When you think of country music singers, you probably think of long hair, a trucker hat, blue jeans & cowboy boots. But how about the name Prinz Grizzley? Is this an artist’s name or perhaps a fictional character? “That’s an interesting question,” says the Prinz himself, deep in thought. “It all depends really. Sometimes Prinz Grizzley is Christoph Comper, sometimes he’s not.” Christoph, who? Oh okay, now I understand, that’s the name on his passport… “Sometimes Christoph Comper would prefer to be Prinz Grizzley as opposed to Christoph Comper.” I finally feel like we are getting somewhere… “It’s difficult sometimes. But I haven’t really thought about whether there’s really anything schizophrenic going on,” he says, flashing a big grin. After all, the transitions are fluid. What Prinz Grizzley wouldn’t do, in any event, is “put on a pair of painter’s pants. Only Christoph Comper does that.”
Christoph Comper, the painter, is from Bregenzerwald. But what about Prinz Grizzley? “When I go on stage as Prinz Grizzley, a part of the Bregenzerwald naturally goes with me.” Actually, Prinz Grizzley is quite an international fellow, having played in Belgium, Switzerland and Sweden. He has also been invited to perform in Austin, Texas, and toured England for three weeks with stars of the scene. Prinz Grizzley is like a prophet for American music in his native Austria and beyond. But then there’s Christoph Comper, the Bregenzerwald painter, who brings Prinz Grizzley back down to earth. “Some days you head to the construction site and start prepping for a day’s work. There are no fans there to applaud you. As you paint, suddenly an image pops into your head: thousands of people listening to you play music in an old theatre in Liverpool that used to be a circus. In such moments, you catch yourself thinking: What in the world am I doing here? A few minutes later, however, you return to the ceiling that still needs painting.”
