Bluegrass legend Robert Křesťan inducted into Anděl Awards Hall of Fame
In today’s edition of Sunday Music Show, we’ll be profiling folk singer, composer and banjo player Robert Křesťan, who was inducted into the Anděl Awards Hall of Fame. In the course of a career spanning more than three decades Křesťan has played in several ensembles, coproduced over twenty CDs and performed at thousands of concerts, including annual tours of the US with his legendary bluegrass band Druhá tráva.
Robert Křesťan started his career in the late 1970s when he was part of the bluegrass ensemble Trapeři and Poutníci. In 1991 he and musician Luboš Malina left the band and established a new one, called Druhá Tráva, which means literally Second Grass, which has since become one of the Czech Republic’s best-known bluegrass bands.
The band includes Robert Křesťan himself, Luboš Malina, Luboš Novotný, Pavel Malina and Jiří Meisner. Within a year they established themselves on the Czech Music Scene and in 1992 they received their first Anděl Award from the Czech Music Academy in the folk and country category. A year later they toured the United States with huge success and have since returned there regularly.
Some of Druhá Tráva’s CDs are in English, such as Shuttle to Bethlehem, a CD of Křesťan’s songs translated into English by Ruth Ellen Gruber, Czech Made or Good Morning Friend. The songs have been very popular on the band’s tours of the US. The band’s latest CD called Díl první, or The First Part, was released in 2020. Robert Křesťan and continue to play concerts around the country as well as abroad, and their shows are always packed.
