Suffice it to say Ad Vanderveen may well be the best singer/songwriter sorely in need of recognition on this side of the Atlantic. Though Dutch by birth and heritage, his music is steeped in Americana, and with nearly 40 albums to his credit, it’s clear he not only knows his way around a melody but is wholly adept at sharing songs that are enticing and entrancing in equal measure.
His new album, Camino Wayside, is no exception, and if anything, it finds Vanderveen more fully immersed than ever into in the roots of storied American musical tradition. “See What Love Can Do” quotes Woody Guthrie by interspersing verses from “This Land Is Your Land,” while “Nothingness Is All” boasts an unmistakable Dylanesque tone and timbre. So too, “Nothing Written In Stone” would make a nice companion piece for Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.” That’s not to say his songs don’t stand out on their own, because indeed they do.
Also of note, the recently released Greetings From Grolloo, a live effort featuring the Iain Adventure, an on again-off again collaboration with Iain Matthews. Those in search of supply melodies and soothing sentiments would be well advised to give both albums a well-deserved listen.
Ad Vanderveen is an artist whose music relays common themes, specifically, emotions and feelings that everyone, regardless of where life has taken them, can easily understand and relate to. His songs are soothing and yet engaging, flush with easily accessible melodies and sounds that ring with both passion and perseverance.
His new album “Camino Wayside” is no exception, and boasts two very diverse examples in particular. One, titled “Nothingness Is All,” finds Ad take a jaunty, down-home country approach, flushed out with a hint of Dylan-esque delivery. Another, “Old Camino Road,” is a tender, touching reflection on life’s journey itself, shared with reflection and resolve:
“You gotta find your freedom, when you lose the load…”
One of Holland’s finest musical exports, Ad Vanderveen offers universal inspiration. True to form, his new album rings once again with verve and variety.
It’s long past time those unknowing come to discover what his fans and admirers have realized all along. Ad Vanderveen’s gift comes with his giving.
Lee Zimmerman – Writer/Reviewer/Scribe (Goldmine, No Depression, American Songwriter)
Spain and Greece were the scenes for laying the groundwork of a surprise album in summer 2024, when songwriter-singer Ad Vanderveen took a guitar, a field recorder and some microphones to accompany him on his musical adventures.
Intending to make some sonic souvenirs and writing demos, the songs flowed one into another and took place and shape just playing for fun in inspiring environments, giving these recordings something that wouldn’t happen in a studio.
As Ad tells it:
“We were asked to play in San Sebastiàn, Spain in spring ’24 and struck up a friendship with the promoters there, who then invited us to stay at their house in the summer. It was a place with one side overlooking the ocean and the other the Camino de Santiago, the famous pilgrim route. I had always been curious about the Camino and every day I would sit and play watching the pilgrims walk by, backpacks and all, headed for their destination.
I was thinking about when you have a destination the search is over and the work begins, putting in the miles. Not knowing where you’re going is the hardest part of a spiritual journey. And although I don’t have that many miles to walk myself I could relate to them, only it’s a camino within that I’m on.
I would talk to some pilgrims and walk with them a while and it transpired into a song called ‘Old Camino Road’. I made a recording of it in a room with nice acoustics and a scenic view. Listening back I thought it had a special feeling and sound and I decided that I should record my other new songs in there as well.
When I was finished by the end of our stay I felt that there was something special about the unity and atmosphere of this group of songs. We took it to the studio and did some dubs like harmony vocals, an old Spanish guitar, bass, percussion, electric guitar, cello, piano, and banjo.
Two more songs were added to the selection, the serene ‘Music Of The Spheres’ , written on Samos island in Greece earlier in the summer – and a gritty electric version of the Neil Young song ‘Thrasher’ . This gives the record an arc ranging from intimate acoustic to rocky electric, a contrast that’s always been with me.
The result is that I find myself with an album that happened sooner than I had time to think. The previous one ‘ Rise In Love’ was much more elaborate and is still making the rounds, but this one overtook it by surprise.
Well, the Muse won’t wait and when it comes knocking I have to answer, that’s how I’ve always lived my life and I’m very happy to keep following that.”
Camino Wayside will be released on jan 31 2025. Stay tuned for details.
Camino Wayside Ad Vanderveen – Song by song
1 Catch Lightning
When the atmosphere is charged you can feel it. When you reach up it can come crashing down. That’s how it felt at the beginning of this record.
2 Old Camino Road
I was always curious about the Camino de Santiago in Spain and by chance ended up staying at a house situated right on it. This song came from watching the pilgrims walk by and talking to some of them.
3 Crazy Dreams
Doing what I do went against how I was brought up. I was supposed to head for the world of establishment, whatever that meant. I often felt foolish and uncertain about pursuing a professional musical life but there was a strong dream. I thought I stood a chance to live it and I ‘m grateful that I did.
4 See What Love Can Do
A social commentary as a variation on Woody Guthrie’s song. I was with some Ukrainian people who fled to my country and this is what I thought and felt.
5 Act Of Love
My dad and I were not on speaking terms when he died. He disagreed with my choices in life and had harsh words to say about it. But when I was young he brought me a guitar from Mexico, I don’t remember ever moving it but somehow it has stayed with me until now. I picked it up the other day and remembered that as an act of love.
6 Nothingness Is All
Blowing bubbles is a great metaphor. It appears as reality while it lasts. Inside is the same as outside. There’s only a thin film that makes it look separate, until it bursts.
7 Music Of The Spheres
The great mystic Pythagoras spoke of this music that is audible in the cosmos. He was born on the island of Samos where I wanted to record this in the foothills of the mountain where he once practised it.
8 Nothing Written In Stone
Music is always in motion, it’s hard to say what the definitive version of a song might be.
9 Some Kinda Blues
This started out as a kind of trance chord progression in a bluesy vein. Words filled themselves in improvising along.
10 Thrasher
I went to Neil Young’s news page and it was black for some time. It gave me a shock and I thought he had left his favorite planet. I wanted to pay tribute and was happy to do it while he’s alive. An electric version of this song didn’t exist as far as I knew.
11 Too Many Words
Self explanatory. Words only go so far. Fortunately there’s music.
Like writing, recording is a miraculous and fascinating thing. It’s a process that builds from the ground up every time, with no standard situations or routines to start from. What will work at one time may not at another, you never step into the same river twice, as the saying goes.
When I look back, each time has been unique and different, and with trial and error you work towards that feeling of capturing something special, something magical to your ears. It can stand or fall with a particular microphone, instrument, location, room, position, or mindset, there’s so many variables that a satisfying result depends on. And there’s no telling in advance.
There are engineers and producers that probably know all about these things and have a sure-fire way of going about it in studios. But for me that is not always within reach, and when it is I’m not always impressed.
I started learning to help myself to record my songs a long time ago. Thinking about it, it goes back to when I was a kid, working a tape deck in sound on sound mode, bouncing tracks until they drowned in hiss. All for a strange hunger to hear my songs through my ears instead of only in my head. Then followed years and years of being in and out of many bands and studios.
Later, I got a side job in a major recording studio where I learned about microphones and rooms and positioning. And mostly I learned what I didn’t want or need and which was what almost everyone was doing there – making records that were more about sound than about music and copying the latest hits.
I did not want to depend on machinery like that or the business people to grant the access to it. So I was on my own, knowing what I knew and doing what I did. Getting it right at the source had been the paramount lesson I learned, so over the years I invested in some top of the line vintage microphones and instruments and mostly movable recording equipment. Quite a compact set-up but enough to serve my relatively simple needs for making good quality guerilla productions in concert venues, barns, churches, bars, gardens, caves, and at home.
Not to say there weren’t any good people around me with valuable advice, facilities, goodwill and expertise. There were, and there still are, and I feel very grateful towards every one of them who helped my music along. When the stars align and possibilities arise I look forward to hooking up with some of them again. Being an indie act brings a lot of freedom but it can get pretty lonely and I have fond memories of some great collaborations.
Anyway, fast forward to 2024, when I find myself on holiday in Spain and in Greece with a head full of songs, a guitar, a field recorder and some microphones. Just to have it handy for some sonic souvenirs and writing demos, I set it up in a good sounding room with a panoramic view and start playing just for fun. The songs flow one into another, recording and writing go on for about a week and I find that feeling where everything falls into place, sound, moment, mood, acoustics, atmosphere and whatever an inspiring recording is made of.
Recording in 32 bit float mode with some high dynamic range mics meant I didn’t have to worry about levels, peaks, distortion etc. too much, so I played and sang like I do live and forgot about technical stuff. Just enjoying the playing and the songs with the view and acoustics of the room made it a unique and different experience for me once again. This bunch of songs is tied together by all those factors and now will find a way into the world as an album called ‘Camino Wayside’.
The wonder of it is, you couldn’t get there if you planned it, it’s made of chance, circumstance, providence, inspiration, receptivity, and a few efforts and skills you learned along the way. Working on these tracks through the fall season and trading in all sense of perspective, then comes the time to wrap it up and let it go, trying not to have too many expectations, probably the hardest part.
But in the end putting music in the world is a miracle, a true blessing, and its own reward.
Net als zijn helden Neil Young en Bob Dylan, houdt ook onze Nederlandse trots Ad Vanderveen zich niet aan de algemeen geldende muziekwetten. Dat leidt ertoe dat hij inmiddels al meer dan dertig albums heeft uitgebracht. Die variëren in kwaliteit van oké tot goed tot ronduit briljant. Nu is er Rise In Love, een woordspeling op Fall In Love, en het titelnummer is een klassieker in de dop. Ook de overige acht hoopvolle liedjes mogen er zijn. Het geheel doet, qua geluid, soms denken aan de hoogtijdagen van Buffalo Springfield. Hoe dan ook, Rise In Love is een prachtplaat en een welkome aanvulling op het imposante oeuvre van de zwaar onderschatte Ad Vanderveen.
(Door Frans Lomans)
Album notes ENG:
Instead of falling, let’s rise in love. When I heard this it stuck with me immediately and it wasn’t long before it turned into a song. I think we say fall in love because when this happens we forget about ourselves, only the other exists. That’s what the power of love does, it makes us want to give and forget about getting.
Mostly we associate it with one particular person, but over time this power can transform and grow from a personal level into a more universal one. When this happens it can start encompassing all and everything, from near and dear ones to neighbors, to country, the planet, and beyond. It is a spiritual process that is individual and undoubtedly it also helps to make the world a better place.
This is like a thread running through the songs on Rise In Love, the album’s core content. As for outer forms, it’s hard to say how it translates through the music and spheres. I’ve heard people say the tone is melancholic and moving. I’ve also even heard it said there is a hit-single quality to some of the songs, though I think we can keep that secret.
Rise In Love is a colorfully orchestrated album and the basis of it is clearly rooted in folk, keeping the song with vocal and acoustic guitar or piano center stage.
Release on April 19th on CD and streaming platforms.
Rise In Love NL:
Instead of falling, let’s rise in love. Deze regel kwam binnen bij singer-songwriter Ad Vanderveen en het duurde niet lang voordat het een song werd, de titelsong van een album dat gaat over liefde in vele facetten en fases.
Meestal associeren we liefde met één bepaalde persoon maar het gevoel kan ook een universelere vorm aannemen en veel meer gaan omvatten – naasten, buren, land, de planeet en misschien zelfs daarbuiten. Volgens Vanderveen is het een intern proces van groei dat, hoewel het zeer individueel is, ook de wereld als geheel ten goede komt. Dit thema loopt door Rise In Love en komt door de songs heen terug.
Qua muziek en sfeer is het album afwisselend – er zijn stemmige ballads en langer uitgesponnen werk, en er zijn ook compacte songs die volgens ingewijden zelfs een hitsingle kwaliteit hebben. Niet dat op zoiets overigens ingezet zal worden – er is in deze niche geen uitgebreide marketing en promotie campagne en de ophef en tam-tam die daarmee gepaard gaan passen volgens de singer-songwriter ook niet bij de inhoud. “De plaat kan het beste voor zichzelf spreken en de rest laten we over aan de natuurwetten van aantrekking – like attracts like”, aldus Vanderveen.
De muziek op Rise In Love is kleurrijk georkestreerd maar blijft dicht bij huis, geworteld in de folk traditie van stem met akoestische gitaar of piano. Zoals we gewend zijn van Ad Vanderveen staat de song centraal en de muziek dient de inhoud.
Rise In Love staat gepland voor release op 19 april 2024, met CD distributie via Coast To Coast en streaming via alle platforms.
Rise In Love short:
New album coming April 19th 2024.
Songs about love in many facets and phases.
Ranging from personal to more universal levels.
Colorfully orchestrated around vocal and acoustic guitar or piano in compact songs and longer pieces.
A special new and very atmospheric EP is coming, titled: ‘Samos Sessions & Golden Verses’. It is centered around songs about, and containing, ancient teachings by the Pythagorians. Featuring recordings made on the island of Samos – Greece, in a chapel, in a cave, with additional recording in the studio, it runs a total of 25 minutes in 3 songs.
A 16+ minute trance-folk rendition of the Golden Verses was originally planned to be included on the forthcoming CD release ‘Rise In Love’. But it felt better at home in a stand-alone environment with other songs relating to the topic of timeless philosophy.
The EP will be streaming on all platforms in mid March and will be available on CD on March 19 ’24. Downloads via Bandcamp will be up too: https://advanderveen.bandcamp.com
Notes on Samos Sessions & Golden Verses:
As we probably all have experienced, sometimes there is a sense of being overcome by a miraculous familiarity, with a person or a place, that for some reason draws you in. The island of Samos, Greece is a home-away-from-home for us since visiting there for the first time in 2008 at the invitation from a musician-friend who got to know my songs and played them there. There was an inexplicable pull that kept us returning there again and again in the years that followed, like a notion of some long lost memory of home.
Through those years I came to learn more and more about the island’s most revered historic figure Pythagoras, the great master philosopher, mystic, mathematician, musician, astrologer and many more titles that he may be given. It fascinated me to find out that he was so much more than the mathematician he is mostly remembered as, a key figure in ancient philosophy that has shaped western thinking and civilization, strongly influencing Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the early Stoics, Jesus Christ, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius and many who came after.
As I read more and more, I felt inspired to write, and intrigued to visit the place where he lived and taught – a cave high up in mount Kerkis – and despite my fear of heights I felt compelled to even record a song (Song From Pythagoras’ Cave) up there. Another recording scene was set in a chapel on a hill that had the right ambience for a song (Believe) I had written on the subject of ancient wisdom that was passed on down the line from Samos.
The culmination, however, was later when I came upon the Golden Verses – Pythagoras’ teachings summarized by his followers in 71 verses, which tallied with the Eastern philosophy that I was familiar with, and rang like timeless truth and lofty goals to try and live by. For probably the same inexplicable reason as all our visits, I felt the urge to try and set these words to music in an improvised manner that would leave the text free and center-stage.
The Golden Verses can be broken down into two parts: 1-47 for practical guidelines and 48-71 for spiritual guidelines. This outline was roughly followed in the rendition that became the recording, with only a shift in part 2 from a minor to a major chord, keeping a hypnotic cadence going.
Sometimes the verses need clarification of words and expressions whose meanings have changed through time and translation. As an example: the frequently used word ‘Daemon’ here denotes divine intermediate, while the English translation came to be associated with something diabolic. For more context on this and a transcript of the verses themselves I would like to refer to the Harvard university documents found here: https://people.math.harvard.edu/~knill/various/eterosego/pythagoras_verses.pdf
Preorders now through STORE page, CDs available on sept. 22.
Tracklist:
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 Millionaire
10 Mister Vermeer
11 Sad Saturday Night
Ad Vanderveen & Guests
AV: vocal, guitars, mandola, harmonica, piano / Iain Matthews: vocal, guitar on If My Eyes Were Blind – Little Bit Of Poison – If It Wasn’t For The Wind / Kersten de Ligny: vocal, percussion / Freek de Jonge: guest vocal on Little Bird / Hella de Jonge:violin on Little Bird / Raphael Dudukas: oriental guest vocal on Jerusalem Tomorrow / Willie Ahrend: nylon string guitar / Jan Erik Hoeve: pedal steel, vocal on If It Wasn’t for the Wind and Sad Saturday Night, and David Olney: ghost vocal on If My Eyes Were Blind
AV notes:
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 on some of them, 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. Many thanks to all the other wonderful friends who sang and played on these songs, it has been a true joy.
Only Olney is set for a september 22 ’23 release. Stay tuned for details.
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.
Ad Vanderveen 
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