ROUGH SILK frontman/keyboardist Ferdy Doernberg has issued the following statement regarding the track 'A Song For Hilmer' which closes the band's new album, A New Beginning:

"The last song on the album is dedicated to Hilmer Staacke, the former guitar player of Rough Silk and was written, performed and recorded on May 26th, 2006 in the dressing room of Ralph Freud's Theatre in Los Angeles, California one day after I got the news that Hilmer had died the day before. Two friends of mine, Roy Z and Warren De Martini (RATT) helped me recording it right away on an old piano in the dressing room. The piano was a little out of tune, I made a few mistakes and if you listen carefully you can hear the Uli Jon Roth soundcheck in the background, but we kept it the way it was because it's authentic. It wouldn't be the same if we would recut it in the studio.

We combined it with a guitar solo performed by Hilmer Staacke himself in 1995 so you have the chance to listen to a great guitar player one more time.

The new Rough Silk album is dedicated to Hilmer."

A New Beginning will be released March 20th , 2009 via Dockyard1 Records. The tracklist is as follows: 'Temple Of Evil', 'Home Is Where The Pain Is', 'Reborn To Wait', 'The Roll Of The Dice', 'When The Circus Is Coming To Town', 'Sierra Madre', 'A New Beginning', 'Warpaint', 'Black Leather', 'We've Got A File On You (featuring SUBCULTURE SQUAD), 'Deadline', 'We All Need Something To Hold On To In This Life', 'A Song For Hilmer'

Audio samples of the songs 'Reborn To Wait' and 'Temple Of Hate' are available at this location.

Doernberg issued the following tribute to Staacke shortly after his death in 2006:.

"Hilmer Staacke, the original guitar player of Rough Silk died on the 25th of May after a heavy episode of Asthma. Hilmer and I went to school and had founded Rough Silk together, and after he had left the band we still were getting along very well, even though we didn't have so much contact anymore, which is something I regret a lot now. Because Hilmer was only five days older than me we always put our birthday parties together. At one of these events I got drunk for the first time (and the second last time as well!) in my life. At another party I kissed a girl for the first time, and so on.

Until 1995 we saw each other nearly every day because of the band but also as kids we were making movies on Super 8 (Westerns, etc.) together, which we forced the whole school to watch. Later we even were kind of 'family', because we dated two sisters at the same time.

Musically Hilmer was an underrated guitar player, who had a great tone and was more into melodies than the 'shredding' thing. Besides JEFF BECK one of his favorite guitar players was Warren de Martini from RATT. As I was now playing with Warren in L.A. I thought of Hilmer and told Warren that I had a friend who was a big fan of his playing. The next day Warren brought a poster to the show that he had signed for Hilmer. I wanted to give it to him on his birthday on the 5th of June. But 10 minutes later my cell phone rang and Ralf (the original bass player of Rough Silk) told me that Hilmer had died. Of course I was totally shocked. Instead of playing my keyboard solo I played Bob Dylan's 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door', that I dedicated to Hilmer and the audience sang with me. Two days after I got back I went to Hilmer's funeral and that was really tough. People I knew had died before (like a few month ago Peter Wells) but nobody so close. Hilmer and me grew up together and shared so many things.

For Rough Silk he was very important and he definitely left his mark on the songs of the first albums. In the first years we rehearsed six times a week for eight hours and all songs got worked out together in the rehearsal room. The basic ideas were always by Hilmer, Jan and myself. Hilmer's songs (like for example - 'Don't Leave Me Now' and 'Ups And Downs') had a very strong seventies touch (way before the seventies revival) and were very different from the typical riff-orientated songwriting style of the end of the eighties.

His always present disease was one reason for him to leave the band in 1995 but also he was very shy person who didn't like to be in the spotlight and also hated the business part of being a professional musician a lot.

On the very long European tour with HELLOWEEN (three months) he already had problems with asthma and allergies. Hilmer was a very sensitive and intelligent person and after he had left the band the 'innocence' was gone. Even though all the people that played in ROUGH SILK later were great or at least good musicians this special 'us against the world' feeling of the original lineup was gone.

Hilmer later recorded an instrumental solo CD called 'Wild Desert' (I played keyboards on that one, too) and he also played a solo on my 'Storyteller's Rain' CD. After leaving the band he worked as a session player (for a local radio station, for example) and gave guitar lessons. He married and got a now 5 year old daughter who became the main focus of the last years of his life. Hilmer only got 38 years old but his music will survive him.

I will never forget him and from now on whenever I play songs like 'Walls Of Never' on a stage somewhere out there in this strange world I will think of him.

Rest in Peace, 'Halma'!"
- Ferdy