I was born and raised in West Germany in the 1970s. Due to my father’s musical preference I grew up on American Rock’n’Roll of the 50s and Country & Western of the 60s and 70s. I listened to Hank Williams, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Smiley Lewis, Elvis Presley, Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, and a whole parking lot of Jerry Lee Lewis and listened to it on Vinyl, Cassette and the Armed Forces Network Radio (AFN). There was no way out and I really sucked it in.

When I turned sweet little sixteen I flew over the Atlantic and spent a full year as an exchange student in South Point, Ohio and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Yes, I know, not quite the epicenter of American culture, but I learned a lot about the all American psyche during my time at these places. The next summer I returned to Germany with the capability to speak, read and write fluently in American English and had went through a truckload of experience, some good and some not so good. I also had a drivers licence in my pocket, skater cloth on and a flat top hairstyle, but that grew out over time.

Like my father I fell in love with American music and some of its culture. At first I loved Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC, Beastie Boys and Public Enemy. Then I (re-)discovered Jim Croce, Jackson Browne and Don McLean. After that it was some Gangster Rap, Grunge, Alternative Rock and the big melting pot of what they call Americana (from Jimmie Rodgers to Jack White).

I returned to the US with a visting visa in 2004 to do some research for my thesis (PhD) on signature licks of rock and roll guitar. I spent time in Nashville, Tennessee and Austin, Texas. I came again 2007 to spend time in San Francisco, LA and San Diego. 2009 I visited New York and again Austin, Texas. For the 25th anniversary I visited my old highschool in South Point, Ohio in 2013, spent time in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Indianapolis along the way. 2015 I flew to New Orleans spent some time there and drove up the old travelling route up the Mississippi river via Natchez and then the Trail Way to Nashville and Memphis. During all these (road)trips I met a lot of kind-hearted and friendly folks, visited sights, listened to great music, bought and read books, checked out museums, guitar and record shops, played some music, had enriching conversations with all kinds of people, ate delicious food, greasy burgers, drank beer, wine and strangely flavored soda pops, was invited and treated very nicely most everywhere I went. Despite their love for guns, their anti-intellectualism, their tremendous waste of energy, their consumer culture, their bad educational system and their ridiculous health care system, I still very much like the people of the USA.

But with the election-campaign, the election and inauguration of the new Potus has come to a point at which I cannot understand or accept the actions of the officially elected US-government anymore. There are so many points that I despise that there is no use even starting. I’ve been following the events closely since the Pre-election started in early 2016 and I could and can not believe what happened since then. I say this as a man who holds great sympathy for the American people and their musical culture.

So here’s what I do: Although I’m not affected by the first or second travel ban, I will turn the beat around and ban the US from my list of travel destinies. I will not visit the US and/or spend my money there until the madness stops. This might take a while and I’m fully aware that my actions don’t have great consequences for the American economy. But it is a symbolic statement and I herewith declare it publicly.

Instead I will visit countries that deserve my attention and start with the trip to the Baltic States in early summer 2017. Ticket goes to Helsinki, Finland, then Tallinn, Estonia to Riga, Latvia. I don’t even need a visa and can pay in Euro. As usual I will document my trip on this blog. I will track down the whereabouts of Estonian Bluegrass and Lithuanian Twang!
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Dr. Dennis Schütze (*1972) is a German singer/songwriter, producer and musicologist. He writes and records in the morning, teaches in the afternoon and plays music all night. His writings are published as reviews, articles, travel episodes, and stories on „Dennis Schütze Blog“. He is the father of four children and lives and works in Würzburg, Germany.