You can't keep German citizen Hans Engels away from American rock and roll music. Every summer for 25 years the college professor has returned to the Hill Country to play music with his many Texas friends. Photo by Phil Houseal
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What Hans likes about Texas
by Phil Houseal
Oct 3, 2007
It's humbling for a Midwest musician to play music with a guy from Germany who knows more about American rock and roll than he does.
Humbling, but fun.
Every August for 25 years, Hans and Lydia Engels have made the journey from Hamburg to Fredericksburg to play good old American music deep in the heart of Texas. Hans's real job is teaching college English, but his passion is music. His first visit - as for so many - was a pilgrimage to the famous Luckenbach that he had heard about in song.
"It was my first trip to Texas and guess who was there," he said. "I met Juan Crouch - Hondo's son."
That turned out to be the first of many Texas friends the Engels made.
"Someone asked me why we always come to Texas," he said. "I tell them it is a nice place, but it's the people that count. I think they are the most hospitable people we've ever met. We have so many friends around here it is great."
During his stays in the Hill Country, Hans is sure to wrangle a bunch of the musicians together for at least one night of live music. This year it happened in the courtyard at Hondo's, where a succession of friends (this writer included) filed onto the bandstand to play and sing with Hans. Back in Hamburg, he fronts his own band - Park Lane - that plays on weekends. But when it comes to the caliber of music, there is no comparison between the two 'burgs.
"I learn so much every year from the great musicians here, who are so much better than the Europeans. They are much more professional than in Europe," he said. "There, we play on weekends; it's fun; we party; it's not anything new."
Hans has been around long enough to remember when American youngsters were embracing the British invasion, while European musicians were facing west for their inspiration.
"The Beatles were listening to Chuck Berry and Little Richard, and it was no coincidence that Liverpool was the first place because all the ships came in and they brought the records, because the radio stations didn't have anything like that in the beginning. Hamburg too was a big port. So we've been playing American rock music for a long time."
Over the years, Hans has met many of his personal music heroes - legends that make him the envy of his countrymen.
"I went to Antone's and met all these guys... it was unbelievable," he said, grinning broadly as he listed Riley Osbourn, Derek O'Brien, Muddy Waters, Omar Dykes, and Pinetop Perkins. "For me that was like... like... God, hello!"
But what keeps Hans coming back are the folks he meets in the grocery store.
"I go through HEB and someone will shout, 'Hans, you are back again!' People are extremely friendly. That's what I like about Texas. That's why my wife and I keep coming back. You can't keep us away."
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