About A.R.T. Promotions

After 11 years and 44 tours, A.R.T. Promotions has stopped organising European tours for bluegrass bands. Find out more about this office and the person behind:

A.R.T. Promotions is named after my full name: Angelika Regina Torrie. I am a bluegrass music enthousiast and have loved this music ever since I've known it, which is since the late 1980s. I've been involved in activities from 1991, first as a fiddle player in a band called Down Yonder and then the Bluegrass Hoppers. In 1993, a group of people started setting up a bluegrass organisation in Switzerland, and on June 3, 1994, the Swiss Bluegrass Music Association was formed. Responsible for finance and accounting, I was one of seven forming board members. From October 1999 - September 2004 I was the chair of the board of this organisation, which was built up with much effort and hard work and has considerably contributed to raise the image of bluegrass music both in Switzerland and Europe. When my second child Jasmin was born, I stepped down from this responsibility.

Through the activity, I met many, many bluegrass interested people and worked closely together with Paolo Dettwiler. Thus I became also involved in the European Bluegrass Network EBN from its very beginnings in Basel Switzerland in 1995. My task there was to act as the representative for the Swiss bluegrass community in the network and to type the first two editions of the European Bluegrass Directory. Then I was a co-founder of the European Bluegrass Music Association EBMA, founded on 4th February 2001, and have since been its treasurer and membership administrator.

The network created by these activities led to my finally filling a gap at that time in Europe, and in 1998 A.R.T. Promotions was registered with the intention to slowly start a small business for bluegrass music in Europe. The idea was to organise two or three European tours for non-European bands, raising the recognition of and interest into bluegrass music in Europe. In the not too distant future, this should then finally enable promoters to also book talented European bands for their venues without having to fear a loss of money because the audience only wants to pay good money for hearing US bands.

Until May 2009 44 tours of various US bands have been organised or co-organised by A.R.T. Promotions, and some Swiss and European bands have been booked through my office. Interviews with European bands and artists have been published in the BLUEGRASS EUROPE magazine (which in 2001 became the official newsletter of the European Bluegrass Music Association) and, last but not least, a network of promoters who help create the image of bluegrass music in Europe, has evolved from these activities.

After 11 years, I decided to lay down the touring business but will keep consulting and coaching determined bands to organise their own European tours. This has become much easier with the available network and the internet at our service.

A.R.T. Promotions will remain a service office for artists, thus enabling Martin Meier to present his own favourites.