreen subjects of love, loss and hope, their songs center around the subjects of our new virtual world of Internet. So, we can be excited about the songs and stories. Prof. Fellow will again entertainingly deliver the latter from time to time, like delicious hors d’oeuvres from the Sushi man.

“Unlike the procedure in the past years of publishing an album and performing concerts afterwards, we are going at it in the opposite way now,” Constanze reveals, and continues....”There will be a lot of fresh songs at the beginning of the tour, which will ripen together with us on stage, show for show. And we will be recording a lot of shows live, or maybe even all of them! Not until the end of the tour, whenever that is, will we go to the studio and record. That might sound a little strange, but we love the idea. Maybe just like a good, ripe red wine. “And to make up to our fans for the long wait, it will be a double album. The first disc will be FRIEND N FELLOW live and on the second one there will be the studio high-end version of the same songs,” Fellow adds. “Well in any case, we want to be true to one of our early supporters who said “this band is incredibly small but mighty great somehow,” Constanze says, smiling.

So the FNF pair sets off once again, without a helmsman, and because of the different possibilities on board, both rowers have to deal with different information and feedback, constantly comparing with each other. But good rowing pairs are able to adjust to their partners one hundred percent.

The duo FRIEND ‘N FELLOW came into being in 1991 with the singer Constanze Friend and the guitarist Thomas Fellow and has in the meantime played well over 1,000 concerts in Europe, Asia and the USA, sharing the stage with legends like Ray Charles, Al Jarreau and Luther Allison. The latter was also their main musical supporter in early years and co-producer and the special guest on their first CD for Ruf-Records, which was followed by seven more albums, of which all of 100,000 have been sold. Their uniquely transparent sound, their overwhelming intensity on stage and their individual musical mélange of jazz, blues and soul are the secrets of their continuing success over two decades.

“A firework of grooving virtuosity” Süddeutsche Zeitung
“You just can’t get your mouth to shut” Nordsee-Zeitung
“When Constanze sings, fighting armies fall into each other’s loving arms and dogs kiss cats.” Musix
“A world-class duo” Welt am Sonntag
“The voice of an angel” Keb’ Mo’
“You knocked me out with your playing” Bill Evans
“Killing – It sounds like a whole band!” Tommy Emmanuel
“The sound of the new century” Luther Allison

1984 was the year, as Constanze and Thomas met at first each other. It was in a band with three (!) female singers, two guitarist, one keyboarder and one bassplayer at Leipzig. This Line-Up leads on to suspect that it won’t be very successful. So they split up after only one public show. Constanze and Thomas stood still in contact for the following years as Constanze was touring with the famous “GDR” rhythm & blues band “Mr. Adapoe” and Thomas starts his career as a successful guitarplayer on the classical stages. But Thomas stopped his classical career with a last concert at the Berliner Philharmonie, to play the music which he really love. And so, Constanze and he founded Friend’n Fellow. And their first show in Spring 1991 was the official birth of these remarkable duo. And now, 20 years and over 100.000 sold albums later we can describe them as follows:

The reduktion to the essentials is the brand of Constanze Friend and Thomas Fellow. And after playing nearly 1.500 shows in the whole world, among with Ray Charles, Al Jarreau or Luther Allison, they are one of the top acts and the most succesful project in this style of music in Europe.

On their new album “Discovered” they go back to the roots and knows to surprise us with unbelieveable interpretations of famous songs.Their music crosses the intenseness of the blues with the latitude of jazz and the energy of soulmusic. Audience and musicians brim over with enthusiasm for their vituosic soundpictures.

The album

When FRIEND’N FELLOW put their stamp on al classic tune, they don’t only cover this song. They reinterpret a song in their own individual style. – Intensely, closed and distinctively. They starts from a new point of view. They picked 11 songs out of a pool of over 400 songs which were suggested by their fans and complete this repertory with two other songs.

One of these two, “Me and Mrs. Jones” was added by the private request of Thoams Fellow. Because they have played this song ot their first public show 20 years ago.

The second one is the wondeful ballad “Throw It Away” of Abby Lincoln. One of constanzes favourite singers. After a show years ago, they have had a short but very intensive meeting with her. And in the first days of recording this new album, they received the news that Abbey has passed away.They instantly knew they had to record this song and dedicate it to her.

"You knocked me out with your playing" – Bill Evans
"I really enjoy your work" – Al Jarreau
"Killing! It absolutely sounds like a whole band" – Tommy Emmanuel
"A top-notch duo" Welt am Sonntag
"The sound of the new century" Luther Allison
"The voice of an angel" Keb' Mo'

Concerts in London, Paris, New York, Peking, Vienna, Zurich, Lucerne Festival (Lucerne, Switzerland), Tollwood-Festival Munich, Festival Internacional de la Porta Ferrada (Spain), 1st Blues & Soul Weekend (Zurich, Switzerland), Simmen Lörrach, Jazzrally Dusseldorf with Ray Charles, Al Jarreau, Simply Red, Marianne Faithful, Maceo Parker.
 

Constanze Friend started her musical career in the band "Mr. Adapoe" with performances at international top festivals and as the support act to James Brown and others.

THOMAS FELLOW won several prizes at international competitions for classical guitar and played concerts in India, South America and the USA. With his duo FRIEND 'N FELLOW he played more than 1000 shows in China, the USA and all over Europe and shared the stage with legends like Luther Allison, Al Jarreau and Ray Charles. Now FNF is one of the most successful European projects in the junction of Jazz, Blues and Soul.

Prof. Thomas Fellow is the head of the education "ACOUSTIC GUITAR (concert music/worldmusic/jazz) at the Hochschule für Musik "Carl Maria von Weber" in Dresden (Germany) and "WORLDMUSIC" at the Hochschule für Musik Weimar and lead masterclasses at different conservatories and festivals in Europe and the USA. He is also the artistic director of the STRING SPRING FESTIVAL DRESDEN and the EUROPEAN GUITAR AWARD, one of the most prestigious competitions for creativ guitarplayers. He is the author of the FELLOW GUITAR BOOK (Schott Music), the new bechmark for the guitar as comping instrument (in German language only).

1995 Fairy Godmother
1997 Home (Ruf Records-Ruf 1011)
1998 Purple Rose (Ruf Records-Ruf 1029)
2001 Taxi (Ruf Records-Ruf 1072)
2003 "Live" DVD/2CD (Ruf 3004/ Ruf 1062)
2005 Covered (Ruf 1089)
2006 Crystal (Ruf 1118)
2009 Lady (Ruf 1148)
2010 Discovered (Ruf 1165)

New York City (World Trade Center), Beijing (China Millenium Park), Shanghai (Anting New Town Open Air), Paris (Elyssees Montmartre), London (The 100 Club), Wien (Radiokulturhaus ORF), Warschau (National Philharmonic Hall), Zürich (Blues&Soul Weekend), Luzern (Lucerne Festival, Blue Balls Festival), Barcelona (Festival de la Porta Ferrada), Malaysia (Penang Jazz Festival), Kuala Lumpur, Budapest (Budapest Guitar Festival), Rijeka (Kastav Festival, Bratislava (Bratislava Jazz Days), Prag, Wrozlaw, Poznan, Gdynia, Toulouse, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Orleans, Avignon, Salzburg, Linz, Innsbruck, Graz, Basel, Bern, Genf, Göteborg, Kosice, Mikulov, Dubrovnik...and almost whole Germany

MDR "artour" | WDR "Mittwoch Live";"Crossroads- Blues im Subway" | ZDF "aspekte" | ONYX "Jazzonyx"| ARD/ ZDF Kinderkanal "Mega-Box" | MDR "Thüringen Journal", "Thüringen Privat" | Deutschlandfunk- "Liederladen" MDR- Kultur "MDR- Kultur- Café" | Chinese TV

Deutschlandfunk- "Liederladen" | MDR- Kultur " | MDR- Kultur- Café" | MDR Kultur "Figaro trifft..." | Many german radio stations play music of Friend ´n Fellow.

FRIEND 'N FELLOW
MANAGEMENT AND CONTACT
contactfriendnfellow.com
+49 (0)173 / 89 252 73

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS AND TOURS
Musikbüro Gert Pfankuch in cooperation with
DML Productions
pfankuchaol.com
ddmeylauaol.com
+49 (0)6192 / 901372
www.musikbuero-pfankuch.de

technical support & promotion
adapoe EVENT- UND STUDIOTECHNIK GmbH
Frau Inka Junghans
Eduard-Rosenthal-Str. 45
99423 Weimar

fon: +49 (0)3643 / 81 11 30
fax: +49 (0)3643 / 81 11 40
infoadapoe.de
www.adapoe.de

Label
Ruf Records
www.rufrecords.de

website Thomas Fellow
www.thomasfellow.de