Continuing the musical program of the XXXIX Grad Teatar festival, last night the King of Čačak performed on the stage between the churches, a singer-songwriter known for his blend of melodic lyricism, jazz sensibility, and poetic reflection on reality.
Nenad Marić, better known as the King of Čačak, presented himself to the audience together with his band consisting of: Marko Marić (electric guitar and piano), Miloš Matić (double bass and bass guitar), Ljuba Turajlija (saxophone and piano), Vladimir Mladenović (drums), with Žolto Polgar as the drummer.
The King of Čačak left the impression of an author who does not seek an audience at all costs, but rather those who are ready to listen, think and, as he himself says, return to themselves. His music does not insist, does not offer spectacle, but rather invites silence and presence.
On the stage between the churches in Budva, this evening that call was heard clearly and the audience brought him back for an encore when, to their delight, he performed two more songs: "Spasi nas od nas" (Save us from us) and "Spusti svetlos na put" (Put the light on the road).
The songs of Kralj Čačak are not easy to place in terms of genre, they are somewhere between jazz, chanson, blues and singer-songwriter narratives, but above all they reveal a carefully constructed inner world in which the everyday and the metaphysical are not excluded, but rather intertwined. His lyrics do not insist on big themes, but constantly return to them, quietly and persistently: love, meaning, the body, death, loneliness, attempts to get through the day. In his poetic language, the street and the book, irony and compassion meet. He often uses pauses, silence, spaces between words and tones as a dramaturgical tool. In performance, nothing is superfluous. Each phrase, both musical and linguistic, comes as a deliberate act, but without losing spontaneity.
After the concert, Marić stated that he saw it as an honor and a continuation of his own artistic journey.
“It is an honor and a pleasure for me, above all, to perform here and to be part of such a cultural event,” said Marić, and when asked whether his songs find their way to a wider audience, he said that it depends on the individual's willingness to enter into a dialogue with themselves. “These are songs that require a little capacity from the listeners... I believe that it will spread, because otherwise, if it continues to gather, the question is whether I will be here in ten years.”
When asked that even those who cannot grasp the full depth of his poetics can still understand something, Marić replied that his music is absolutely for everyone.
"It's not an elitist thing like that, this guy can do it, that guy can't. It's just plain open. Of course, we live in a time when, and I completely understand that, it's very difficult for a modern person to deal with content of a slightly deeper, more difficult order"; said Marić, adding that he believes that if society wants a better tomorrow, it will have to return to itself. "If we want things to be better for us, we have to return to ourselves. When we return to ourselves, then maybe we'll have a slightly better world, not like this, right?"
As he pointed out, the concert program was carefully chosen for the Budva audience.
“We always make and prepare a set list of songs that we will play for the place where we play, so, yes, we prepared it. We didn't want to burden the audience with new songs that the audience hasn't heard yet,” said Marić, announcing a new album called “Dobro jutro ljudi”, which is expected to be released in September. “The album is diverse in terms of genres. There are some songs that I have performed before and some new ones that I have never played. There will be new and old songs. It will be a double album, about 25 songs.”
When asked if the album will be released on vinyl, Marić said: "I hope so. It all depends on the market, which works against what I do. So I'm screwed, no matter what."
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