Chapter sixteen: letter from Dalai Lama

 

Translation:

  • The band: What happened? Where are you going?
  • Králík: I got a letter from Dalai Lama that I will be the new Buddha!
  • The band: You too Juan?
  • Juan: No, I am going to Benecko to help my folks on their farm!
  • Image three: We are screwed. No, we are not. We'll find someone else.

And now for the narration.

 

Chapter 16 - LETTER FROM DALAI LAMA

After one of Tortharry shows, specifically, after the gig in Prague based club Kain in September 2004, the toothless Jarka, a.k.a. “Králík”, got a letter from Dalai Lama himself, allegedly asking him to become the new incarnation of Buddha himself. Overjoyed with such a prospect, Králík does not hesitate to visit every single member of the band to tell him the news, good for him, but bad for Tortharry. Thus Králík left and the band was suddenly in need of a new guitarist.

Shortly afterwards, Tortharry found themselves besieged by yet another departure, this time of Juan, who migrated to the Krkonoše mountains, to where his parents moved after Juan refused to take violin lessons (see chapter one). It took 15 long years to mend the wound between him and his folks, until in 2004 he was called to take over the family farm Bumbálka near Benecko, thus being forced to conclude his engagement in the band. This is also why the controversial album “White”, regarded as a turning point in the Tortharry discography, featured at that time the rising stars of Czech music Miloš Meier and Roman Lomtadze, who joined Tortharry for this one occasion only.

What a predicament; first the guitarist quits, now the drummer. To be continued.

The year is 2004.