More than 5 DECADES OF CLASSIC ROCK - EPITAPH celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2019.
The album "Long Ago Tomorrow" is the culmination of a long journey through five decades of rock. It is a very diverse and personal musical statement, from the basements of Fantasio to the haunted house of the Black Hills to the skyscrapers of Chicago. This album brings together all the trials, tribulations, triumphs and broken dreams that have made EPITAPH who they are today. - A top classic rock band that still rocks every stage today!
Only a handful of rock bands in Germany can claim to be "legendary". EPITAPH are one of them. Founded in 1969, the band made music history in the 1970s in particular. They were the first German band to tour the USA several times and produced the album "Outside The Law", which was released in Chicago in 1974. After their television appearances on Beat Club and Rockpalast, the band was the talk of the town. Joint tours with Joe Cocker, Rory Gallagher, Golden Earring and ZZ Top, as well as countless festival appearances, made EPITAPH one of the most popular and iconic German rock bands.
The band has released a total of 17 studio and live albums over the past 40 years. If you include the digital re-releases, that makes 22 albums. After a somewhat quieter period in the 80s and 90s, EPITAPH made a comeback in the new millennium. The new studio CDs "Remember The Daze", "Dancing With Ghosts" and "Fire From The Soul" are albums of timeless rock music. The CD/DVD box set "Live At Rockpalast" with all three (!!) Rockpalast concerts, and the Beat Club recordings as bonus material, is on the shelves to the delight of fans. The concert recording from 2013, "Still Standing Strong - Live At The Capitol", is available as a double DVD and a double CD.
EPITAPH impressively demonstrate that they can bring any room to the boil. Acoustically, EPITAPH inspire on the unplugged album "The Acoustic Sessions", which was ranked 31st among the top 100 rock albums of 2014 in ECLIPSED magazine. And that before bands and musicians like Foo Fighters, Joe Bonamassa or legends like Wishbone Ash. Because EPITAPH are also successful unplugged, the band produced a live CD/DVD box set "A Night At The Old Station" in 2016. The current line-up consists of founding members Cliff Jackson (guitar/vocals) and Bernd Kolbe (bass/vocals), as well as Heinz Glass (guitar), who was also part of the band in the 70s. Carsten Steinkämper provides the necessary pressure on drums. The Dortmund native studied drums at the Conservatorium in Maastricht NL from 1997 to 2001. He has already played in various formations, including EPITAPH. Carsten replaces the Scotsman Jim McGillivray.
