Katja Werker& Ian Melrose

The two artists met in 2011 when Katja was invited to record an album for the renowned audiophile label Stockfisch Records. Katja's unique voice, her soulful songs and her unmistakable guitar playing merged beautifully with Ian's refined musicality to create a fine acoustic album: "Mitten im Sturm". This was the beginning of a long musical friendship that is now taking shape again. After a joint performance with David Munyon in Dresden in 2023, Katja invited the exceptional Scottish guitarist to her concert in Dresden in March 2024. Both the joy of playing and the emotional impact of this concert as well as the loud enthusiasm of the audience made the decision easy to do something together again. A new CD is being planned for Stockfisch Records. "When she plays, the world stands still... " (Tankred Stachelhaus, NRZ). This is just one of the many headlines that journalists have written about Katja Werker so far, and they are probably primarily describing Katja's incredible voice, which touches the heart in a direct way.The Essen native not only stands out from the crowd vocally, she is also a shining light on the German singer-songwriter scene. The fine, profound poetry of her lyrics is second to none. As a result, Werker's qualities as a songwriter have also been discovered by well-known stars such as Marie Boine, Gitte Haenning and Stefan Stoppok, who have covered Katja's songs for their own albums. In addition, Katja won a number of young talent competitions at the beginning of her musical career before signing the first of three major record deals in 2000. Her debut album " Contact Myself " (BMG/RCA), coupled with an appearance in the RTL series "Hinter Gittern", reached the German album charts out of nowhere and is still considered a milestone in German pop music by music lovers and critics alike. As a solo artist and founding member of various projects (Kelpie, Guitar Celebration, Heine gets the Groove, Celtic Guitar Journeys and others), the exceptional Scottish guitarist has become one of the most sought-after fingerpickers on the European music scene. Many studio and live sessions (over 130 productions) for Reinhard Mey, Clannad, Mary Black, The Highland Saga and Stockfisch Records are proof of his international reputation. He has released 7 solo CDs on the renowned guitar label Acoustic Music Records and writes workshops for the magazine "Akustik Gitarre".