'El Turista', that’s the title of his latest, again seriously hyped, CD and, from Josh Rouse, you can take that title literally… or as autobiographical. We’d lost track of him a little, after many excellent AB excursions and fine albums like '1972', 'Nashville', 'Chester' (with Kurt Wagner)… But olé, what a relief: Josh Rouse turns out to still be one of our favourite Americans in Europe and he still makes brilliant songs from his new home in Valencia, Spain. Love drove this man from Nebraska USA into the arms of a Mediterranean muse and so his releases have carried titles like 'Subtitulo' (the previous one), 'Valencia' (the recent EP) or 'El Turista' (the new CD, that was then again recorded in Nashville!) ever since. He says himself: 'A Midwestern guy doing Brazilian songs in Spanish. I don't know if it fits, but I like the way it feels.' That’s what they thought over at Radio 1 too: CD of the week, right from the start!
Support-act will be Claudine Muno from Luxembourg. She teaches, writes books (successfully, apparently) and fortunately also sings fresh, bold songs (in English, French or Luxembourgish). She mainly sings with The Luna Boots but the CD 'Petites Chansons Méchantes' was already released two years ago under her own name, soon to be followed by the very promising 'Noctambul' (on the Green L.F. Ant label, see also: Monsoon and Superlux.) Claudine Muno’s voice is in any case a pleasure for those who also enjoy Laura Veirs, Neeka, Edie Brickell, Jewel...