Chris Karl Sobotka
"Influences of CCR , Dire Straits and Elvis Presley, Country Music from Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, but also songs of STS have minted my musical youth. When I was 12 years old I started to collect vinyl records of Elvis (the yellow "King Creole" was my first). Later my collection grew with records of Alen Jackson, Garth Brooks, Buddy Jewell, Brad Paisley.. their music is stuck in my ears up until now and it shaped my musical bias. Among others inspired by the artists above, I soon began to compose my own songs. Behind the idea of the Oakheart project is the aspiration to create something new with own compositions. With our different musical background and our polyphonic singing we jointly create the “Oakheart-Sound”.
Tanja Bliss
Hi,
Playing music is for me one of the best ways to unwind and relax, and this has also proven to be double true for country music which is a genre that brings a lot of positivity and good mood. In the band I play the keyboard and sing, always look for new challenges, original ideas and interesting elements, and mainly just enjoy playing with these great musicians and friends!
Reinhard Grill
At the age of ten I received my first piano lessons. The teacher was convinced that only classical music deserved the name music 🙂 Accordingly, she taught her protégés the preludes and etudes of the old masters. At the same time, I enthusiastically supported a boys' choir and got to know touring life in my early youth on choir tours throughout Europe. After four years of piano lessons, I was looking for a new challenge on the church organ, because here, in addition to the ten fingers, both feet are trained to produce tones and harmonies. Growing up, my taste in music expanded to include rock and pop. Accordingly, I looked for a more suitable instrument and learned to play the electric guitar autodidactically. Consequently, I switched from the choir to a rock band. In the early 2000s I decided to consolidate my guitar skills with professional lessons and treated myself to study at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood (LA). In addition to other styles of music and, so to speak, in the birthplace of country, I also got to know and love this style there. I am all the happier now to be able to translate the knowledge I have learned into exciting music with the excellent musicians from Oakheart.
Stefan Rauchegger
From Classic to Rock, Soul, Blues, Jazz, Funk … I like everything, as long as it is not to heavy or noisy. Already in my childhood I was responsible for the “low end” on the violoncello next to my father and brother. A couple of years ago occurred the logical change to Bass guitar not least to make music together with my guitar playing brother. Considering … "learn music like a language" (Victor Wooten) ...”one can say, that at Oakheart we may scoop out of endless vocabulary of music.
Roli
I was born and grew up in "Forest Quarter", Waldviertel. As a child (sitting in my fathers kick drum) they pretty soon put a drum between my beating hands. With rhythm in my blood I moved to the "Big City" at river Danube. Since then I feel responsible for groove support.
We want to express our gratitude to all the other Oakheart-musicians, we had the honor to play with during the last years. They helped us to grow and forge our band and style.