Robert Křesťan & Druhá Tráva

Robert Křesťan (born 16 September 1958, Počátky) is a Czech singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, lyricist and translator, known for his distinctive voice and original poetic imagery in his lyrics. A multiple recipient of the Porta and Anděl awards.

He began his musical career in the bluegrass band Trapéři, moved to the Brno-based Poutníci in 1979, and in 1991 co-founded Druhá tráva with banjo player Luboš Malina.

He was born in Počátky, where his mother - née Jelínková - had moved from neighbouring Žirovnice. She was a librarian; his father Milan Křesťan was an opera singer who spent little time at home and emigrated from Czechoslovakia in 1969, later acquiring Australian citizenship. He inherited his musical talent from his father, though his uncle František Jelínek also significantly influenced his work.

At age twelve he founded the bluegrass band Trapéři and a year later performed with them at the Porta festival. In 1979 he joined the Brno band Poutníci, with whom he achieved numerous successes: the Malá Porta in 1981, the Interpretační Porta a year later, and the Porta for his own composition "Panenka", with the same award coming again in 1983 for "Podobenství o náramcích". In 1985 they won the Zlatá Porta, and in 1987 the Porta for the song "Napsal jsem jméno svý na zdi", which also won the audience vote. With Poutníci he recorded five albums between 1987 and 1991.

In 1991 he left Poutníci together with Luboš Malina - due to exhaustion and a desire for a freer approach to music - and together they founded Druhá tráva, with whom he continues to perform with brief breaks to the present day (2025). In 1992 he won the Grammy award (predecessor to Anděl) in the Folk & Country category for the album "Revival" and defended this award annually from 1996-1999. In 2020 he received the Anděl award with Druhá tráva in the category...