Ursprung Buam

Ursprung Buam, one of the leading volksmusik ensembles across German-speaking territories, comes from Zillertal in Tyrol and reached broad commercial success in 2001 by capturing an Amadeus Award for Gruppe Volkstümlicher Schlager. The trio formed in 1993 around brothers Martin Brugger, fiddle, born December 11, 1976, and Andreas Brugger, accordion, born December 29, 1978, together with their cousin Mannfred Höllwarth, who covers bass and harp and was born April 5, 1962. Consistent with their alpine background, the musicians deliver songs in Austro-Bavarian dialect and maintain the longstanding cultural practices of the area.

Their first recording, Echt Zillertalerisch, appeared in the late 1990s; because copies proved extremely rare, Tyrolis presumably reissued the album in 1999 after the group signed with MCP Sound & Media and began registering on the ORF hit parade. Their opening MCP release, A Riesenstimmung aus den Zillertall, followed in 1998. The next MCP album, Aufgeigt Weacht from 1999, marked their chart debut by reaching number 24 on the Austrian albums chart. Later titles—I Bin der Teufelsgeigerbua (2000), A Urige Weihnacht (2000), and Damenwahl Hamma Heit' (2001)—performed similarly well, landing at Austrian positions 18, 24, and 16 respectively.

The 2001 Amadeus Award for Gruppe Volkstümlicher Schlager brought Ursprung Buam further attention and markedly expanded their audience. Their following album, Don Camillo und Peppone (2002), entered the top five of the Austrian albums chart, while Romeo & Julia (2003) came close behind at number six. At that stage the trio left MCP for Universal Music Group and issued S'Original vom Zillertal in 2004. Meanwhile MCP initiated a run of retrospective packages beginning with Die Schönsten Jodler in 2003; the series continued with Ursprung Buam Gold (2004), Das Beste der Ursprung Buam (2005), the DVD Die Großen Erfolge (2005), Hit-Mix (2006), and the three-CD box set Sonderedition (2007).

After joining Universal Music Group, Ursprung Buam kept releasing new albums on an annual basis, many of which reached the Austrian top five and the German top 100—Der Geigenspieler aus dem Zillertal (2004), Ein Casanova Kann Nicht Aufgeig'n (2005), Zwei Rehbraune Augen (2006), A Fesches Boarisches Madl (2007), Live im Zillertal (2007), Grande Canale (2008), and others—alongside occasional compilations such as Star Edition (2007). They also issued several DVDs, including Ein Casanova Kann Nicht Aufgeige'n (2005) and Live im Zillertal (2007).