It was another encounter that you can never expect or plan to bring about that ultimately brought us into contact with Alex and Melanie.

A guy lying on the bed of his mobile home, who was greeted by us in passing, answered accordingly, only to be immediately pointed out by his wife about the noise level of his son who was sleeping next door.

So, Alex decided to end the siesta, got out of the mobile home and we were deep in conversation. He is from Munich and a musician. He landed here at the climbing park thanks to Ömer, who kindly helped him when his car engine broke down. But Melanie knew how to tell all of this much better, because after all she was the driver of the camper.

Melanie was also at the table a little later and so we got to know her, an archaeologist by profession, better. We have already reported about Melanie and her passion for hiking.

But back to Alex and the subject of music. Of course, we were fundamentally interested in music, given the various events we had planned as part of our project. There should always be a connection between literature and music in a joint event. So, we "researched" Alex a bit and behold, he was even a member of a band whose name he could put his family name on, the Donnelly Connection. At home in the music scene for many years, the members of the band had changed from time to time, but the name of the formation had always remained the same. You could also describe Alex as a bandleader.

After our later meeting in Alanya, we agreed to keep in touch because Alex wanted to share some information about his band and of course about himself. As a rough initial agreement, the participation of the band Donnelly Connection in the German-Turkish Literature and Friendship Festival should be attempted. But now to the band itself:

"The Donelly Connection" stands for soul and blues of the 60s, 70s and 80s. The trio around Alex Donnelly offers unconventional explosive interpretations of milestones in soul and blues (including Stevie Wonder, Al Green and Marvin Gaye).

With his distinctive voice and his virtuosic guitar solos, the established frontman Alex Donnelly casts a spell over everyone. He is reinforced by bassist Chris Bobinger and Raady Madueira, who plays the drums with a Brazilian groove.

The Donnelly Connection has been around since 2001 - with a changing cast, but always with Alexander Donnelly at the centre. The current band, which mainly performs in the Munich area, is occasionally supported by other musicians.

Key points:

Alex Donnelly: 44, born in Saarbrücken, lives in Munich, his father was a jazz musician and actor; plays guitar since he was 14, vocals since 1998; long stays in England and Australia; since 2001 back in Munich, appearances in Irish Pubs in a duo and other formations => name always: Donnelly Connection

Chris Bobinger: 43, born in Günzburg, lives in Munich, bass and drums, has played in various bands since he was 16, from independent to heavy metal, e.g. B. also in the ska band Skaos on drums in the 1990s

Raady Madueira: 51, from Rio de Janeiro, learned guitar at 12, drums from 15; came to Germany with a Brazilian dance show as a percussionist and drummer; plays all samba instruments; currently plays in various bands and formations.

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