Folk group ‘faking music’

A German-language folk group famed for their Alpine brass band sound and cheerful style have been faking the music on their albums for years and should give back their 13 German music awards, their former producer has claimed.

But the manager of the seven-man Kastelruther Spatzen said it was common practice for folk music bands to use studio musicians for their albums, adding that the band from the Italian Alpine region of South Tyrol had even listed studio musicians’ names on albums.

“The success of this band is based on a giant fraud,” the band’s ex-producer, Walter Widemair, told Bild newspaper.