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Shiregreen writes exceptional songs, songs that are authentic, many-faceted and deeply moving. In this manner, the 55-year-old songwriter from central German Rotenburg has won over the audience as well as the critics. „Shiregreen is second to almost none of the best American songwriters“, says Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. And the biggest German music portal „laut.de“ certifies „a superb display of song writing skill“. Now, Shiregreen a.k.a. Klaus Adamaschek presents his new work: The stories I could tell has all the qualities of a classic Storyteller album.

Many tried to compare Shiregreen’s emphatic and intense mixture of folk, country and rock music to that of other artists – among them chiefly North American songwriters such as Tom Russell, Gordon Lightfoot, Kris Kristofferson or Guy Clark, many of who Shiregreen met personally on a six-month tour through the US in 2011. From these defining days on the road sprang last year’s album “Trails” and a travel report in German music magazine Folker.

14 songs about looking back and walking on

But while he still likes to quote his idols, Klaus Adamaschek has long since found his own way. His songs are shaped by his warm, deep voice and by the authentic, profound stories that they consist of. At its core, The Stories I Could Tell is about a man in his fifties taking stock about where his life went, what he left behind him and what good things still lie ahead.

In this spirit of optimism, the opener The year that I turn 55 states unequivocally: „We are here to keep our dreams alive, in the mirror I wanna see unbroken eyes“. No space for wistful songwriter melancholy; the song grooves like a late-sixties CCR track. Roll on train continues with quite the same message: freight trains rushing by his home inspire Adamaschek to revert the almost-too-familiar metaphor of trains taking along our dreams: „Roll on train, train roll on, but leave a dream before you’re gone“.

How to relax on Swedish graveyards

The stories I could tell is ripe with the touching moments that have been the hallmarks of Shiregreen’s previous six albums. In Old Graveyards he recalls a relaxed stroll around a graveyard somewhere on the west coast of Sweden, „reading all the letters from the past“. The words of Last day of a summer are simple, yet profound: “I watch the setting of the sun, hear the silence in the trees, I feel a change is going to come, but it’s not really changing me.”

And what’s with these dinosaurs? To a loose country beat, Shiregreen comes clean with mobile phones, XXL menus and big black cars in Like a dinosaur and shows some sympathy with the fossils that used to rule the world. Finally, Last Song almost feels like a vintage Kris Kristofferson piece, again pointing to Shiregreen’s musical roots.

Old musical companions and new influences

The Shiregreen Band consists of Danish special guest Tom Eriksen on electric, Paul Adamaschek on bass and keys, Lukas Bergmann on violin and Frank Schäfer on drums. They go about their business with a high level of inspiration and presence. New to the crew is Sascha Schmitt on accordion, creating moments of special musical intensity.

The album’s carefully and lovingly designed artwork is centered around a booklet that opens like an actual book when the jewel case is opened. Liner notes in German accompany every song. Again, avid photography enthusiast Angelika Adamaschek provided pictures to every song that make them feel even more vibrant.

The stories I could tell is released on DMG Germany and Broken Silence on August 30, 2013. (DMG 54.218139.2).