McCartney 80

Dear visitor, thanks for dropping by! Time for a news letter, cause a lot has happened lately, and there are some wonderful things planned.

The last couple of weeks we celebrated Paul McCartney's 80th birthday by touring the Dutch theaters - including a sold out Concertgebouw ("Rock show at the Concertgebouw"!) - with a great team and some wonderful guests, including Roel van Velzen, Pablo van de Poel, Bertolf, Stephanie Struijk, Yorick van Norden, Bas van Holt, Gijs Groenteman as our MC, and many other awesome people. McCartney, of course, is a living legend and by dissecting his incredible repertoire we learned so much new things about the songs we thought we already knew through and through. His sense of melody is so unique and truly within the leagues of the great composers of times long past, such as Mozart and Bach. Our already enormous admiration for the man soared as the rehearsals and shows progressed, and when we played our last notes, some of us doubted whether we were supposed to ever strum another string again. But of course, musicians cannot help but struggle and record stuff, and so we beat on, boats against the current.

This week I finally have time to dive back into the studio with Marcel Fakkers and finish the 16-song project that is "In Our Time". It sometimes feels as if Hemingway (if he is out there somewhere) watches over my shoulder, and I can't recount how many times I deleted sentences, rewrote entire lyrics, or even rewrote entire songs cause the mood just wasn't right. This album will be hit or miss, and I am aiming for the bulls eye. If no one's going to like it, it won't be for lack of trying. 

Also, For the Road is turning 15 this year. I've never been so happy with a booking agent before, someone who understands what you're doing, and why, and who is truly invested in the music. Thanks Walter Wilhelm for being the best!

That's the news for today, come say hi at a show, or harrass me elsewhere. Hope to see you soon!