Press Releases

Rise In Love

Album Releases, Press Releases, Recensies NL, Reviews, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

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

Album Releases, Press Releases, Reviews, Uncategorized

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 

Concert Registration CD

Album Releases, Press Releases, Reviews, Uncategorized

Ad Vanderveen Quartet – Concert Registration 

A limited edition live CD is available of the July 4th AV Quartet concert at Tivoli/Vredenburg, Utrecht.

It’s an authorized bootleg simply titled Concert Registration – recorded the classical way with mics capturing the hall acoustics. The digipack contains the full repertoire of 16 songs played and clocks in at 73 minutes. 

No downloads, no streaming, just a limited pressing for those missing the live music experience.

Available now, orders via email: info@advanderveen.com 

Tracklist:

1 Release

2 One Last Song

3 Wildfire

4 Fickle Mind

5 I Was Hank Williams

6 Angel Of Death

7 Denver Nevada

8 Lonely Family

9 Man Of Few Words

10 Nothing But A Dream

11 Ol’56

12 All The Waiting

13 Mystery

14 If I Needed You

15 Following The wind

16 Melancholy Blues

Liner notes:

After a year and a half of mostly playing at home, writing and recording 2 albums, and doing only occasional shows during the pandemic isolation, our world seemed ready to slowly open up again in the summer of 2021.

On July 4 we set out to do 2 shows of 2 sets each for different audiences at TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht – in Hertz, a concert hall acoustically designed for classical, mostly chamber music. 

The Quartet – consisting of Kersten de Ligny on vocals, autoharp, percussion / Timon van Heerdt on bass / Jan Erik Hoeve on pedal steel and banjo, and myself on vocal, guitar, mandola, harmonica, footstomp– played in an intimate setting for only 50 people at a time.

This recording was made the classical way, only using the microphones capturing the hall acoustics. No close individual close miking, except from the delicately amplified stage sound filling the house. The result is an ambient registration and a natural, airy atmosphere just like the audience and the band heard it that night. 

Playing a lot of new material, featuring songs from the current album ‘Release’, it felt like a release indeed to share music in the moment and interact with an audience again.

We decided to line up the complete repertoire that was played as a full concert registration and hope  it will be a welcome item in these times of live music scarcity.

AV, July 2021.

Treasure Keepers

Album Releases, Press Releases, Reviews, Uncategorized

Treasure Keepers is the first real solo album by singer-songwriter Ad Vanderveen.

Performed alone in a studio/theater ambience with no audience, it features nine and a half new original songs and one and a half covers.

The content and poetry are of a personal / spiritual / topical nature and are kept center-stage, framed by a variety of sounds, ranging from airy acoustic to grungy electric.

Starting off with a dedication to colleague, friend and mentor David Olney, who recently passed away, Vanderveen’s songs address subjects like life and death, creativity, change and pandemic times, as well as love transcending all of these in some more meditative pieces. The disc ends with Motherland, a grungy electric rendition of the Dutch national anthem, with Vanderveen’s own lyrics taking it to a more universal and spiritual plane.

The other cover on Treasure Keepers is ‘If I Can Do It So Can You’ by Lee Clayton, a song Ad claims had a life-changing impact on him in the late 1970s.
While the performances are spontaneous and minimal, the soundscape is intricate and has been realized with help of the the finest of people and equipment available in the field of audio.

Ad Vanderveen about Treasure Keepers:
“I’ve often heard myself say ‘a song should be able to stand on its own two feet, but I’d never really made a record like that. It was time to practise what I preach: one shot on the spot with no overdubs – a bold and daring choice if I do say so myself – and if a song wouldn’t stand up to it, it simply wouldn’t come to life. It took a sense of ruthless vulnerability to present my new material in this way that turned out feeling very rewarding”.

Treasure Keepers will be released in the summer of 2020.

Final Refuge CD

Album Releases, Press Releases, Reviews

AD VANDERVEEN  ‘Final Refuge‘ – Press release sheet – 

 

It’s new, yet nothing new; more of the same, yet different; it’s trusted like a good friendship that is gaining in depth and quality over time, yet is often taken for granted.This much could be said about the work of songwriter and singer Ad Vanderveen and his new offering ‘Final Refuge‘.
With little fanfare and in a steady flow, this prolific writer produces groups of songs that seem to form their own unity and make up the story of an album. Just about every year a new CD is added to an ever growing catalog that started back in the early 90’s.

While his work is often compared to greats like Neil Young, Bob Dylan or Townes Van Zandt, Ad Vanderveen could well be considered one of the most obscure and reluctant superstars the world has never seen. Despite the size of – and high critical acclaim for – his artistic output both on records and in live performances he has maintained a low profile and, in his own words calls; ‘the inner eye a greater priority than the public eye’.

In Final Refuge‘s lyrical content, spiritual and mystical themes alternate with more mundane affairs, covering subject matter that most serious and grown up music lovers could relate to like reflections on transience, love and faith, as well as more personal inquisition, self-knowledge and worldly philosophy.
The recording sessions were done in an intimate and interactive setting, with an acoustic combo or with just acoustic guitar. The performances have the inspired, in the moment and heartfelt immediacy that we’ve come to expect from Ad. “This is chamber music, made on the spot where most songs took shape and where they sound best”, he explains.

Where the previous album with the somewhat intriguing title ‘I Was Hank Williams‘ (2018) was characterized by a rather unconventional multitrack field-recording approach, ‘Final Refuge‘ is a well balanced and rounded whole, with a consistent atmosphere and rich ambient sound throughout.
Acoustic instruments like guitar, piano, upright bass, banjo, hang drum and percussion weave through the minimal chord structures that support the poetry always central to Vanderveen’s work.

“This album came about very organically, following the flow of the writing in a down-home atmosphere. Playing with my trusted combo (Timon van Heerdt – upright bass; Rene Kaaij – piano, hang drum; and Pete Fisher – percussion, production) was like a true homecoming and gave some of the pieces an improvisational touch. To top things off, harmony singing by Kersten de Ligny and some  guest players on strings and horns enhanced the picture like a frame around a painting”, AV comments on the new album. Final Refuge is scheduled for release by Continental Rose, a joint-venture between CRS Records and Blue Rose Records, on november 8 2019.
 

                                                                                 *****

“Ad Vanderveen sings simple songs. Songs about love, longing, wandering and coming home.
He performs these songs with their familiar images in an unpretentious, matter of fact manner.
His voice is a good one and his guitar playing is direct and honest. But we’ve all heard hotter licks and more acrobatic vocals. So, what makes these songs so unique and these performances so powerful?

We tend to associate depth with complexity when, in fact, it is only the simple things that have depth. The truth needs telling just once while a lie needs to be repeated and embellished upon over and over again.
You only have to hear Ad sing a song once to tap into its meaning and the feeling will grow stronger and deeper with more listenings. His music has an honesty and humility that is remarkable.

In Latin, Ad means toward. There is a feeling of moving toward something in Ad Vanderveen’s music. Something deep. Something powerful”. (From liner notes by David Olney)

I Was Hank Williams review Hooked On Music (D)

German Press Releases, Reviews

Es heißt zwar so schön “It’s the singer, not the song”, doch manchmal sind es auch Singer und Songs, die gemeinsam für etwas stehen, nämlich gleichermaßen Authentizität und Aussage, Harmonie und Suche nach etwas, das sich nicht gleich beim ersten Hören erschliessen mag.
Ad Vanderveen, der niederländische Schöngeist, ist einer dieser wandelbaren Vertreter. Stets wandelnd zwischen krachledernem Neil Young (wie 2016 bei seiner “Stellar Cellar Band”) und ein bisschen John Steinbeck oder Springsteens “Nebraska” und “Tom Joad” Phase, wie auf seinem neuen, seinem 28. Album “I Was Hank Williams”. Ein Titel der allerdings eher Metaphorisch gemeint ist.
Vanderveen zwingt zum Zuhören, setzt auf Texte mit Tiefgang und bringt, wenn es wie zu Heavy Heart durchaus passend erscheint, neben vielen akustischen Gitarren auch gerne mal eine zart gespielte elektrische Gitarre ein und schmückt das mit Kersten de Lignys Harmony Vocals und Harmonium versehene fragile und liebenswerte Where Does Love Belongtrefflich aus.
Vanderveen benötigt kein großes Brimborium, um kleine songwriterische Gemmen zu schaffen und belässt es geschmackssicher beim Titelsong dabei, ein wenig in Richtung Kris Kristofferson zu flirten.
Vanderveen kreiert mit “I Was Hank Williams” ein hübsches, beschauliches Kleinod, das mit dem sparsamen und punktgenauen Catch A Falling Leafnebst gezupfter Gitarre und bezauberndem zarten Blech und Streichern daherkommt und des Hörers Seele baumeln lässt.
Rundum ein entspanntes Album mit viel Tiefgang und purer Schönheit, das auch nach mehrmaligem Hören immer neue Details preiszugeben vermag.

Driven By A Dream

German Press Releases

Nach einigen ruhigeren, oft auch self-made und weitgehend autark eingespielten Alben in der jüngeren Vergangenheit bietet der aktuell beste und international anerkannteste niederländische Singer/Songwriter/Gitarrist Ad Vanderveen auf seinem neuesten Werk wieder die musikalische Rundumkost, die ihn seit etwa 20 Jahren zu einem der führenden europäischen Americana-Künstler werden ließ: eine breite Palette von einfühlsamen Folkballaden über semi-akustisch/elektrischen Roots Rock bis zu gitarrenlastigen Krachern im allerfeinsten Neil Young-Stil in einer satten, ausgereiften Studioproduktion mit starken Begleitmusikern aus Holland und England. Driven By A Dream heißt das gute Stück und es macht seinen Titel zum Programm, legt man Bewertungsmaßstäbe wie hörbare Leidenschaft, akzentuiertes Songwriting, ausgebuffte Arrangements, profundes Wissen um die Zusammenhänge von Country, Folk & Rock und einen handgemachten, dabei zeitgemäßen Sound zugrunde. Ja, Driven By A Dream besitzt alle Qualitäten, um in den angesagten Americana-Zirkeln diesseits und jenseits des Atlantiks zu einem großen Thema im Herbst 2012 zu werden!

Ad Vanderveen wurde 1956 in Hilversum geboren, die Hälfte seiner Familie stammt allerdings aus Kanada. Und offensichtlich sind es genau jene Gene, die sich hörbar durchgesetzt haben! Seit Anfang der 90er trägt er seine ganz persönliche musikalische Botschaft zunächst quer durch die einschlägige Clubszene in Mitteleuropa, später dann auch über viele Grenzen hinaus in die Welt. Heute gehört er neben Hank Shizzoe, Markus Rill und Iain Matthews, die übrigens auch alle zur Blue Rose-Familie zählen, zu den vornehmlichsten europäischen Musikern, die in einer festen Beziehung zur amerikanischen Singer/Songwriter-Kultur stehen. Ad Vanderveen ist ein äußerst kommunikativer Typ, der gerne mit anderen zusammenarbeitet. So ist er im Laufe seiner mittlerweile gut 20 Alben und unzähliger Live-Konzerte mit Hochkarätern wie Eric Andersen, David Olney, Al Kooper, Herman Brood und Eliza Gilkyson aufgetreten, zeigt sich in den letzten Jahren gerne im Duo mit seiner Freundin, der talentierten Sängerin Kersten de Ligny, reaktiviert von Zeit zu Zeit das Iain Ad Venture (mit Iain Matthews). Außerdem steht seine langjährige Begleittruppe The O’Neils (treffend benannt nach seinem großen Idol) immer einsatzbereit zur Verfügung, wenn es denn mal wieder richtig elektrisch, in allerbester Crazy Horse-Manier krachen und bratzen soll!

Vor fast 10 Jahren begann die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Blue Rose und Ad Vanderveen mit dem Erfolgs- und Durchbruchsalbum The Moment That Matters. In einer latenten On-and-off-Beziehung gab es in der Zeit danach weitere gemeinsame Projekte wie Still Now (2008) und Days Of The Greats (2011) – allesamt Produktionen, die sicher mit zu den stärksten im Gesamtkatalog des vielseitigen Künstlers zu werten sind. Driven By A Dream setzt nun diese Serie eindrucksvoll fort. Zusammen mit Kersten de Ligny und seiner bevorzugten Rhythm Section aus der Heimat – Timon Van Heerdt (Bass, Slack Key Guitar, Mandolin, Backing Vocals), Roel Overduin/aka Purple O’Neil (Drums) – reiste er nach Wales ins legendäre Rockfield Studios, wo wirklich “jeder” Rockmusiker ein Mal in seiner Karriere gearbeitet haben sollte und startete die Recordings im Team mit einem der gefragtesten Produzenten überhaupt: Matt Butler (Mick Jagger, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney. Katie Melua, Elvis Costello und zig andere Hochkaräter). Die holländischen Freunde spielen auf rund der Hälfte der 11 Titel, auf den anderen wurden lokale britische Instrumentalisten verwendet: Simon Moore (Orgel), Harry Sutton (Bass), Tom Hooper (Drums, Percussion). Ad Vanderveen selber zeichnet als bekannt starker Gitarrist selbstverständlich wieder für alle akustischen und elektrischen Saitenklänge verantwortlich, spielt dazu mitunter Klavier und Harmonica.

Und ja, stimmlich erinnert er nicht nur ein, zwei Mal an sein großes Vorbild Neil Young. Aber dieses Thema ist eigentlich längst ausgereizt – der Vergleich mit dem kanadischen Helden steht wirklich nicht mehr so dermaßen im Vordergrund wie früher. Über die Jahre ist Vanderveen auch für die größten Skeptiker eine echte Alternative im internationalen Americana-Segment geworden. Sowohl gesanglich/musikalisch als auch inhaltlich. Seine Songs handeln von den klassischen Grundthemen wie Einsamkeit, Heimweh, Verlust und Entfremdung, reflektieren andererseits über Liebe, Emotionen, Aufbruch zu neuen Beziehungen. Dabei ist es diese besondere Poesie in seinen Texten, die aufhorchen lässt. Sie sind leicht zugänglich und trotzdem anspruchsvoll, schaffen Nähe und strahlen im Einklang mit der klassisch handgemachten Musik eine warmherzige Atmosphäre der Verbundenheit zwischen Künstler und Hörer aus.

Nach einem kurzen Intro startet Driven By A Dream geschickt mit dem forschen, herrlich angerockten ‘Uphill’, das mit seinem akustisch-elektrisch balancierten Arrangement bereits früh den Sound für das gesamte Album bestimmt. Tracks wie ‘Time Has Told’, der prägnante Titelsong, das laute, offensive ‘Wouldn’t That Be A Shame’, das Harmonica-getriebene, mit unwiderstehlichen Harmonies von Kersten de Ligny ausgestattete ‘Will And Testament’ und ‘Calm Before The Storm’ mit all seinen Western-Assoziationen, die in Form eines Traums ausgelebt werden, gehören dabei mehr in die “Electric Campfire/Guitar Rock”-Abteilung. ‘Rest In Peace’, wieder mit bezaubernden Vanderveen/Ligny-Harmony Vocals (ganz im Geist von Neil Young & Nicolette Larson, um die Messlatte ganz hoch zu legen!), der lässig-verschlurfte Alt.Country von ‘So Happy I Could Cry’, ‘Ramblin’ Soul’ in deutlicher Blues’n Roots-Nähe und das von Acoustic Guitar und Piano getragene ‘Vicious Circle’ stehen dagegen für Ad Vanderveen als ständigen Roots-Sucher. Und all das verbindend bringt Bob Dylan’s großartige Old Europe-Hymne ‘When I Paint My Masterpiece’ dieses wohltemperierte Album zu seinem würdigen Abschluss!

Blue Rose Records – Rauheckstr. 10 – 74232 Abstatt/Germany – phone +49-(0)7062-955444 – fax +49-(0)7062-64375

eMail: info (at) bluerose-records.com – website: www.bluerose-records.com

Driven By A Dream

Dutch Press Releases

Eerlijk duurt het langst. Daarom is het singer-songwriter genre zo populair. Een liedjesschrijver die zijn eigen hartekreten zingt, terwijl hij zichzelf – al dan niet met behulp van wat muzikale vrienden – begeleidt, dat is toch pure kunst?

Discjockey Giel Beelen vindt dat ook, vandaar dat hij zo aan de weg timmert met zijn TV-programma ‘De Beste Singer-Songwriter van Nederland’. Deze zoektocht naar nieuw singer-songwritertalent scoort opvallend goed bij de kijkers, een teken dat ‘het grote publiek’ ook dol is op deze pure vorm van popmuziek maken.

Maar wie er ook ontdekt wordt in Giels programma, hij of zij zal schatplichtig zijn aan Ad Vanderveen. Vanderveen is een uitmuntende zanger en een begenadigd gitarist. Hij staat al veertig jaar op het podium, hij schreef honderden prachtige liedjes, bracht meer dan twintig albums uit en is met zijn tournees door Canada, Duitsland, Zwitserland, Oostenrijk en Italië een internationaal hooggewaardeerd artiest. Ad werkte samen met Amerikaanse toppers als Al Kooper, Flaco Jeminez, David Olney en John Gorka, en hij maakte albums met de Texaanse zangeres en gitariste Eliza Gilkyson de Engelse legende Iain Matthews. Ad nam op met beroemde producers als Bill Halverson (o.a. CSN&Y) en Matt Butler (o.a. Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd) en hij deed dat in gerenommeerde studio’s als Wisseloord in Hilversum en Sound Emporium in Nashville. Maar hij liet de opnameapparatuur ook lopen in theaters als De Kleine Komedie, Eddie’s Attic in Atalanta, gewoon in zijn eigen kelder of, letterlijk, in een hutje op de hei. Alles met een doel: eerlijke, oprechte, emotionele, persoonlijke muziek maken in liedjes met eeuwigheidswaarde.

Met andere woorden, Ad Vanderveen is de éminence grise van het Nederlandse singer-songwriters gilde.

En met de jaren – Ad Vanderveen is 56 jaar jong – wordt hij alleen maar beter. Zoals te horen is op zijn nieuwe album ‘Driven By A Dream’. Voor deze selectie van elf muzikaal zeer uiteenlopende maar altijd indringende songs week Ad uit naar de Rockfield Studios in Wales, een legendarische opnamefaciliteit waar zo’n beetje alle groten der aarde wel eens gebruik van hebben gemaakt. Samen met producer Matt Butler en gerenommeerde Engelse en Nederlandse musici werkte Ad er aan een selelectie nieuwe songs, die misschien tot de beste uit zijn rijke carriere horen.

“Zo lang de liedjes blijven komen blijf ik gaan”, zegt Ad.”Ik word steeds weer door nieuwe dingen geïnspireerd. Ik heb geen top 40-hits waar ik op terug kan vallen tijdens optredens, en dus heb ik de vrijheid en de noodzaak om steeds weer met iets nieuws te komen. Met andere woorden: ik heb geen externe drive, ik heb een innerlijke drive.”

Die drive leidde tot Ad Vanderveens nieuwe album ‘Driven By A Dream’. Geen wonder dat het wederom – en vergeef ons de woordspeling – een droomplaat is. Ad zal deze release ondersteunen met een uitgebreide tournee door Nederland en Europa. Want dat is het leven van een zanger en songschrijver, die met zijn liedjes zoveel mensen in binnen- en buitenland aanspreekt: de koffer wordt gepakt, de gitaar gaat onder de arm en het reizen en optreden neemt weer een aanvang. En zo gaat het bij Ad Vanderveen al veertig jaar, en zo zal het nog jaren blijven gaan. Want eerlijk, dat duurt het langst.

Tjerk Lammers, augustus 2012