Пресса об Андрее Бандере / Статьи, обзоры и интервью

Andrei Bandera: "Polia Rossii" (The Fields of Russia)

Andrei Bandera is a new name to the realm of chanson and involved in an interesting project: «People’s Production». In other words, working materials for a number of his new songs (or finished versions in different arrangements) are placed online for fans to debate, change, and choose. In a country where record sales are decimated by piracy, and musicians’ incomes come directly from touring, this type of pre-concert interaction makes a great deal of sense.

Bandera is from the Kuban region of southern Russia, has family connections to local Cossacks, and according to legend, was taught how to sing by gypsies living close to his village. His career remained very local until the late 90s, in fact until he quit his job singing in a restaurant and headed for Moscow. The song here, «The Fields of Russia» (Polia Rossii) is a current favorite on chanson stations. It’s also a great example of how chanson is now playing the role of country music in the States: an aesthetically conservative style, proudly unfashionable, often rooted in melancholy, non-urban storytelling with a healthy dose of spiritual values. The opening lines of «Polia Rossii» read: «The golden cupolas of white stone churches. I’ll bow down to you, down to the damp earth... Sing to me, Russian nightingale, about the fate of my divine land. Warm my hardened soul!»

Farfrommoscow.com, 25 апреля 2008 года