Bohumil Röhrich

"I think that my granddad from Hlína had quite a bit of influence on me because he played the accordion. I used to go there for holidays until I went to the army. Every evening, when we were sitting on a bench in the yard, I begged him to play. He would never refuse unless he was too tired, he would always play for me. In that time, I guess, since I was young, I’ve liked music.” “What was your grandpa’s name?” "Karel Míšek." "Tell me about your memories of Hlína…" „That‘s probably one of the most beautiful times of my life, I spent my childhood there. Nowadays when I go there, for example, to the Vítecká … which is between the Rožmberk and Vítek ponds. It used to be one pond but when the [pond builder] KKK didn’t get enough income from the fish, he reduced the pond, the Ro… one, and that’s how VVV was created. When I come to that dam, I’m all… It’s where I was growing up emotionally, too, so up till now, it …. It’s the most loved piece of land of mine.”

"Actually, back then, we were children, and we saw a black man for the first time. At the baker‘s, there was always a long queue. They adored our bread. They only had those sandwiches, that sort of white bread only. Our fragrant caraway bread, they were crazy after that. In front of the baker’s shop, there were such steps and that black guy sat on a stair and we just hung around in a bunch and stroked his curly hair. And they organised a dance in Chlumčany a few days later and they played there, that little band of theirs. And he played the saxophone and he was showing off. We looked from outside through the open windows how they play and dance. He noticed that we were there. So he smirked at us and he wwas showing off. Later on when I started writing my own music, I wrote a song for one record, its name was How Do You Do My Joe. The song is about how he was a saxophone player, that I wonder whether he still plays the sax there over the pond and whether he’s still alive. Nowadays I’m sure that he’s unlikely to be alive because there’s fewer and fewer veterans that come to the yearly celebrations to Plzeň.“