Please note: The concert of blind & lame has been moved to the festivalheart in the Stadsschouwburg Utrecht Zocherfoyer and is therefore free of charge. So buying a ticket is not necessary!
“The Blind Man and the Lame” is a fable that recounts how two individuals collaborate in an effort to overcome their respective disabilities. Stories like this occur in Asia, Europe and North America, and have inspired many.
Gika and Lucy Wilke, mother and daughter, are the musicians in the incredible band blind & lame. The name is meant to quickly tick off the issue of their disabilities: Gika has been blind for 15 years and Lucy is in a wheelchair due to her spinal muscular atrophy. But that, they say, has nothing to do with their art. Ever since Gika Wilke can remember, music has been in her life. As a teenager, she discovered rock music, but she soon went in a different direction: in the south of France, she got to know the scene of rumba flamenco and “gipsy” music. She played guitar and danced. Lucy learned to sing even before she started talking. Mother and daughter sang together, in two voices. The relationship between the two is close, and so they decided three years ago to form a band.
Lucy's idea to call them blind & lame was actually a joke. ”We are not disabled people making music, we are musicians who have a disability. We don't want to hide that, but that's not the focus for us. If our music sends a signal that you can do anything, that's a nice side effect, but not our goal.”
Simply put, blind & lame is about producing great songs. Gika and Lucy compose, shoot music videos, maintain their website and are preparing their next album. The music is diverse, genuine, uncomplicated, natural and passionate. Styles – swing, jazz, rumba, country – and languages – German, English, French, Spanish – are mixed. Their sound is meant to bring people in a good mood.