Nachtbarden

In the organizer's words:

Guest:

Jess Jochimsen & Birte Volta

The Nachtbarden are Tobi Kunze, Johannes Weigel, Ruby schreibt Zeugs and Kersten Flenter. Pointed, varied and always armed with unexpected perspectives, the reading stage authors take apart everyday life, current affairs and politics every month. They invite top-class artists from the literary and songwriting scene to join them. Awarded the "Fohlen von Niedersachsen" cabaret prize in 2015, the Nachtbarden walk the tightrope of literature, satire and general mischief.

Jess Jochimsen

• Jess Jochimsen, born in Munich in 1970, studied German, political science and philosophy and lives as an author and cabaret artist in Freiburg.

• Since 1992, he has performed on all well-known German-speaking stages with various solo programs in which texts, songs and slides are mixed.

• In 1998 he appeared on television for the first time (as a guest on "RTL-Samstag-Nacht"), in 1999 he appeared together with Dieter Hildebrandt and Bruno Jonas on ARD's "Scheibenwischer".

• From 2003 - 2011 three duo programs with the Freiburg singer and musician Sascha Bendiks, in addition and until further notice continuous collaboration with the Cologne musician and composer Alexander Paeffgen.

• From 2000 - 2008 he hosted the literary program "Die Vorleser" on WDR radio, since 2006 he has been responsible for the "SWR-Nacht der Poet:innen".

• Since 2016, Jess Jochimsen has been a member of the ensemble of "Bundesordner", the satirical annual review of the Casinotheater Winterthur.

• In addition to his stage work, Jess Jochimsen is increasingly devoting himself to writing. He writes columns, satires and essays for the "Frankfurter Rundschau", the "SZ-Magazin", the "taz" and the WDR, among others.

• In 2000, his first book "Das Dosenmilch-Trauma. Bekenntnisse eines 68er-Kindes" was published by dtv. This is followed by the story collections "Flaschendrehen" and "Krieg' ich schulfrei, wenn du stirbst?" as well as the illustrated books "DanebenLeben" and "Liebespaare, bitte hier küssen!".

• In 2011, the monologue "Was sollen die Leute denken" was premiered as a one-person play entitled "Und draußen blüht es dir" at the Theater Rampe in Stuttgart (directed by Eva Hosemann). The novel "Bellboy" (2005) becomes the basis for Christian Lerch's film "Was weg is', is' weg", which is released in cinemas in 2012.

• In 2017, dtv published the novel "Prom", which was highly praised by critics and readers alike. In 2018, the children's book "Wazn Teez?", translated by Anja Schöne and himself, is nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize. In 2022, Jess Jochimsen joins PEN Berlin as a founding member and is in the word.

• Two of his stories find their way into German textbooks. Jess Jochimsen can't buy anything for them. That's why he continues to write and tour. And with pleasure.

• Awards:

• 1996 Baden-Württemberg Cabaret Prize (sponsorship award)

• 1996 Kabarett Kaktus

• 1997 Passauer Scharfrichterbeil (1st place)

• 1997 StuStaCulum Prize, University of Munich

• 1998 German Cabaret Prize (program prize)

• 1998 Lüdenscheid Cabaret Prize

• 1999 Prix Pantheon (jury prize)

• 2002 Garching cabaret mask

• 2006 Kassel Literature Prize for grotesque humor

• 2010 Kleinkunstpreis Baden-Württemberg (main prize)

• 2018 Swiss Comedy Award (category "Ensemble", with the "Bundesordner")

• 2022 Audience Award of the Rügen Cabaret Regatta

• 2022 Working scholarship from the Förderkreis Schriftsteller:innen in Baden-Württemberg

Birte Volta

When someone picks up a guitar in Germany - regardless of whether they are male, female or diverse - they are quite rightly met with fear. The only options are flight, the reflex to play dead or anesthesia through rapid substance abuse. Even when the worst part - singing in the local language - passes you by. You can sense that it's about to whimper and bark, that a Dylan discoverer of the last hour is about to arrive, that it's about to fire up, that the reduction of happiness to the two of us - with "him" or "her", often sorely missed - is imminent, that emotions are on sale today: everything has to come out! The palette of acoustic crimes against humanity ranges from crybabies in need of redemption and cock rock to church congress lyrics, elf kitsch and fist-pumping political gimmicks. You can write books about why this is the case and what the lack of German pop culture has to do with romanticism, inwardness, the forest and the lack of early political revolutions.

• But you can also - and this is much nicer - point to exceptional artists who confirm the rules but are all the more beneficial for it. Birte Volta is one such artist. She knows her folk blues like the back of her hand, was baptized with the swamp water of the Mississippi Delta, writes her own songs that are performed far too rarely, such as the captivating "Winterʼs Breeze", and likes to interpret others acoustically. The legend that they are used for salt production is, of course, a myth. What is true, however, is that there are occasional crying attacks as a result of emotional states of emergency during their shows. It is also known that the level of alcoholism in many a dimly lit bar reached record levels because someone kept promising a round for everyone if only the chanteuse would be prepared to play this and that. She was - whether it was Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here", Billie Eilish's "Ocean Eyes", Patti Smith's "Because The Night", the old Murder Ballad "Matty Groves" or something special by The Smiths. The singer, who grew up in the Lüneburg Heath and was socialized subculturally in Hildesheim, and who has roamed all over the world - from New Zealand and Australia to England, Ireland and France - is a walking songbook.

• Birte Volta isn't one of the country's willow wounds who peddle their own vulnerability with a vengeance. And as close as she may be to the undergrowth delights of the folky triumvirate of Vashti Bunyan, Linda Perhacs and Sibylle Baier, the former singer and guitarist of BM Stereo can also rock. Then the signs point to strumming instead of fingerpicking. But as wide-legged as her inner self is turned inside out with a "Fuck you!" attitude: Birte's rock does not become authentic rockism, but remains broken, reduced, gaunt, exhausted, consuming. More PJ Harvey and Patti Smith than Alanis Morissette. Instead of letting it all hang out in a sweaty mess, Birte's approach is more like: "Look, this is what it would look like if I let it all hang out in a sweaty mess right now."

• The most beautiful thing, however, is something that can be observed in almost all great artists: metamorphosis. When the guy or girl you didn't particularly notice before (not even unpleasantly!) undergoes a transformation that suddenly makes them glow inside and act with somnambulistic confidence. In the case of singer/songwriter nomad Birte Volta, whose fear of rootedness is greater than her fear of rootlessness, this means that the world is a kind of exile. At home? That's the stage. Thomas Hübener