1 Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

2 Women Across The River

3 If My Eyes Were Blind

4 Little Bit Of Poison

5 Vincent’s Blues

6 If It Wasn’t For The Wind

7 Jerusalem Tomorrow

8 Little Bird (What I Do)

9 Life Of A Minor Poet

10 Mister Vermeer

11 Sad Saturday Night

Ad Vanderveen & Friends

AV: vocal, guitars, mandola, harmonica, piano / Iain Matthews: vocal, guitar / Kersten de Ligny: vocal, percussion / Raphael Dudukas: oriental guest vocal on Jerusalem Tomorrow / Jan Erik Hoeve: pedal steel and David Olney: ghost vocal on If My Eyes Were Blind

Upon first meeting David Olney in 1993, I was awestruck by his music and personality and I instantaneously felt a connection that seemed to be mutual, to my surprise. I was a youngish singer songwriter taking the first steps on a solo path after having played in numerous bands, and David set a towering example for me rightaway. His playing, singing, writing and performing were what I wished I’d be able to do. His guitar playing fascinating, authorative, simple and sophisticated, especially in contrast with the raw directness of his voice. His lyrics so layered, captivating and touching on many levels at once. His performance so cool and real, stirring, vulnerable, rough and funny. He embodied all that a troubadour, craftsman and traveling minstrel should be for me.

I’ve been lucky to meet with David and work with him on many occasions since that first encounter. All over the world our paths have crossed, sometimes planned and sometimes spontaneous – on stage, in the studio, or at home at my place or his. Each time was a memorable and unique experience. He was a teacher to me, although we never consciously acknowledged that kind of roleplay. I suppose you could say – like in the world of classical music – I studied under David Olney. I’m happy that along our trails we’ve left some marks together, some living on as recorded musical souvenirs on CD.

Since David is no longer here to bring his songs to us, I have felt like trying some of them on, some I feel that fit me, although his shoes are too big to fill; there are some songs that suit me and feel like my own. I guess what I set out to do with these recordings is keeping that feeling alive that grabbed me right from the start in 1993. 

With the help of some good friends I’m glad to have captured some performances I feel are worthy of carrying on a part of David’s great heritage. I want to thank Iain Matthews, he and I shared quite a few adventures with David over the years and he brought some of these songs to the table. Thanks to my wife Kersten de Ligny for lending her angelic vocals, Raphael Dudukas for his atmospheric oriental vibe, Jan Erik Hoeve for his signature pedal steel, Jim Morrison for his timeless strings, and Whoever Else might show up before this will be released.

Released? What is that anymore – streaming platforms, digital media, a limited edition CD? I never knew very well how to go about that part and these days even less so. Like David was, I’m in this for the music. The business of making it known and the cost for that – despite perhaps being the most important part in getting it heard – are out of my hands.

So if you find this, or this finds you, here’s to the cosmic laws of attraction that guide us.

We hope you’ll enjoy the music and if you do, tell your friends. Only Olney will be finished soon and available around summer 2023, stay tuned for details.

AV Preview / interview Heart Of Every Town

2023 will see the release of Heart Of Every Town, a double CD by Ad Vanderveen.

The album features ten new original songs in two different settings.

Disc 1: Church is based on acoustic guitar with church organ. 
Disc 2: Pub is based on electric guitar with band (The O’Neils’22)

Heart Of Every Town will be released March 3 2023.

More info and pre-orders on http://www.advanderveen.com/store now!

This recording so rocks that it wouldn’t stay on the shelf.

LOBESHYMNEN  LIVE WEIMAR ’22 – AD VANDERVEEN & THE O’NEILS

‘Lobeshymnen’ is what our German promoter said he heard after we played our show in Weimar on October 8th 2022, as the chills of autumn had descended on us and a few thousand people in the audience on the Platz der Demokratie.

It’s a word you would associate with the works of Bach, it means something like ‘praises’.

We thought it would make a great title for this Cd that marks our return as a band. It was great, chaotic and noisy to be back on stage in Weimar where we played so many times over the past 20 years. A few years ago I swore to never play electric band shows again but what do I know, here we are. We celebrated that our spirits, chops, instincts, hands and ears were still intact and we would like to invite you along with this live document, hoping you will be part of the same feeling.

Thanks go to Dirk Böttcher for initiating and organising, to Dominico Sneider for recording, and to all the fans for showing up. 

AV, November 2022.

Tracklist:

1 Last Venture

2 Uphill

3 First Feeling

4 All The Waiting

5 Wildfire

6 Light Of Day

7 The Moment That Matters

8 Lost In Lederhosen

9 Denver Nevada

10 Melancholy Blues

11 Water Under The Bridge

Total playing time: 73 min.

With:

Ad Vanderveen: vocal, guitars, harmonica

Kersten de Ligny: vocal, autoharp, percussion

Jan Erik Hoeve: pedal steel, vocal

Timon van Heerdt: bass, vocal

Roel Overduin: drums, vocal

For those unfamiliar; an article that is laid away and kept apart for later collection – with or without a down payment, is called a layaway. It’s also the title of a small group of songs I recorded during Covid isolation, keeping the wheels in motion. 

Picking up instruments that were new to me and learning to play them on familiar songs, I was also joined by old friends – some of them live and some at long distance.

Molding the soundscape and atmosphere that became the template for the Cd ‘Candle To You’, these recordings were then laid away for some time. 

On revisiting them we thought they should be taken home and made available now.

A streaming only 7-song EP release is set for August 19 2022 on all digital platforms. Better sound quality download available HERE: https://advanderveen.bandcamp.com/album/layaway

Layaway trackist:

1 Keep Me In Your Heart (Warren Zevon)

2 I Was Hank Williams ( Ad Vanderveen)

3 Angel Of Death (Hank Williams)

4 Rex’s Blues (Townes Van Zandt)

5 Love & Music (Ad Vanderveen)

6 The Long Way Round (Ad Vanderveen)

7 If I Needed You (Townes Van Zandt)

With: AV:vocal, mandola, banjo, guitar, harmonica / Kersten de Ligny: vocal, autoharp / Jan Erik Hoeve: pedal steel, banjo / Neil James Morrison: violin, viola, mandolin / Daniel Shergold: bass / Timon van Heerdt: bass, vocal / Michael Kay: percussion / Simon Moore: keyboards

Soulful, old-fashioned country folk singer Ad Vanderveen has returned with his newest album Release, which marks a big step up in production and his abilities as a songwriter, definitively crystallizing a style and aesthetic that stands out in a modern era. Vanderveen’s vocals are reminiscent of Neil Young, and Release could have easily found a comfortable home in the 70s among other rootsy folk records by Young, Bob Dylan, and Van Morrison. The production is more restrained, befitting the style, but like the sound of Harvest or Blood on the Tracks that doesn’t preclude a Phil Spector sensibility of lush strings and layered instrumentation as long as the result is organic.

The album, along with just about every song on it, begins unassumingly at first. Each track opens simply with guitar before the drums, slide guitar, strings, backing vocals, and keyboards all build around it like a room slowly filling up. The effect, especially on some of the most emotionally killer songs like “One Last Song” and “Nothing But A Dream” causes the listener to be caught off guard by the true subtle power and raw strength of the songs here. The human frailties present, including melancholy, regret, nostalgia, disappointment, and quiet contentment, aren’t overwhelming—in fact, nothing that Vanderveen does begs to be noticed. Rather, they stir just under the surface like true lived experience, and Release is one the truest, most mature accounts in contemporary folk of what it means to struggle, to persevere, or to just get by.

By Cody Conrad-The Big Takeover, US

We are in the hands of a well-reasoned production from the get-go on Amsterdam-based folk artist Ad Vanderveen’s new ten song, Release. Vanderveen produces here with Pete Fisher, who also plays bass, and with Michael Kay’s drums adding a nice marching snare snap, Kersten de Ligny a sweet harmony, a second electric and harmonica, and Vanderveen’s plucked acoustic laying underneath his delicate pipes, the title-track opens us well into this modern folks world.

I like the run-together lyric and the feeling that things might just break apart at any moment on “Dared To Dream.” But, again, the specific added atmospheric touches of electric and drums, bass, and what sounds like banjo add just the right color to this poignant-wish-of-a-song, about halfway in. When Ligny harmonizes during the bridge, the listener is all-in.

Again, Vanderveen employees that quick singing over the verse lyrics on the slow groovy “Garden Of Home,” probably the most commercial of tunes here. This one mixes all the best elements presented on Release. “Ol’ 56” is a wry folk musician story song with some perfectly plucked acoustic rhythm and lead while, “Thank you,” the last tune, is another soft song story song, featuring more perfect second guitar work and Vanderveen mostly talking the lyric (there are some sweet harmonies with Ligny plus a laid-back beat on the chorus). It all brings things together in a nice neat circle for this well-rendered modern folk album.

By Ralph Greco-Short and Sweet NYC + LA, US