Neşet Ertaş
| Neşet Ertaş | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Bozkırın Tezenesi (Plectrum of the Steppe) |
| Born | 1938 Çiçekdağı, Kırşehir, Türkiye |
| Died | 25 September 2012 (aged 74) Izmir |
| Genres | Turkish folk music |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, singer, player |
| Instruments | Bağlama, violin |
| Years active | 1954-2012 |
| Labels | Bayar Müzik (2005-Present) Kalan Müzik (1999-2005) |
| Website | www.nesetertas.com.tr |
Neşet Ertaş (1938 – 25 September 2012) was a Turkish folk music singer, lyricist, modern ashik and virtuoso of the traditional Turkish instrument the bağlama. His profession in Turkish is known as halk ozanı, which literally means "folk bard". Yaşar Kemal gave Ertaş his nickname, "Bozkırın Tezenesi" (literally: "Plectrum of the Steppe"), writing it in a book he gave him as a gift.
Neşet Ertaş was born in 1938, in Kırtıllar, a village in Kırşehir. His father, Muharrem Ertaş, was also a folk poet his mother, Döne Koç, was Muharrem's second wife, his first wife, Hatice, having died early. Neşet was the second eldest of four children; he had an older half-brother, Necati, from his father's first marriage and two younger sisters, Ayşe and Nadiye.
His mother Döne also died early, and his father married again, to Arzu. From this third marriage four sons, Ekrem, Ali, Muharrem and Cemal, were born.
Neşet married Leyla, a singer from Bolu, in 1960 in Ankara, where the two had met while performing at a night club. She bore him two daughters and a son. The couple divorced after ten years of marriage.
At the age of five and six, Neşet Ertaş started to play first the violin and then the bağlama, the Turkish national instrument. His father earned his living by playing at wedding ceremonies in Central Anatolian villages, and for eight years Neşet accompanied him. As a result, he was not able to finish primary school.
At the age of fourteen, Neşet Ertaş went to Istanbul, where he played at a night club in Beyoğlu. After two years, he moved to Ankara to continue his stage career there. He applied to the state-owned Turkish Radio (TRT) station in Ankara and began performing türkü, Turkish folk songs, on a daytime programme called Yurttan Sesler (literally: "Sounds of Hometown") under the name "Neşet Ertaş of Kırşehir". At the same time, he played in night clubs at night.
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Wikipedia