My brother already had experience with dance music, which, although often undervalued, offered a way to earn money. So we founded the band Hofermika (Horst, Ferdinand, Michael, Karli). We played numerous gigs in the Hunsrück region, the Moselle Valley, and Trier. Since I was only 15, my brother had to take charge when we performed late into the night. I particularly remember the Tabaksmühle in Kürenz, where the landlady herself became a singer – she even kissed me on stage once.
We toured from village to village and experienced everything: farmers' weddings, carnival marathons, dance schools, folk festivals, Rotary Club balls, hotel lounges, but also empty halls. Carnival was the most lucrative time, but it was also the most exhausting. Some evenings were filled with boisterous, even obscene, crowds, while others were filled with magical moments where the music and the audience became one – those were the evenings I loved the most.
Back then, there were still many venues with live music. It's a shame that this culture has almost disappeared today.
