(Graciously translated from German to Dutch to English by Mark van Hornsveld)

"The fairy in the white wooden church".

'After ten years the story of Over the Rhine is by no means over.'

Stacie Bebout is a busy man, because he and Eric King are currently
designing the new OtR website. Besides, Stacie takes care of the e-mails the
band get. He also has a heart for German internet magazines. Without him,
this article could not have been written.

For OtR, the last three years weren't without trouble. In 1996 it looked
like Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist would give up. On their internet
site they told they were disappointed in their record company IRS that
simply put them out the door. When guitarist Ric Hordinsky also left, their
destiny seemed sealed.

"There were romours that Karin and I would start a new band, but finally, we
kept our name. Not least because many people around us thought that the
history of OtR was not at its end yet" remembers Linford Detweiler.

So the couple engaged a few musicians and toured with Andrew Belew, Bob
Dylan and Bruce Cockburn,among others. The Ohio band opened 80 concerts for
the canadian Cowbow Junkies. As members, Linford and Karin were and are
again and again on tour with the Junkies.

In the studio, Detweiler and Co. learned the freedoms of an independent
group. So besides four albums they recorded a christmas album. Besides
Silent Night and O Come, O Come Emmanuel they put in some own songs that
evoked a woolly nostalgia with violin, bass and keys.
Linford wrote in the liner notes: "There's this white wooden church in
Fairpoint where my father was minister for four years. Every sunday morning
at 11.25 a train would pass by, that shook our faith with all its whistling
and its steel." As often, Karin takes over the roll of fairy princess on
DNotY. Her voices takes the listeners to a time when there were only the
smell of burning candles and the woods were dark and the brooks were cristal
clear.
But the Rhinelanders can do differently. On Eve, their last album for IRS,
guitarist Ric Hordinsky made his strings glow. It almost made the label
"alternative rock" fit. But already with their first independent record OtR
returned to old virtues.
Which are: music as fine as silk, that flows away like a butterfly, and
words that pull the fans into Karins and Linford thoughts as deep as an
abyss. Who needs comparisons might be served with the Eels.

At present, they work on a new album that maybe will be easier to get in
Germany. On the old label, his own musical tastes and the new record Linford
spoke with rrabauke.

- - Ten years of Over the Rhine is a long time. How did it start?
- --In the spring of 1989 I went to Karin, Ric and Brian with a fist full of
songs and an impression on my face that the others described as "incredibly
sleepy". We went into the studio immediately. At first we played in front of
a church and a small crowd of fans. From the start, we thought our music
should be played on the radio and OtR was the ticket to the world.

- - After three records on IRS and the five Indie albums a number of things
happened in your band. Who is still a part of OtR after these ten years?
- --Our real guitarist Ric Hordinsky has left us in 1996 to amke his own music
and to take care of his own studio. Just a few weeks ago our drummer Brian
Kelley has turned his back on us. He has done that once before and returned
but this time it looks definite. Besides Karin  and I there are Jack
Henderson on guitar and background singer Terri Templeton, who plays the
violin now and again. At a few shows Cowboy Junkies mulit-instrumentalist
Jeff Bird was present. David LaBruyere currently plays bass, he's a studio
musician from Nashville.

- - You spend a lot of time with your own music. Lately, you have been on the
road with Cowboy Junkies. Do you have any examples? Are there any bands you
look up to?
- --Yes, there are. Karin and I like Tom Waits, Neil Young and Van Morrison.

- -The new album interests me very much. Can you tell us something about it
yet?
- -- It will be titleless. The current plans are for it to be released on
December, 11. A number of major record labels are interested, but up to now,
no decision has been taken.