Serras makes me think of a point I would like to mention to many of my friends back home in the USA. Ever since I lived overseas (Okinawa, Germany, and Italy) I was exposed to so much more music. I heard Philipine groups playing in the Kadena Air Force Officers Club play the Eagles as well as the Eagles. I listened to German rock groups rock as well or even better than English or American groups. Living here in Italy music is not "O Sole Mio," or "Volare." Here in Italy I learned about the blues and jazz because there are people here that still "get into it" if you know what that phrase means. People overseas have been a lot less commercial and still are interested in learning about what they hear. I am not saying that there are not people in the US that do so but, it seems to me, that music is a lot more industrialized than here at the moment.

What does this have to do with Serras? Well, Serras is a Danish group that I am sure most Americans will never have the opportunity to hear. They are a Folk/Rock group with excellent musicians. I have never heard of them until I saw them at the Folkest (an annual folk music festival) in Spilimbergo, Italy. They opened for Jethro Tull and it was very appropriate. The uniqueness of Serras is Harald Haugaard who plays fiddle and string quartet. This guy can jam and I would put him up there with Angelo Branduardi and Jon Luc Ponty. Here is a good description of Serras I found on the internet:

"Serras have since their debut in 1998 consolidated themselves as Denmark’s perhaps best example of an orchestra that challenges and experiments with the Danish musical tradition. With a starting point in the 18th century’s dance music, Serras revive the force, the physics, and the raw expression from our ancestors’ dances and music by merging with rock, jazz, electronic and other present musical currents. In the 18th century Denmark, Serras was an excited and wild dance in three-four time - now it is an orchestra." Continuing:

"Danish rock magazine "Gaffa" wrote: "Serras simply made a folk rock album among the best ever to come from a Danish group. Music that reaches far and deserves international attention." Serras recieved a Danish Music Award in 2002 for best contemporary folk album of the year and have played at most of the bigger Danish festivals. Furthermore, Serras has toured Europe and the USA. The distinguished British world music magazine fROOTS has described Serras thus in a review of the band’s second album "Second Hand": "In gloriously cavalier fashion, Serras create soundscapes so huge, the echoes and resounds a thousand times. This my friend is reincarnations rather than recreation."

I enjoyed Serras immensely and can't wait for the next time they visit. Check them out at their website. They have a few full downloads for free.