Ch.: Becky, Country Music has many new fans in Germany. Please introduce yourself to our readers who might hear about you for the first time.

B.: My name is Becky Hobbs and my nickname is Beckaroo. I was born and raised in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. I started playing the piano and writing songs when I was 9 years old. I started my own all-girl band when I was 15 and I also played the guitar then. At that time music had to be loud and louder for me. Before I came to Nashville 26 years ago I lived in Los Angeles for 9 years. I have made music my whole life and I love it. I write about everything that comes to my mind. The older and more experienced I got, the more I learned how to craft a song. However, sometimes I wonder whether I am getting better or whether my songs were better in their raw form.

Ch.: What did inspire you to write your first song when you were only 9 years old?

B.: I sat at the piano back then and I thought it would be much easier to make up my own songs than to try and read all those big notes on these sheets of paper. The first song I wrote was just a melody without any lyrics. The first song with lyrics that I wrote was a crazy song that was titled "In A Dish." The song was about cutting your love up into pieces and putting them on a dish.

Ch.: Becky, tell us how you made yourself known worldwide?

B.: The greatest pleasure for me is to get to see the world and meet people all over the world. I enjoy bringing American Country Music to the rest of the world. I do love coming to Germany because the fans there love Country Music and enjoy having a good time. I think that is the greatest form of communication and I love it.

Ch.: You have been in Germany on many occasions - can you tell us something about the first experience you made in Germany?

B.: It has been years ago now, that I played in Germany for the first time. It was in the 70ies when I played at the American Air Force and Military bases throughout Germany. Between the concerts we travelled around and had the chance to see different areas of Germany and I fell in love with it. We were over there in autumn, the time of the Oktoberfest and many other little festivals. One of the experiences I will never forget was that at Frankfurt airport I drove a car with gear shifts for the first time in my life. I got in the car and started bucking and hopping around and the Germans were yelling at me, telling me to get out of the way and to speed up.

Ch.: You are one of the songwriters that achieved in writing Number One Hits, for example the biggest hit song that Alabama ever had "Angels Among Us". What inspired you to that song?

B.: I was inspired to write that song by my guardian angel. I was warned of a bad accident a day before it happened. After that experience I wrote down the title and that I believe that there are angels among us. Then these lines sat in my note book for a few months - I could not get the song out of my mind, but I did not find the right verses for it. So one day I called Don Goodman, with whom I had written several songs before, and I told him that I had a chorus to a song, but needed help with the verses. When Don heard the chorus, he said he would be happy to help me with the rest of the song and we finished it together.

Ch.: Becky you are not only a songwriter but have put some of your own CDs out as well. Can you tell the fans some more details about your latest CD?

B.: The title of my latest CD is 'Songs From the Road of Life' and I am happy to give you some more details. There are12 new songs on there that have not been previously recorded yet. The songs range from "Kiss my Ashes" which is a Rockabilly song about being older and female in Country Music to songs about different places in the world. One song "Mama Saw Paris Through my Eyes" is about my mom. She always wanted to go to Paris, but never got the chance to do it and now she is in a nursing home. "Vienna" talks about being in love and following the man that I love all the way to Vienna. "Time Stands Still" talks about the Vietnam War. There is a song about my fifth great grandmother, Nancy Ward, a Cherokee which is titled "Let There Be Peace". "If Women Ruled the World There'd Be No More War" also talks about peace and it is one of my favourite songs. I will dedicate this song to all the women of the world. So in summary, there is a great variety of songs on the CD including a shuffle song, a swing song "Live Until You Die" which is my philosophy.

Ch.: At the beginning of the interview you told us about your nickname. Who created this nickname?

B.: The nickname was created by Don Goodman. The first day that I wrote with him, after I had just moved to Nashville 26 years ago, I came bouncing in on a Sunday morning wearing tight blue jeans, a red T-Shirt and a red cowboy boots and he said "What is happening Beckaroo" - that is how I got this nickname.

Ch.: When you look back to the songs that you wrote at the beginning of your career and to the ones that you are writing now - where is the difference?

B.: In the beginning I would just write down what came to my mind and then it was done with. Now when a song comes to my mind I chew on it until I feel satisfied with every line of the song.

Ch.: What makes a successful song writer?

B.: I think the most important thing is to be as honest as you can be communicating the human emotions. If I am writing something exactly the way I feel it, then other people can relate to it.

Ch.: You told us one song on your latest CD was "If Women Ruled The World There'd Be No More War". What would you change if you had the chance?

B.: The whole root of that song is that throughout history we, women, have had to bury our husbands, our fathers, our brothers. We were the ones that had given birth, we have nourished our children and then we have to bury them. I simply do not understand all of this killing. Fighting in the name of peace, in the name of God, I feel is in total conflict with the whole nature of the thing that we pretend to protect.

Ch.: Where can people find more information about yourself?

B.: The easiest way is to visit my website: www.beckyhobbs.com

Ch.: What can people find on your website?

B.: All of my CDs can be found there and there are music clips of the CDs that fans can listen in on. There is some background information about myself on it as well as some fun articles and photos.

Ch.: I am sure during your career you have had some very interesting experiences. Can you tell one to our readers?

B.: One of the most inspiring experiences I ever had was when I was performing in Africa. I have performed in 9 African countries. When I was in Zambia the promoter of the show came backstage and told me that more than half of my audience had AIDS and would not be alive in a year. That really made me think hard of how I could make my show better that night. When everybody got up from their seats at the end of the show, clapped their hands, sang and laughed, I hoped that I had made a difference that night.

Ch.: We have talked a lot now about you as a song writer and artist, please tell our readers a little more about the private person, Becky Hobbs.

B.: I do not really know where to start - I do love chocolate, wine, cats and travelling. Travelling is also part of my business, but it is also one of my great pleasures to discover other places away from the tourist spots.

Ch.: Is there anything that we have not covered yet which you would like to share with your fans?

B.: I think I would like to be remembered by people for my peace songs. I wish for them to realise that there are angels among us, I want to give people hope and peace for a little while.

Ch.: Thank you for the interview, Becky.

Christian Lamitschka ( Ch.Lamitschka@t-online.de )