3. October 2026
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Media Review

Peter Maffay & Johannes Oerding – Nashville

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Peter Maffay & Johannes Oerding - Nashville

Peter Maffay & Johannes Oerding - Nashville
4.6

Rating

 4.6/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very good storytelling
  • Very fluent, good to digest album
  • Nice collaboration of two very good German artists

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Just limited country music elements

Modern country music still has a tough time in Germany. Struggling between traditional country music and country schlager fans, modern country songs are often rather flagged as pop or rock – or not receiving any attention at all. The more, it feels a great opportunity when well-reputed artists lean towards country music and have releases in the Nashville sphere. Nashville is the album title released by two big artists of the German music scene, Peter Maffay and Johannes Oerding. I had to have a listen to this 2nd October 2026 release. which in fact has been recorded at the Cumberland River.

 

Peter Maffay – About The Artist

Peter Maffay is a German rock musician. However, the 30th August 1949-born artist, who is originally from Brasov in Romania, started his career rather in the schlager genre. Already with his first single release, Du (1970), he topped the German single charts and received a golden record. One of his most remarkable songs is the 1980 release Über sieben Brücken musst Du gehen (“You have to cross seven bridges”), which has originally been recorded by the G.D.R. band Karat in 1978. Maffay’s version peaked fourth in (West) Germany.

Since the 1980 album Revanche, only four Maffay studio albums did not top the German charts. His latest one was So Weit, released in 2021. On top of that, he released eight Tabaluga albums, which are musical-style narrative albums about the adventures about the small dragon Tabaluga. The children- and family-style music series is extremely successful in German speaking countries as well.

 

Johannes Oerding – About The Artist

Johannes Oerding is a German pop singer-songwriter, who was born on 26th December 1981 in Münster. He gre in the later 2000’s as a popular support act. In 2013, he represented Hamburg in the Bundesvision Song Contest, a Eurovision Song Contest-alike competition for German bands, and finished runner-up. Overall, there are six Johannes Oerding studio albums, including the latest one, Hotel, released this year.

 

P. Maffay & J. Oerding – Nashville – Track by Track

The eleven track album lasts 37 minutes.

1. Weiter

Nashville kicks off with its longest track, the almost five minutes Weiter (“Further”). Wir suchen alle nach dem Sinn, egal wer wir gerade sind – “We are all searching for the sense, no matter who we are right now”. This is how Maffay and Oerding reflect the current social situation and struggle of many people. The song rather feels like a typical, slow and thoughtful Peter Maffay track. Elements like the steel guitar in the background do not strike sufficiently to have country music feelings in here, though.

2. Ein Leben lang ist nicht lang

The much more rhythmic and snappy song Ein Leben lang ist nicht lang has been the first single release of this German-Music City collaboration. There is more pop-rock spirit than Nashville sound in this one, likely. However, it is a uplifting, energetic track, which is fun listening to.

3. Nach Hause

Is this Nashville trip already coming an end? In the third song, the German duo is heading “Home”, regarding the title. However, the slower song is much more of a song praising the feeling of being home. Doch heute weiß ich, nur zu Hause, da komm ich wirklich an – “But today I know that only at home, I really come across”. This does not only sound like a typical country track regarding the lyrics, the arrangement and style is warming that piece of my heart loving this genre.

4. Sisyphos

The press kit to Nashville praises this one as one of the core songs of the record. Sisyphos starts with a rather dark mood. Doch wir bleiben laut, wir geben niemals auf (“But we stay loud, we never give up”) does this track about more egoistic and nationalist tendencies in society nowadays. And with lines like Erinner’ Dich an “I have a dream” (“Remember I have a dream“), there is also some reference to the place, at which the entire record has been recorded within five days.

5. Herz wieder bricht

The fifth song is one of the emotional highlights of the album. Here and there Herz wieder bricht is even a bit of soupy. Again, the song feels like a typical Peter Maffay song. Towards its end, the rather slow and quiet style is having some rocking elements as well.

6. Dir gehört die Welt

“The world belongs to you” – that’s been the message of the second single release of the Nashville album. The song is coming with an uplifting message, was dunkel war wird hell (“What has been dark will become bright”). Later in the chorus, they state Wenn Du lachst, obwohl Du hinfällst, dann gehört Dir die Welt – “If you laugh, even though you are falling, the world belongs to you”. I like the rhythmic, easy style of the song. It is also the one of the tracks which profits the most of having these two great German singer-songwriters in one song.

7. Schön dass es dich gibt

Already right from its title (“Nice that you are there”), the seventh song feels to head into a similar direction as its predecessor. However, the song is rather a love ballad, which feels to have a stronger influence by Johannes Oerding.

8. Kneipen-Skiffle

Peter Maffay and Johannes Oerding head into the traditional honky-tonk direction in here. They are going on a “Bar Skiffle” regarding the title. And that’s what the song is about. Having a long night, going from bar to bar, having drinks. Einsam und allein muss heut’ doch keiner sein (“Nobody needs to be lonesome and alone tonight”). Even though I would not state that this one is the best songs of the album, these short 2:26 minutes definitely make me smile.

9. Daniela Bar

This song takes you to the traditional bar life in Hamburg, Germany. The song also reflects that the “hottest” time of the Reeperbahn district might have been faded. There are multiple references to other German musicians and local and national celebrities, from Udo Lindenberg to former chancellor Helmut Schmidt. And especially, they praise the legendary Daniela Bar in this Northern German city. There is rock, speed, country vibes and good storytelling – my favorite listen of the album.

10. Ganz schön perfekt

Ganz schön perfekt is the gentle fade-out of the album. The song has pop and country vibes and even a bit of schlager feeling. The song is a beautiful listen at the end of the record.

Ganz schön perfekt
Ist das das Glück
Von dem jeder spricht
Es fühlt sich an wie 100%
Der Anfang von ‘nem Happy End

(“Quite close to perfect
Is that the luck
Everybody is talking about
It feels like 100 per cent
The Beginning of a happy end”)

11. An einer Kreuzung

The record is a special recording by Maffay and Oerding – and it closes with this very special extro. Just 44 seconds stating Wenn Du an einer Kreuzung stehst, dann liegts an Dir, wohin die Reise geht (“If you are standing at a crossing, it is up to you where the trip is heading to”). Maffay and Oerding close the album with a message, which is taken from its opening track.

 

P. Maffay & J. Oerding – Nashville – Spotify

Here is the album on Spotify:

 

P. Maffay & J. Oerding – Nashville – My View

There are two perspectives from which I feel I have to take a look at Nashville. First of all, it is a really nice album with good stories, good melodies, driven by two very good musicians. Nashville is a very fluent listen, which still makes you think about and reflect. On the other hand: is it a country music album? No – at least not entirely. You feel the Nashville spirit in some of the tracks, there are stronger influences of the genre in a few songs. But finally, it is somehow simple, but still is relatable. Three songs and the truth. Thus, Peter Maffay and Johannes Oerding definitely caught the Nashville spirit.

Favorite Song: Daniela Bar

 

Peter Maffay + Johannes Oerding – Nashville Live 2027

Peter Maffay and Johannes Oerding present Nashville (and, likely, quite some of their solo songs) on a stadium tour in April and May 2027 in Germany. Here are the tour dates:

Th 15.04.2027 Oberhausen (Germany) – Rudolf Weber-Arena
Sa 17.04.2027 Berlin – Uber Arena
So 18.04.2027 Hamburg – Barclays Arena
Mo 19.04.2027 Dortmund – Westfalenhalle
We 21.04.2027 Munich – Olympiahalle
Fr 23.04.2027 Cologne – Lanxess Arena
Sa 24.04.2027 Frankfurt – Festhalle
Su 25.04.2027 Frankfurt – Festhalle
Tu 27.04.2027 Hanover – ZAG Arena
Th 29.04.2027 Leipzig – Quarterback Immobilien Arena
Th 02.05.2027 Stuttgart – Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle

 

German Country Music Reviews

Here are all my Media Reviews, related to Germany and to Country Music:

 

Tour Dates (last 12 months)

Here are my posts featuring tour dates, which have been published during the last 12 months:

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