Musicians, Singers, Bands Claes Cem "Denmark"
Claes Cem "Denmark"
If you ask Claes Cem what kind of music he plays, he will smile and say “Modern Folk-Pop.” Listening to his guitar-driven songs, it does not take long to realize that his songs have been shaped by a life on the road. His work is heavily inspired by the lyrical world of singersongwriters such as Paul Simon, John Martyn and Darrell Scott. It contains no frills - just pure music.
In search of these folk influences, Cem spent years in Scotland working the grueling grind of open mic nights combined with endless club and bar gigs. Following the return to his native Denmark in 2007, Claes coupled his energetic playing and singing style with his original arrangements and began working with other musicians who shared his passion for original music.The result both broadened and simplified his outlook.“After gigging with so many musicians and different instrumentations I found out that the songs, and their arrangements, were flexible and work well with anything from a solo set-up to a full six-piece band. This is exciting as it gives me far more options when performing live,” says Cem.
In the face of this negativity, Ricardo never questioned his calling or rethought his goals. Instead, he reapplied himself tenfold, determined to recover the loss of movement and dexterity in his hand. He sat at his piano for several hours each day, tenaciously pressing the fingers of his right hand down upon the paralyzed fingers of his left to strike the keys and play the notes.
After many desperate months of this self-invented therapy, Ricardo was rewarded with positive results. His left hand slowly became stronger until he could use it to hit keys timidly, with no assistance from his right. After many more laborious months, his left hand became as strong and agile as it had been before the accident.
Ricardo had triumphed, but was humbled. After his grinding contest with disaster, he realized that the precious things in life are also often the most precarious. With this new perspective, he took on the piano with the gusto of a small army. Determined to maximize his talent, he mastered practically every existing genre of music, including classical, jazz, gospel, funk, and R&B, and began performing regularly to audiences-the ultimate beneficiaries of Ricardo's undying commitment to music.
In addition to winning “Best Singer” at the 2008’s Emergenza contest in Copenhagen, Cem also returned to Scotland the following year for a 40+ concert series. 2009 also saw the release of a new single “Freak Without a
Frame”, which brought Cem to the attention of Grammy Award winning engineer/producer Carlos Bedoya. Bedoya’s past collaborations range from megastars like Mick Jagger,
Missy Elliot to Beyonce. Together the two have worked to produce the just released “Californian Babe” EP which echo the experiences Cem discovered on a recent trip to the United States.
As he notes, “Songwriting is an adventure in human observation.” 2010 will find Claes Cem, the modern troubadour, trekking the world musically sharing his inspirations.