Czech Musician Robertโ Kลestลฅanโ Details “Gradual Death” โฃof American Dream, Life Story in new Book
Prague – A new biography,โข Robert Kลestลฅan / Writingโฃ texts โขhurts me by Tomรกลก Hrubรฝ, offers a revealing look into the five-decadeโ musicalโ career and personal journey of Czech singer-songwriter Robert Kลestลฅan. The book details Kลestลฅan’s path from a childhood in Brnoโ with his librarianโ mother and estranged,โ conspiracy-minded opera singer father, toโ achieving rock stardom in โCzechoslovakia, pursuingโ the “American dream,” andโข ultimately returning to a life ofโค seclusion.
Kลestลฅan’s early musical endeavors began at age thirteen with theโฃ band Trapery. He later gained national recognition withโ the Pilgrims, winning โthe โคmain interpretation prize at โขthe โค1980s Porta festival in Pilsen, attendedโ by 30,000 people, and โคalso winning theโฃ festival’s โaward for the song “Panenka.” The Pilgrims’ debut album โsold 120,000 โcopies within a month, propelling the bandโ to a rigorous touringโข schedule of up to 200 concerts annually. By the late 1980s, Kลestลฅan was earning approximately 15,000 crowns a โmonth -โ a ample sum at the โtime, when average salaries ranged from 2,000 to 3,000 crowns. He then co-foundedโ Druhรก trava with banjoist Luboลก Malina after leaving the Pilgrims.
The book explores Kลestลฅan’s experience โขwith โคemigration to the United States, which he describes as a โ”gradual death.” He now lives in a cottage in the vysoฤina region.
Hrubรฝ’s work also functions as a guide to the musical influences of Kลestลฅan, โฃreferencing foundationalโ bluegrass artists like Lester โFlatt, Earl Scruggs, and Bill Monroe. The book further โaddresses Kลestลฅan’sโ perspectives onโ the representation of Native Americans in Western films, noting his preference for casting choices likeโ those in John โขFord’s films โwhereโฃ Navajos portray Cheyenne โand apache characters.
“A person doesn’t really understand life at all. โขAnd then he dies -โข andโ that’s the onyl moment when you actually understandโ the whole life,” โคKลestลฅan states โคin the book.