20 April 2012 (ERR)

On April 18, the Estonian indie folk band Ewert and the Two Dragons kicked off their French tour with a gig in Paris.

A performance on France 3, which is the second largest public television channel in France, two-page articles in the daily newspaper Libération, several write-ups in Le Monde and various webzines, appearances on French radio - these are just a few examples of the kind of attention that the band has been getting in France, reported ERR.

"There are surely several reasons for this interest. First of all, there's the quality of the album itself. Secondly, the fact that we are dealing with an Estonian band might have some bearing here. I think that through Ewert and the Two Dragons, the French media has discovered that there might be Estonians who are making the kind of music that we are already familiar with, for instance, music with British influences,' explained the representative of the record label Talitres, Sean Bouchard, who manages the band in France.

Ewert and the Two Dragons got their big break in France when the album "Good Man Down" was released by the record label Talitres, which focuses on indie music. Sean Bouchard, for instance, has also had a hand in the success of the US band The National.

Requests for interviews were still coming in during the rehearsal that preceded the band's Paris concert. Julien Courbe from the webzine blogotheque.net considers this to be a sign of the band's breakthrough in France. 'It is amazing that a small band that is represented by a small record label has received so much attention in the media,' he noted.

'Of course, it does not mean that they are selling a lot of records. In today's market, it is very difficult to sell a lot of records. But they have had a great start and it will be interesting to follow the concerts that they will be giving in France to see how many people attend and how they manage to persuade the audiences to listen to their music and to follow their career,' added the music critic for Le Monde Stephane Davet.

In the next few months, Ewert and the two Dragons will be giving over ten concerts in France.