Country Style magazine 124 March, 2021 © www.countrystyle.ch
NEXT STOP: MONTREUX!
Written by Richard Köchli
As we know, the history of the Swiss country scene has been shaped time and again by top-class country musicians who were born and raised abroad, who ended up taking a thousand detours to the little paradise of Switzerland and starting a new life here. The ideal case of a fertile immigration, a win-win! One of these strokes of luck is American, has lived in French-speaking Switzerland, in Montreux, for almost 30 years*, and his name is Tony Lewis.
Today we know him as an excellent country singer and songwriter. However, Tony's journey began as a general music fan and as a multi-instrumentalist in California, where he spent his childhood. Blues, country, folk, soul and of course rock'n'roll inspired him, and at the age of seven he sat down at his parents' piano to invent his own melodies. He spent the summer holidays in northern California with his grandparents, who listened exclusively to country and folk - and then gave him a Righteous Brothers record for Christmas, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin"**. At the age of eleven he discovered the guitar and proceeded to teach himself various instruments; the bass, for example, which he played with a few buddies in one of the very first garage rock bands called "Primo" in 1970.
In 1975, as a young man, he traveled to Europe - where fate threw Tony Lewis on the right track so that he would become a professional musician: robbed on a backpacking trip through Italy, in the truest sense of the word Tony was left with just the proverbial shirt on his back. He made his way across the Swiss border, borrowed a guitar and promptly received his very first professional engagement in Zermatt. The humble beginning of a life “on the road” which would see him performing in 30 different countries on four different continents and push him to learn five languages fluently. On his travels through the USA, Europe, Latin America, the South Pacific and the Caribbean, Lewis gained the experience that distinguishes good musicians: from noble nightclubs in Hawaii to the concert halls of colonial times in dusty provinces of Argentina, from remote ski areas in New Zealand to the best recording studios in Paris, Tony earned his spurs everywhere and realized that only the love of music and the magic of the moment count.
In 1991 Tony Lewis came back to Switzerland - and stayed. It was the time of the great European country awakening, with countless festivals, especially in Switzerland. Tony's authentic performances, coupled with his great talent, quickly made him an insider tip in this country. In 1993 he founded his own live band and went to the ARTAG studio in Zurich to record the debut album "Wanted Man". The record was launched under the stage name “Tequila Tony”, and in a wonderful way showed what an ad-hoc bunch of the best Swiss musicians were able to achieve: world-class country music! And they weren't just any musicians, but none other than Jens Krüger (acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle), Helmut Schöni (pedal steel, dobro), Pitsch Keiser (bass), Walter Keiser (drums, percussion ), Gino Todesco (keyboards), Sabine Van Baaren (backing vocals), Joel Landsberg (bass), Egon Eggemann (fiddle), and Robert Weber (keyboards), produced by Walter “Rohri” Rohrbach and Peter Keiser. A group that would have made a good impression in any recording studio in Nashville.
The debut album was a promising start. Two years later, in 1995, Tony wanted to check with his own ears if the folks in Nashville could do better than that. He traveled to the “Country Music Capital of the World” and recorded his second album "Another Country" there with some of the best cats from the Nashville studio scene, and as producer the legendary Mike Chapman (the man behind Garth Brooks***). And as special guests, he invited two stars for a duet each: Stella Parton and Carol Chase. Wow! And well? A fantastic album, no question about it. Different from the Swiss debut, but not necessarily better to my ears, but everyone hears differently. Tony Lewis definitely wanted to record another album in Nashville three years later, with the same crew, "Dancin‘ On The Edge ", again an excellent disk. Lewis had become a real hardworking man on stage, traveling nonstop and performing on European country festival stages - in Switzerland of course, but also in Italy, Austria, Spain, Norway, Sweden, and in France, where he was cheered at the gigantic Mirande Open-Air Festival in 1998 as the Friday night headliner by 30,000 fans. A year later, “Portrait”, an anthology album including new material was released, and in 2001, the Swiss-produced album “Naked”, an intimate and acoustic solo work with a broad view beyond the horizon and into the emerging “Americana” scene came out. Then, shortly after the release, dark clouds: the tragic loss of three band members as well as his father robbed him of all strength to continue performing; Tony interrupted his career and tried to come to terms with the sad events on a small winery in New Mexico.****
Fortunately, the life force came back. After a few years, Lewis returned to Switzerland and formed a new band; “Tuff Love” with Giampiero Colombo (guitar), Doug Campbell (bass), Lorenzo Trottmann (pedal steel, piano) , Christof Hochuli (drums), and Barbara Wildberger (fiddle). After a visit to the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1996, he had fallen in love with the fairytale town on Lake Geneva and since then has lived there on a hillside with a fantastic view. A piano and a good dozen guitars in the living room, and the song ideas come naturally. In addition, he was already close to France, where his next album, again produced in Nashville, actually became a hit in 2010. "HeartLine", a boxset project with CD and DVD was specially created together with Canadian line dance choreographer Guylaine Bourdages. Despite excellent international critics, this album did not really hit in Switzerland - puzzling, since line dance music is always wanted here.
Today it is a little quieter around him; Tony found a wonderful job at the legendary Château de Chillon, a tourist attraction a few kilometers from Montreux, a state of affairs made for the multi-talented linguist. Nevertheless, he remains loyal to the music, playing in clubs and on renowned festival stages, for example in Albisgüetli or in Gstaad. His appearances have become rarer, but they are filled with humor and heart; Big show numbers are followed by magical moments with Tony on stage alone with his guitar, as country music originally was. Of course, the sympathetic artist continues to write songs, with influences from a wide variety of original American styles such as Americana, blues, rock, R&B, even jazz. Maybe, if the stars align, he'll one day give us a new record, even if, I know, physical sound carriers are of course dying out. In any case, we would like to thank Tony very much for his invaluable contribution to Swiss country music and wish him all the best for the future.
* Spent first 7 years in Switzerland in German-speaking Aargau and Saint-Gallen before moving to the French-speaking part of the country
** Actually, it was my other grandparents, on my mother’s side, who gave me this first LP. I wore the record out, and even tried to fix my hair like Bill Medley.
*** Not sure he was the man ‘behind’ Garth Brooks, but he was surely the man ‘underneath’ Garth Brooks, as the bassist who performed on all of his recordings. He also played on numerous #1 records with other artists, and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame just days before his untimely death in 2016
**** Basically true, but a bit more complex than that. I had fallen in love while back in the US visiting my sick father, married and together bought a small winery in New Mexico.