In order of appearance: Chris Ginter (Vocals, Whistles and Flutes, Bodhrán, Spoons) - Niko Ginter (Guitar, Mandolin, Dulcimer, Lyre, Blues and Jews Harps, Vocals) - Jeff Meusel (Fiddle, Mandolin, Mandola) - Saso Debelec (Double Bass, Whistles and Flutes, Mandolin, Akkordeon, ...) - Simon Debelec (Double Bass, Sound Engineering) - Kristina Albel (Fiddle)
Influences
Antonia Dusa Wernig, Paddy Campbell, Andreas Neumeister, Stephan "Stoney" Steiner, Saso Debelec, Sinead O'Connor, Loreena McKennit, Bothy Band, Planxty, Stina Rosen, Bruce Springsteen, ... and last but not least all the great session musicians from our sessions in Ireland :)
Sounds Like
As you can see from our influence list, most of what we listen to is Irish (beside some close friends) and the more traditional it gets the closer we listen to. But to our surprise a friend of ours, Paddy C., who joined a session after an O-CROI concert in Lubljana, told us: "You really sound like Lunasa, sometimes." Lunasa? This was the moment most of us started to listen to the music of this band and we recognised, there might be similarities but the sound of O-CROI is still different. So how do we like to sound? A guy from one session in Ireland told us, long after closing time, "You've got it, you feel the music!" so this is what we'd like to sound like. A band you can listen and feel. So if you ask, what is this all about? It's about the heart, the soul and the music from the heart.
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Our band was formed way back in 2005. After a long time of searching for the right partners our ways finally crossed and everyone brought something unique into the Band. Chris had her voice and the ballads that seemed so come out of Irelands own heart, while Jeff is a walking book of Irish tunes. Niko composes songs that all base on the Irish tradition and we all play different Instruments. So it was the right time and the right place to start an Irish Folk Session Culture in Carinthia. And because Irish Sessions tend to be very long, we still played, when Saso and Simon from Slovenia arrived. This was the beginning of a friendship, musically and privately, that lead us from sessions to concerts. And because you meet interesting people at sessions and concerts O-CROI is still growig. Our latest member is Kristina, who joined our sessions with her fiddle and became another close friend and important member of the group. The unique thing about our music is the diversity of the repertoire. Beside the reels and jigs, slides and hornpipes there is always enough time for ballads and pub-songs as well as our own composed songs. Our influences spread from Celtic to Swedish, Slovenian and New England tunes. It is the variety of styles and temper that makes our music so alive.
