Press Releases

Camino Wayside black frame

Camino Wayside Press Misc.

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Er zijn mensen die niet hoog van de toren blazen, maar die over een heel krachtige bescheidenheid beschikken.Op zijn 35e album ‘Camino Wayside’ is dat zeker ook te horen. Door zichzelf gepokt en gemazeld in het schrijven van folk-blues-americana-countryrock songs is de op 21 september 1956 in Hilversum geboren Ad Vanderveen niet blijven steken in een stramien. Hij heeft zijn stramien niet uitgehold. Hij heeft zijn stramien verdiept.
Dit album? Een zoveelste zich onderscheidende rijpe vrucht aan dezelfde boom waar de boom alleen maar mooier van wordt.
Ronald Valstar – Real roots Café, NL
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Een mooi album met prachtige, vooral akoestische, muziek, uitstekend gezongen en gemusiceerd.
Harry Radstake – Bluestown, NL
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Vanderveen bezingt meer dan ooit dat het draait om wat Nescio’s Japi ‘versterven’ noemde, want het kiezen van een bestemming dwingt je ertoe die kant ook inderdaad uit te gaan. In ‘Old Camino Road’ zingt hij dan ook hoe de eigenlijke reis er niet een is die je met je voeten maakt maar een innerlijke en in het afsluitende ‘Too Many Words’ dat woorden het zicht wegnemen op hetgeen waarom het gaat.
Paradoxaal genoeg maakt Vanderveen in deze songs in muziek en teksten zijn filosofie juist heel duidelijk. Zo betoont hij zich een middelaar tussen het leven van A naar B en het hogere.
Ruud Heyer – Kippenvel, NL
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A mature voice, he achieved authentic folk songwriting in the autumn of his life. This album, just released, perfectly frames his line as a delicate and fascinating performer. Part of the album was conceived in places of inspiration such as the Spain of Santiago de Compostela and the hills of the island of Samos where Pythagoras worked. Ad’s writing is wise and quiet, full of scents and calm singing.
Francesco Caltagirone – Buscadero, IT
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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 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.
Lee Zimmerman – Goldmine, US
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Ook bij de nieuwe (36ste!!) plaat van Ad Vanderveen vraag je jezelf af: waarom is deze man niet wereldberoemd, waarom plengen geen duizenden mensen een traantje bij ‘Old Camino Road’ (‘the search is over and the work is done’), waarom smeekt Neil Young niet om een gastoptreden bij de man die diens ‘Trasher’ tot nieuw leven brengt? Waarom huiveren geen legioenen mee met de ingehouden krachten van ‘Some Kinda Blues’ en de getokkelde puzzel in de akoestische nummers, veelal met filosofische textuur? Wij weten het niet, en Ad Vanderveen ook niet.
Herman Veenhof – Nederlands Dagblad, NL
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Ad Vanderveen voldoet weer aan de verwachting in meerdere opzichten. Zijn traditionele voorjaarsrelease, een goed beluisterbaar album met de gekende ‘Vanderveen sound’ en een plaat waarbij niet zomaar wat losse nummertjes bij elkaar geveegd zijn, maar eentje die je toch weer thematisch kunt noemen. Je kunt Camino wayside geen zuiver introspectief album noemen, maar Vanderveen stelt vragen die hij (deels) zelf beantwoordt. Een existentieel plaatje.
Marius Roeting – New Folk Sounds, NL
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Op Camino Wayside toont Van der Veen wederom zijn veelzijdigheid en speelt zelf gitaar, mandoline, banjo, piano. Met het korte akoestische en haast verstillende ‘Too Many Words’ sluit Van der Veen dit album af. Camino Wayside zal niet tot opschudding leiden, waarschijnlijk geen grote hit opleveren maar het is wel een fijn luisteralbum geworden. Veel luisterplezier!
De Muziekplank, NL
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Vanderveen’s style has always stood out for a clear folk and country rock approach that draws heavily from the season of the great singer-songwriters of the Seventies, from the sounds of the West Coast, from certain auteur country, carrying in the heart the lessons of Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt and Neil Young.
Davide Albini – Rootshighway, IT
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We leerden Ad Vanderveen waarderen als een voortreffelijk muzikant met een verhalend repertoire dat tot ver buiten de grenzen van zijn Nederlandse heimat reikt. Of het nu door ruig rockende  gitaren ondersteund wordt of meer subtiele akoestische snaarakkoorden betreft. Vanderveen weet de luisteraar telkens te raken.
Camino Wayside, de zesendertigste episode in het oeuvre, toont andermaal de veelzijdigheid van Ad Vanderveen.
Cis van Looy – Written In Music, NL
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Camino Wayside is weer een prachtig gevarieerd album, deels rustige mooie liedjes waar na de donkere dagen gelukkig alweer een heerlijk lentezonnetje doorheen schijnt. Maar ook wat meer uptempo songs zoals het Dylaneske Nothingness is All, maar hij waagt zich ook aan een heerlijke versie van Neil Young’s Thrasher met een lekkere gruizige gitaar erin. Daarmee laat hij weer zien dat Ad Vanderveen altijd weer garant staat voor een mooie mix van prachtige akoestische songs maar ook nog steeds af en toe lekker kan rocken.
Sandra Zuidema – Lucky Dice, NL
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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)
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Ad Vanderveen just keeps going; his productivity knows no bounds. Now there is Camino Wayside, the result of his musical journey of discovery through Greece and Spain where he laid the foundation for this new (36th?) album. And it is once again a magnificent record, because the Dutch cousin of Bob Dylan and Neil Young is not capable of making bad music. Here he is mainly the folk singer, and the wild electric guitar adventures are largely absent. Until the end, because he closes the album with a rocking version of Trasher, a song by the man to whom he is so often compared, Neil Young. A beautiful ending to a very successful record.
Klanderman Promotion, NL

The Radz Unplugged Sessions

Album Releases, Press Releases, Uncategorized

Coming to your YT theater soon and up on our VIDEO page now:
The Radz Unplugged Sessions – 9 acoustic songs in a heartfelt solo performance. Filmed by Benjamin Vanderveen at Roots a.d Zaan concert venue / former church de Wormerveerse Vermaning, The Netherlands.

Tracklist:

Crazy Dreams
Act Of Love
See What Love Can Do
Castles
I Was Hank Williams
Music Of The Spheres
Calm Before The Storm
Denver Nevada
Too Many Words

Soundtrack via https://advanderveen.bandcamp.com and on select streaming platforms.

Preview:https://advanderveen.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/radz-unplugged-trailer-2.mov

Greetings From Grolloo AV & O’Neils 2CD

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Indie label RADZ records announcement:

A very limited edition brand new Radz Records 2CD release will see the Light of Day (to paraphrase an Ad Vanderveen song performed here) this coming April. Folk it ain’t, but what are labels, anyway?

Ad Vanderveen & The o’Neils were on electric fire 18 December 2004: trust me, this is an absolute killer rock album.

Greetings From Grolloo 2004, a 2CD numbered digisleeve album (with sleevenotes by Ad) will be released two decades on, on 11 April, when Ad plays Roots aan de Zaan in Wormerveer with his acoustic Trio.

Strictly limited to 100 copies: the image below is the back cover with the track list: note the seriously extended jams there. To those who cannot attend the 11 April show but want to order the CD: please email rootsaandezaan@gmail.com

Camino Wayside (p)review

Album Releases, Press Releases, Reviews, Uncategorized

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)

Camino Wayside

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Camino Wayside – Ad Vanderveen.

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 black frame

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.

misc.press quotes

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Press quotes US/UK/CAN

Having roots rock artists coming from all over the world is not an uncommon thing these days. The problem quite a few of these artists usually have is the deep understanding of the musical sources they are using. 

Yet, when they do reach that understanding, they can come up with some outstanding music. When they do so, it is often because they don’t stick strictly to the cannons of folk, country or rock, but mix those elements freely, adding touches of pop or their native background to the mix to come up with something truly interesting. 

That is exactly what Ad Vanderveen, native of Amsterdam, Netherlands has been doing for the last 15 years of his career.
Sure, Vanderveen takes cues from such greats as Bob Dylan and Neil Young, but obviously feels no genre restrictions when he’s making his music, drifting freely between country, folk and rock.
(Rock At Night – by Ljubinko Zivkovic)

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The beauty of Ad Vanderveen’s artistry is it never feels like he is out of his depth musically. No matter what influences he incorporates, Vanderveen is firmly at the helm. And that is the true genius of this record.
(Screen Legion, US – by Spencer Elliott)

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Folk troubadour Ad Vanderveen sings songs of the human condition with a wistful lilt and a perceptive voice. Culled from the preeminent folk influences of the 20th century, his tracks are heartfelt, vulnerable, and have an unfettered sense of sincerity and real-world exposition.

Vanderveen again proves his folk chops by writing a welcoming album that brings you to that home on the range. On this effort, he seems to have coalesced more of a signature sound relying less on the tropes of his forebears while still honouring the lineage. 
(Music-News, UK- By Jon C. Ireson)

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Superbly wrought, mirroring the exquisite aromas of Bob Dylan and Neil Young – a monumental work of art.
(Tattoo US – by Randall Radic)

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For most of this LP Vanderveen simply contents himself with majestic acoustic guitar sounds, so perspicuous in their tracking and manifestation they’re a delight to hear without any vocals whatsoever—although vocals certainly enrich them.
(Breaking and Entering, US – by Duece)

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A beautifully thought out record that pulls on the heartstrings when necessary, but overall is a warm and inviting listen. His vocals are able to portray the emotion in the lyrics with ease and because of his years of songwriting, he knows when a track needs to hold back or let loose a little. A lovely listen.
(Vinyl Chapters, US)

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With a legacy that’s easily traced back some 35 years, Ad Vanderveen has earned a reputation amongst his knowing devotees as an excellent and articulate journeyman, a man whose meditative musings find him respected on both sides of the folks/roots divide. Born in Holland but partly of Canadian heritage, his music transcends any singular tradition courtesy of his deeply melodious music, his deft instrumental interplay and a rich, resonant vocal.
(Goldmine, US – by Lee Zimmerman)

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Ad Vanderveen’s reflective musings give his songs a quiet charm that’s all but irresistible, one reason his work makes him the absolute epitome of an accomplished acoustic bard whose tools of the trade come in the form of a guitar, a melodious voice and a songs flush with heartfelt sentiment.
(No Depression, US – by Lee Zimmerman)

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Ad Vanderveen is Dutch. He lives in Amsterdam. And he sounds like a guy who has spent his life wandering around coffee shops in Madison. The accent probably comes from his Canadian parents (though I still think he sounds American, if possibly North Woods), and the music mainlines from 60s Neil Young.

These almost-acoustic pieces are enhanced by an electric lead guitar that often provides a melodic counterpoint to Vanderveen’s vocals. That, too, is a Young trademark, though Vanderveen’s playing is much more supple than the ragged wails of his hero.

These songs spin stories that are told both musically and lyrically. All of the pieces dovetail into some truly lovely and arresting climaxes. Vanderveen builds his songs with care and very little wasted motion. These well-oiled pieces satisfy immensely.

I’m always intrigued when sounds come back after spending some time overseas. In this case, Vanderveen’s take on this sound presents very few mutations. The fit with late 60s folk rock is exceptional. And while Vanderveen doesn’t experiment much with his influences, he shows a sure-handed mastery of the material. This is a work of remarkable beauty.

(Aiding and Abetting, US – by Jon Worley)

Rise In Love NL press quotes

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Rise In Love NL press quotes

“Het nieuwe studioalbum van Ad Vanderveen heet Rise In Love, een woordspeling op en verbetering van Fall In Love. Tien nieuwe songs, bijna veertig minuten lang, muziek waarover is nagedacht. Mooie arrangementen, hechte band. En hij bewaart het beste voor het laatst.
Hoop kenmerkt de positieve toon. De liefde komt aan bod in alle toonaarden, facetten, aspecten, fasen en absolute wetteloosheid. En weer ziet Vanderveen af van promotie, marketing, blabla en de rest. ‘De plaat kan het beste voor zichzelf spreken en de rest laten we over aan de natuurwetten van aantrekking.’
Juweeltjes? ‘Good Life’, iets weemoedig en droef en vooral beklijvend door een tekst die in korte zinnetjes bijt en troost; de mellotron in ‘Can’t Cross Over, ‘What Is It’, waarin schoonheid in gebrokenheid wordt gevierd en ‘Forgiveness’. “
(Nederlands Dagblad, Juli 2024)

“RISE IN LOVE is het tegenovergestelde van fall in love al zijn de uitdrukkingen paradoxaal genoeg ook verwant aan elkaar. Het titelnummer van Ad Vanderveens nieuwste worp gaat over het spirituele proces dat liefde kan doorlopen van persoonlijke relatie tot een universeel bewustzijn. Het is qua melodieën en warmbloedige sfeer beslist een van de prijsnummers. Wat songschrijven betreft weet hij na ruim dertig albums dan ook wel van de hoed en de rand.” 
(Heaven Magazine, Juni 2024)

“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. Nu is er Rise In Love. 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.”
(Sugar Mountain, Juni 2024)

“Rise In Love is wat mij betreft een van Vanderveen’s betere platen van de laatste 15 jaar. Lekker los, zoals Young met zijn Crazy Horse- en Nelson vrienden bezig kan zijn in een oude schuur. De titelsong is een van de krachtigste melodieuze rockers die Vanderveen geschreven heeft.”
(Lust For Life Magazine, Juni 2024)

“Op zijn bij benadering 34 e studio-album slaat singer-songwriter Ad Vanderveen een andere toon aan dan op een aantal vorige. In zijn tien traditioneel zelfgeschreven songs spelen invloeden uit de klassieke pop onverwacht een grote rol. Strijkers zorgen voor sterke popinvloeden, ze geven de songs een voor Vanderveen ongekende romigheid. Zijn weemoedige teksten worden erdoor ingebed en verzoet, waardoor je er beter naar moet luisteren.”
(Kippenvel, Mei 2024)

“Na het korte Homesick is het in het bluesy Forgiveness weer genieten van het gitaarspel en de harmonieën. Ad Vanderveen heeft het beste voor het laatst bewaard. De titel Best For Last dekt dan ook de lading. Een ruim 6 minuten durend fraai geïnstrumenteerde en heel mooi gezongen song. Conclusie:
Ad Vanderveen blijft mooie albums afleveren. Ook op ‘Rise In Love’ is het weer volop genieten.”
(Bluestown, Mei 2024)

“Behalve de prachtige titeltrack staan er heel veel mooie ingetogen juweeltjes op dit buitengewoon sfeervolle nieuwe album met schitterende ballads veelal over matters of the heart.”
(Lucky Dice, Mei 2024)

Vanderveen schrijft dan wel persoonlijke- of autobiografische songs, maar er zit altijd wel een algemene of veralgemeniserende boodschap achter.
Muzikaal is het album afwisselender dan de voorgaande albums. Pure Americana rock – Why wonder why – gaat vergezeld van akoestische ballads – Good life –  en wat daar tussen zit: folk, country, pop. Fraai is ook het wat ongebruikelijke Where does love belong gespeeld op piano, met subtiele klanken uit pedal steel, elektrisch gitaar, mellotron en fraaie tweestemmige vocalen. Een schijfje om vaker te draaien.
(New Folk Sounds, Juli 2024)

Rise In Love

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Rise In Love (P)review NL:

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.

Rise In Love tracklist:

1 Rise In Love

2 Can’t Cross Over

3 Why Wonder Why

4 Good life

5 Where Does Love Belong

6 What Is It

7 One More Goodbye

8 Homesick

9 Forgiveness

10 Best for Last

All songs by Ad Vanderveen © 2024 Songsense Music

Produced by Pete Fisher and Ad Vanderveen

Ad Vanderveen: vocal, guitars, piano, harmonica, banjo, mandola

Kersten de Ligny: harmony vocal, percussion

Jan Erik Hoeve: pedal steel, harmony vocal

Rene Kaay: mellotron

Michael Kay: drums, percussion

Pete Fisher: bass

Per Hu: strings

Photography by Kiddo and Benjamin VanderVeen

Samos Sessions & Golden Verses

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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

Candle To You new album press sheet

Album Releases, Interviews, Press Releases, Uncategorized

Ad Vanderveen – Candle To You

(Introductory notes by Jon C. Ireson / Music-News)

In the realm of modern folk rock, two men stand as pillars influencing the generations who follow. Bob Dylan took the influence of Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams and through the magical transformation of the Greenwich Village stages, made it speak to millions of young adults grasping for sense in senseless times. 

Neil Young rose to fame riding a wave of psychedelia with Buffalo Springfield operating out of L.A.’s famous Laurel Canyon. Yet, in his formative years on the Canadian Great Plains, Young drew a lot from Dylan’s early folk masterpieces. Once the great wave of the ’60s broke, Young would turn hard to folk in the ’70s writing some of his most enduring classics. 

Today, there is a great deal of that DNA in any given performer that takes up the acoustic guitar to bare their soul. 

Amsterdam-based Ad Vanderveen may have been born thousands of miles from Ohio or Ontario, Minnesota or Manhattan but the man has the lineage of these folk troubadours in his blood. This must have something to do with his Canadian family. On his latest record Release, Vanderveen powerfully and effectively channels the two greats, blending their sonic traits with his own worldly personality to create an album that hits all the right notes of nostalgia, reflection, love, and sense of home that a great folk record should.

This is an artist who studied under the best in his field and with that same energy, produced a welcoming, wistful, and wise entry in the tradition of great folk music. 

Candle To You comes on the heels of the internationally acclaimed 2021 album Release. It offers ten new songs with a distinct sonic signature and atmosphere that is slightly different from Vanderveen’s other work.

AV on Candle To You: “The title-track can be considered a humble dedication to both men mentioned above, as well as some other heroes who came before. A tribute while still alive, if you will. As a child of the sixties, growing up in the second line of that revolutionary generation, I see myself as a carrier of the same flame. I’m grateful to see those greats in the frontline still ahead out there today.”

“While some songs are typically acoustic guitar based, a lot of this album was written on the mandola – the mandolin’s older sister,” the singer further explains. ”Exploring this instrument led to new horizons and different harmonic settings that seem to emphasize the spaciousness and fluidity in my music.” 

Add to that some joyful reunions with old friends on pedal steel, violin/viola, electric guitar, bass and drums/percussion, and harmony vocals and the result is a natural, open and spontaneous sounding production that marks a sense of renewal within the singer-songwriter’s oeuvre.

As said above, music never comes out of nowhere and is always influenced and inspired by those who came before, but lyrics are something else and Ad Vanderveen very much has his own story to tell. It’s a story of a lifelong search that has a sense of home running through it. One can suspect that over the years he has been closing in on something, although it’s not spelled out literally what that is. It’s a quest of the spirit that holds a promise of finding and coming home, a feeling that many – consciously or subconsciously – may relate to.

The poetry always central to Vanderveen’s work often hints at a bigger picture, expressed through every day events and language, with subjects relevant in any grown-up’s life like; love on individual and universal levels, longing, loss, transience, and acceptance.

With: Ad Vanderveen: vocal, guitars, mandola, harmonica, footstomp / Kersten de Ligny: harmony vocal / Jan Erik Hoeve: pedal steel / Neil James Morrison: violin, viola / Pete Fisher: bass, percussion / Michael Kay: drums, percussion / Simon Moore: keyboards / Philip Kroonenberg: guest vocal on 3 

Track list:

1 Do What You Love 2 Following The Wind 3 Over Time 4 Candle To You 5 Last Venture 6 All The Way Thing 7 Window In The Rain 8 Miss That World 9 Exit Inside 10 Air Guitar