Lokaal Vredebreuk - MamaLoo, Mike Berry and Laag Licht

Stepping it up a bit this weeek, we have MamaLoo, check them out here
they will be bringing a touch of guitar distortion ...

Mike Berry is a Kiwi living in Amterdam, he hosts a weekly radio how, English Breakfast radio. He supported Bic Runga on her recent gig in the Melkweg.

Laag Licht presented us with an impressive cd several weeks ago in Lokaal, so we are enthusiastic to see them live!

All in all its going to be an interesting and varied evening. See you there!

Review of Lokaal Vredebreuk 2001-02-04

OK this night I was there, but Jaap has to do the review in dutch for the lokaal niewsbrief. so i dictated it to him in dutch, trust me, it beats my dutch spelling.

we havent got photos yet but they will be here soon

Vanavond was een beetje een expirimentele avond. Een avond met veel artiesten die van buiten de regio kwamen. Een avond met 3 Amsterdamse acts, wat in veel opzichten toch goed uitgepakt is. Steengoede muzikanten was het resultaat. Jammer dat er op zo'n avond niet al te veel aanhang meekomt met de artiesten, maar aan de andere kant was iedereen, stuk voor stuk, toch echt voor de muziek gekomen. Er waren aardig wat leden van het songwritersguild aanwezig, dus het was weer echt een avond om eens lekker te netwerken.

Fransix was de eerste act van de avond. Een energieke en positieve presentatie ging gepaard met een prachtig zuivere stem. Fransix zong vooral in het Engels, maar ook een paar nummers in het Nigeriaans, zijn moedertaal, ontbraken niet in het repertoire. Door zijn beweeglijkheid bleef de microfoonstandaard maar vallen, wat er toe leidde dat Fransix uiteindelijk de microfoon maar in de hand nam, wat uiteraard voor tot meer beweging leidde. Fransix had zijn gitarist uit Eindhoven meegenomen, en het is ze dermate goed bevallen dat ze het gelijk na afloop van het optreden over een wederkomst hadden. Als het aan ons ligt, gaat dat ook zeker snel gebeuren!

Tweede artiest van de avond was Luc, van The Sympathizers. Luc speelde naast een hoop eigen materiaal ook een paar covers om de variatie er een beetje in te houden. Iets wat hij verdomde goed deed overigens. Luc is overduidelijk een typische Indie-style singer-songwriter. Als je dat samen met zijn diepe, lage, doordringende stem neemt, kom je tot een artiest waar je niet om heen kan. Hij heeft erg grappige teksten, met name in het nummer over zijn ex-vriendin, waar hij wenst dat ze voor één dag eens niet die zeikerige koe zou zijn.

Als laatste act van de avond stond Lisa Graciano op het programma. Lisa was overduidelijk de beste gitariste van de avond. Lisa speelde met name nummers van haar album, Citygirl Blues. Bij dat prachtige gitaarspel hoort ook een stemmetje als een nachtegaal, wat ook haar tot een echte aandachttrekker maakt, in de positieve zin van het woord natuurlijk. Ik kon dan ook geen valse noot ontdekken in haar set.

Nogmaals, jammer dat het een beetje rustig was, maar met name de aanwezige guildleden zorgden voor een ontspannen sfeertje waar eens lekker naar de muziek geluisterd kon worden. Volgende week ben je van harte welkom om The Jack Hills, Daisy Cools en Smutfish te komen bewonderen. Een echte singer-songwriter-band-avond staat in de planning, dus dat belooft wat!

Groetjes, en tot volgende week!

Kat (en Jaap voor de uitwerking)

Sunday

Ramon and Eva Louise Williams will be performing this week.


Eva Louise Williams is a New Zealand folk singer that has been writing songs, poems, and stories since she was very young. Although she draws on many influences, Leonard Cohen, Faulkner, Bob Dylan among others, her lyrics reflect an original and authentic self. The essence of all singer-songwriters. Her playing style is simple, that of simple folk finger picking styles, simple waltz plucking, or the 4/4 folk strumming patterns. The simplicity of the music lays the emphasis on the message of the songs; the lyrics and delivery.

Ramon En Mono is the solo project of a 20 years old ambitious musician.
It's an initiative that thanks its existence to the impulses of inspirational explosions.

The songwriting is a mix of diffrent music styles such as: acoustic singer/songwriter, jazz, bossa jazz, flamenco, surf, latin etc.

From the V.I.P Seats - Full House

Tonight we had something extra on the cards.. A presenter! Our good friend, songwriter, poet and guildmember Alex Franken, asked if he could use his presentation skills to improve on our format, in exchange for a few drinks and a lot of respect. He will be doing so for the entire month of December. It went really well this first time. It was obvious that he had done his homework, and had lots to say about each artist.

We began with Orfeo. I was a bit late (5 past 9) and most of the gear was already set up. The microphones and cables were assembled but not yet working. After I got the monitors etc sorted, the first 20 minutes of the night were wasted sorting out broken equipment. We found a broken microphone and a broken cable? But that's not what you want to hear about, on to Orfeo.

This Amsterdam-based artist hasn't performed in over a year. His gig in Lokaal Vredebreuk was the first in a long time. Accompanied by Frans Molenaar on guitar, he sang his songs with a beautiful, sensitive, sultry voice. Orfeo falls in the category "polished voice". Rarely have I heard such a smooth voice. Although Orfeo wrote several famous Dutch popsongs, including "Sacrifice” which was a hit from the Dutch singer Anouk, he performed several covers. He completed his set with a few fantastic original compositions. He had bought quite a lot of people with him to Den Haag (or his fans were from Den Haag, I’m not sure), but these guests stuck around, along with Orfeo himself, and we had a good chat. Orfeo is interested in performing more often for the songwriter’s guild, so you will have the opportunity to see him perform again soon, in Café Murphy’s Law.

Following Orfeo was Danielle Liebeskind. Danielle presented a unique set. With her acoustic nylon string guitar amplified with a vocal microphone, it was not easy for this amateur (purely out of depuration) soundman. I had to balance a fine line between feedback and getting the guitar loud enough. I managed to get something in the right area? She had a solitary candle beside her, and the intimacy drew the public physically closer. I got some really good photos. I would suggest that next time Danielle brings a feedback buster, or a guitar with a pickup. I’m not here to criticize, but the choice of guitar did not do her justice. It's a shame, because her songs are really good. The public enjoyed it, and Alex gave his compliments too.

Chris and Abigail began around 11pm. With Chris was on guitar and Abigail with vocals as stable as a rock, it seemed that the night was complete already. They played a few covers but mostly soul-tinged, own material. A cosy set with beautiful guitar playing and vocals as good as the guitar. A gig to remember. The audience, especially the other gigging artists of the night were full of respect about Chris and Abigail.

As a cherry on the cake, we had quite an extraordinary gig to finish the night off around midnight by Troost & Drost. With a cello and an accordion, these guys out of Can of Be played a solid set built out of purely instrumental songs. It was fun, and something different, for a change. The guys managed to keep the audience where they were, still in the café. This in contradiction of what often happens around midnight on a Sunday night. These members out of Can of Be knew to make the audience curious enough to stay and check out what is going to happen next. Sadly, Orfeo left already, but Chris, Abigail and Daniëlle were totally enjoying the performance. Even their lead singer, Julie Scott was there to support these two artists.

All together, it was definitely a successful night. It did get a little late for me, as it was far past two a clock before I even left the café, but it was worth it. Afterwards I had some social talk with the artists, and with Dries, the barman off course. Next week we got another flashy line-up, this time with Ramon, Gaya (from Amsterdam, out of Girls ‘n’ Strings, and the Amsterdam Songwritersguild, off course) and Eva Louise Williams, a newbie in the scène, with a lot of promising stories going around about her. I will put a link online to the pictures for the people who missed the gig this night

Jaap (Den Haag Songwritersguild)

DHSG on tour

On the 30th of November three songwriters from The Hague headed for Haarlem. Jesse Edmond, Leave (Edwin van der Hoeven) and Ton Jenner ran up the flag of the Den Haag Songwriters Guild in café Briljant. The venue was small, the stage was even smaller, but the atmosphere was allright. Together we presented to Haarlem a trio of singer/songwriters with quite different styles.

Ton started the evening by first introducing the DHSGuild and then playing his tuneful storytelling songs. They raised the first applause of the slowly growing audience. It took a few songs to get used to the stage of about 2 square metres and the monitoring sound. But after all a real singer/songwriter forgets about the time and the place and just cares for singing and playing.

After a short (beer)break Edwin took over. We enjoyed his moody songs, accompanied by his well played half-open chords. Edwin doesnt write standard songs and is not a standard guitarplayer at all! He will be showing at Lokaal Vredebreuk on the 17th of December, so theres your chance to hear him.

At last Jesse took his glittering guitar and played a nice set of his funky and soulful songs. Time flies when youre listening to his great and flexible guitar playing. He even was asked for an extra song by a listener who was also impressed by the fact that he writes these songs all by himself! Edwin and Ton claimed this compliment as well.

We ended up at about 01:30, chatting with the owner, who appeared to be a great music lover. So we enjoyed a last beer and a smooth whisky, listening to Tom Waits and Jeff Buckly. The ride back home was not a bad trip at all.

Orfeo Bouwman, Chris Lawa, Danielle Liebeskind and Roeland - Hosted by Alex Franken

The december nights are going to be really full nights for the guild in Lokaal. Tonight we have 4 artists and a presenter, and on the 17th, we will have a special act as well, so that makes 4 too.

Tonight will be filled with Abigail & Chris, a duo who were too misterious to tell us all about them, but we know they play blues, pop, jazz and worldmusic in covers and own material. In the past, they regularly played in Tha Hague and around. This duo stands for simplicity with just vocals and a guitar. Strong as it stands.

Danielle Liebeskind is another really varied artist who plays practically every genre, as her bio tells us, her music can come frightingly close towards you...

Troost & Drost is part of Can_of_be, they were willing to bring some instrumental detail to the night, just for fun, just to entertain you and just to bring something different to the whole songrwiter thing, leaving the singing behind.

Orfeo could easyly be called a master in songwriting. His history contains the hitsingle Sacrifice of Anouk, but also winner of the Great Prize of Holland, and several other pies.

The night will be hosted by our friend, poet/writer and songwriter, Alex Franken, who will introduce the artists to you.

Agenda's Januari, en de promoteksten voor december

Beste Mensen,

Bij deze de agenda's voor januari. Breng het woord aan de man! Bovendien, de promoteksten mogen uiteraard voor persberichten en websites gebruikt worden. De promoteksten voor de artiesten in januari volgen nog, die hebben we nog niet binnen, maar komen uiteraard voor het eerste optreden in januari bij jullie terecht.
Bedankt voor jullie tijd!

Groetjes,

Jaap & Kat
Den Haag Songwritersguild
(en nogmaals: http://www.denhaagsongwritersguild.blogspot.com en niet denhaagsingersongwritersguild!!!!!)

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Agenda Januari; Murphy's Law:

4 januari:
Femke
Boudewijn

11 januari
Dennis Flinterman
Julie Scott
Werner vd Vrede

18 januari
Snowcover
Orson
Barbara Breedijk

25 januari
Cecile
Jeroenorama
Thomas Denver Johnson

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Agenda Januari; Lokaal Vredebreuk:

7 januari:
The weak and the strong
Marten de Paepe
Maarten Willems

14 januari
Somesay
Alan Black
Jesse Edmond

21 januari
Ramon Burnet
Merel Mooistra
Pim

28 januari
Arthur ten Cate
Stud Muffins
Merel Hutten

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Promo's December; Lokaal Vredebreuk:

3 december:

Orfeo:
Orfeo is een zanger, songwriter en acteurvan formaat. Hij is verantwoordelijk voor het schrijven van de mega hitsingle "Sacrifice" van Anouk. Overigens staat deze track ook op het multiplatinum album "Together Alone", welke wereldwijd is uitgebracht. Zijn eigen album, "Icon" is uitgebracht in 2004. Dit album was speciaal opgenomen voor zijn semi-acoustische tour in Nederland en België. Op dit album wordt hij begeleid door vriend en vocaliste Berget Lewis. Orfeo is bovendien prijswinnaar van de publieksprijs van de GPNL.

Abigail & Chris:
Het genre van het duo Abigail & Chris (nee, die twee uit As the World Turns hebben hier toch echt nix mee te maken) kenmerkt zich door de sfeervolle combinatie van zang begeleid door slechts één gitaar. Bewerkingen van covers en eigen werk worden gespeeld met invloeden vanuit de blues, pop, jazz en wereldmuziek. Chris & Abigail hebben met regelmaat in Delft en omstreken opgetreden. Tevens hebben zij in de finale gestaan van het Open Podium van Café Vlaanderen en hebben zij met veel plezier opgetreden op het pittoreske Delftse Doelenplein. Tijdens de manifestatie Filmhuis-on-Tour hebben Chris & Abigail de muziek verzorgd voorafgaand aan de open-lucht-voorstelling van Sin City. Chris heeft zelfs 3 muziekstukken
geschreven geïnspireerd op personages uit de film Sin City. Ook in het Antwerpse centrum zijn zij graag geziene gasten op de Writers’ Bench van het etablissement Vibes.


Dannielle Liebeskind:
Muzikaal gezien mixt Danielle Liebeskind haar akoestische singer-songwriter-shit met indieblues, rock, electronica en noise. Haar teksten zijn in dichtvorm en engelstalig. Ze gaan over verwondering en observatie van de wereld, maar ook over depressiviteit, (geestes)ziekte, liefde en verdriet. Sinds 2002 schreef ze vele nummers, waarvan een aantal op demo's belandden. In bescheiden oplagen zijn in ieder geval alle schijfjes uitverkocht en/of weggegeven. Live speelde Danielle in 2002 en 2003 met Rick Boerman in de band tracey, zowel akoestisch als elektrisch
versterkt. Vanaf 2004 in solo performances, die per gelegenheid verschillen. Daan weet zowel onversterkt in een intieme café setting, als live on stage de luisteraar mee te slepen. Met slechts een (semi-)akoestische of elektrische gitaar en haar stem weet Daan haar muziek neer te zetten alsof er een hele band speelt. De verschillen in dynamiek en het mixen van uiteenlopende genres in gitaarspel en zang, zijn kenmerkend en zorgen voor een grote intensiteit. De liedjes komen daardoor soms angstaanjagend dichtbij.

Troost en Drost (Can_of_be):
Dit duo, afkomstig uit Can_of_Be, zal vanavond in een unieke setting een paar oorstrelende, instrumentale hoogstandjes afleveren als aanvulling op de andere artiesten voor de avond. Gewoon gezellig, zoals het hoort.

10 december:

Ramon:
En Mono (Ramon) is het soloproject van deze twintig jaar jonge ambitieuze muzikant. Het is een intiatief dat zijn bestaan dankt aan de impulsen van inspirationele explosies. De songwriting is een mix van verschillende muziekstijlen zoals singer-songwriter, (bossa) jazz , flamenco, surf, latin en nog veel meer.

Gaya:
Gaya zingt, speelt piano, schrijft, en doet aan moderne dans en theater. Gaya’s muziek is sfeervol en persoonlijk. Het onstaat uit haar wil zich te uiten. Om te begrijpen en begrepen te worden.
Haar optredens zijn intiem en intens, en kunnen zoals ze zelf zegt ‘op zijn minst gewaardeerd worden om de oprechtheid’.
Gaya heeft onder andere gezongen op het Kwakoefestival, in de Meervaart en de Pepsi Stage in Amsterdam voor The Talent Night, en nog veel meer.
Tegenwoordig is Gaya, naast haar andere optredens, regelmatig te zien tijdens de wekelijkse open podium avonden in Sappho, georganiseerd door het Amsterdams Singer/songwriter Guild (ASG). Ze organiseert daar ook zelf een female singer/songwriter avond, genaamd Girls 'n Strings. Deze succesvolle avond heeft alweer vier keer plaatsgevonden.

Eva Louise Williams:
Eva-Louise Williams is een Nieuw-Zeelandse folkzangeres die al sinds jonge leeftijd liedjes, gedichten en verhalen schrijft. Alhoewel ze vaart op vele invloeden als Leonard Cohen, Faulkner, Bob Dylan en anderen, zijn haar teksten toch heel erg van haarzelf, wat eigenlijk de essentie van singer-songwriters is. Haar spel omvat eenvoud, typische folk fingerpicking stijl, of dat nu in driekwart of vierkwart maat is. De eenvoud van de muziek legt ze neer in de boodschap van de nummers, de teksten en de performance.

17 december:

Cristopher Bernhard & The Bowmans:
Tijdens de europese tour van deze indie-songwriters uit New York doen ze ook Den Haag aan. Veel weten we niet van ze, maar een ding staat vast, ze zijn hier niet voor niets.

Leave:
De naam LEAVE is voortgekomen uit het verlangen te reizen en ervaringen op te doen… "je leert niet alleen mensen uit andere culturen kennen maar op een ander niveau kom je ook jezelf tegen". De mens is doorgaans bang voor hetgeen onbekend is. Bij de muziek van Leave gaat het ook om ervaren en te delen in ervaringen die soms mooi, soms pijnlijk zijn. De liedjes houden
het midden van Counting Crows, Dave Matthews en Michael Hedges. Joni Mitchell en Jeff Buckley mogen ook zeker genoemd worden als belangrijk inspiratiebron.

Renze Sleeking:
Renze speelt al sinds zijn 13e op zijn gitaar, en begon zijn nummers te schrijven toen hij een jaar of 15 was. De eerste nummers die hij schreef waren voor zijn eigen repertoire, maar later begon hij ook voor de band waar hij in speelde te schrijven. Hij heeft eigenlijk altijd al solo willen spelen, maar het kwam er maar niet van. Toen een paar jaar geleden zijn band uit elkaar viel, lukte het hem wel om zijn nummers voor zichzelf te presenteren aan het grote publiek, zoals de nummers bedoeld zijn, zoals hij ze geschreven heeft. Hij is duidelijk beinvloed door Bob Dylan. Naar eigen zeggen houdt hij van de eenvoud in zijn nummers, terwijl dezelfde nummers zoveel te vertellen hebben.

Arie Spaans:
Een alleskunner met passie voor muziek in alle hoeken en gaten. Arie kennen we natuurlijk van Naked, maar ook de Suburbs, Subway en vele andere bands komen in zijn biografie voor. Daarnaast is deze, door inder meer Bowie, Pink Floydd, Joy Division en anderen beïnvloedde artiest in het Koorenhuis actief bezig om de nieuwkomers in de scene een hand te helpen door ze de juiste richting in te coachen.

24 december:

D.Idaho:
De as van Grecko's Doll ligt uitgespreid over de zee en de legende leeft voort in zijn volgende stadium. Haagse muzikanten in hun volgende fase. Dit is het eerste officiële optreden van de nieuwe formatie "D.Idaho", niemand weet wat het precies inhoud, maar als je erachter wil komen, ben je bij ons aan het juiste adres.

Kat Leese:
Kat is ondertussen druk bezig met haar tweede album, maar de koningin van het gilde is de afgelopen tijd niet ver van de planken geweest. Solo speelt ze meer dan ooit, en haar lyrics staan vaster op aarde dan ooit. Misschien dit keer niet alleen, misschien wel, met Kat weet je nooit wat er gebeuren gaat.

Lucky Fonz III and Slau

At his concerts, some boys go very quiet, while some girls cry. But everyone comes out of it ok in the end... Lucky Fonz released his seft-titled debut early 2006, and went on to waltz through several respected competitions sucessively and in December he will appear in the Melkweg for the final of the Grote Prijs van Nederland. This Sunday this talented writer of sobre folksongs will have his chance to show Den Haag what all the fuss is about. I dont know about you but Im pretty curious... Slau will be performing too, check out their myspace, there are some nice recordings of their songs. This band fronted by Jeroen van de Wiel, who wrotes all the material, which is Dutch language. They describe their sound as being between Cash and Brel

This Sunday, 9pm in Lokaal Vredebreuk, Den Haag www.lokaalvredebreuk.nl

From the V.I.P Seats - Lokaal once agan

First I want to apologise that the photos arent that great this time - I just dont have the same skills as Jaap does with a camera. sorry - kat

Last Sunday it was up to White Sands and Phinx to fill Lokaal Vredebreuk with their tunes. Because the standard of these musicians is so high we decided to leave it at two artists, to give them both more time to play.

White Sands bought a decent amount of fans along with them, so the place was decently filled at the start. Phinx, being from out of town, had bought somewhat fewer fans along with him, but as the first few chords rang out from the keyboard he got the attention of the White Sands fans, who turned their attention to the “foreigner”. This was Phinx’s second ever gig in Den Haag, and he deserves a bigger stage. He has a great talent in writing hooks, with cheeky text to go with it. Phinx is only one of the projects that Vincent Beijer does, besides the singersongwriter stuff he also produces sample cds, has a band (Eon) and writes music for commercials. When he’s working as Phinx, he’s really in the role of a “piano man”, with stories to tell. He put on a fantastic show, which has the public transfixed from beginning until end. This is not the last we will be seeing of him, mark my words.

After a short break it was White Sands’ honour to tread the boards. The contrast between the two acts was immediately obvious – Where Phinx is a creature made of hooks; White Sands is about mellow, organic layering of sound. They build up the songs in a specific way, so that after a few minutes there’s a really warm vibe coming from the stage. Pascal has a beautiful voice. It’s not out of place at all in the Americana genre, but he also has some songs where he’s a dead ringer for Leonard Cohen. Now and then the tuning of the band wasn’t 100 percent, but it wasn’t terribly distracting. In fact maybe I was the only one who noticed, as I didn’t hear anything about it from anyone else.

Ton Jenner was once again present, with his portable recorder, to capture some of the magic. These recordings will soon be available on the guild myspace page. There are already a few there from previous weeks. You can find the recordings at www.myspace.com/denhaagsongwritersguild

A big thanks to Ton for his help with all this. It’s awesome that people are enthusiastic about the guild, and do what they can to help.

There were a couple of guild members in the audience, but also present was Tino van Leeuwen, roving reporter for the local music website 3voor12 Den Haag. He will be putting an article on the site this week about the guild. Jaap was very late to the gig, as he had to work until 10pm on a telephone helpdesk, yes, on a Sunday, yes, it’s a wonderful job and he loves it. Jaap was able to provide Tino with a short interview, describing what we do, why we do it, how we do it, but most importantly who we do it for! While White Sands were packing up their equipment, Jaap and Tino chatted over a beer, before we headed off to our beds in joyous anticipation of Monday morning.

For those who missed it, you can check later this week on the myspace site, or if you’re that impatient of course you can check the websites of the artists themselves (see further down this page)
Next week there will also be a double gig, once again because the artists are so good – we have for you Lucky Fonz III and the Haagse band Slau

PS. Tino posted his view on the night on 3voor12 Den Haag, if you can read dutch, enjoy it here. if you can't, enjoy it even more!

Can of Be CD release

This is a band - but Julie has played for the guild, and she writes the most beautiful songs. I would recommend this gig to all who love music thats really out there

www.canofbe.com
www.myspace.com/canofbe

Local and National Heroes

Ok peoples theres a HOT gig this week. On Sunday in Lokaal are two well-respected acts. Phinx is an amazing singersongwriter, and he has been already recognized on a national level - he reached the finals of the Grote Prijs van Nederland in 2005, and won the Mooie Noten competition. His influences include Cat Stevens and Stevie Wonder. He came along to one of the open mike nights in Savanna, sang gorgeous backing vocals from the audience during his good friend Jasha's set, then wowed the small crowd with an energetic and emotional performance of his own. His voice is amazing - imagine Regina Spektor and Chris Martin combined in one, and he writes both haunting ballads and honkytonk upbeat numbers. The Den Haag Songwriters Guild is extremly honoured to have him on our agenda! Come along and be blown away like I was.

The other act of the night is the renowned White Sands, a formation headed by French singersongwriter Pascal Hallibert, that has performed in Canada, America and on the Den Haag Crossing Border festival. They also reached the finals of the Grote Prijs van Nederland in both 2001 and 2004. This is Americana at its finest!

We are providing your ears with nothing less that pure quality this week, so apologize to your boss in advance for your lateness this coming Monday morning, this night is not to be missed

Check both their websites for a sneak preview:

www.phinx.nl

www.whitesandsmusic.com

Busy busy lives

It has been a busy week for the guild. Last Friday night Mak Wolven and R.C. Henry joined Jaap and myself at Radio West. Mak and Ric spontaneously worked out a song together, as well as playing solo on Stork on Air. Before we got interviewed and stuff there was a death metal band playing, so really the contrast couldnt have been much bigger! It was a nice chance for us to let people know about whats going on and what will be coming up next year, and we got some nice recordings from the studio.

On Sunday night was Lokaal Vredebreuk as usual, with an amount of stress having occured on the Saturday due to one of the artists calling off. Luckily Aletta was kind enough to arrange for some of her friends to come and take her place, and they were fantastic, or so I heard from Jaap. This week I didnt get to see any of the gig, as I had a gig myself in Delft. So as Jaap had to work, I went first to Lokaal, set up the gear, told everyone what was going on, and just as the music began Dominic my bass player picked me up and we sped off to Delft to play a short set in Cafe Vlaanderen. Jaap finished work at 10pm then went to the venue to round off the evening. We know that this is not the last time theres going to be some sort of conflict of events, so we are on the lookout for a couple of people who will supervize the evenings every once in a while. If you are interested please send us an email. It requires being a little early to the gig, explaining to the artists whats going on, setting up the microphones and stuff, keeping an "ear" on the sound and basically making sure the evening runs smoothly. We would just like to know that we can still get away for a weekend every now and then, and not have to turn down other gigs happening at the same time. The guild is growing so fast, so if you want to get more involved here is your chance!

Radio West - Stork on Air this Friday

This Friday between 7pm and 9pm there will be an interview with Kat and Jaap from the songwriters guild on Stork on Air, and Mak Wolven will be playing some of his song live!

You can listen to the program live here or you can download the show later, as they also release every show as one of Den Haag's few podcasts. Copy this link into your Itunes or other rss reader

http://www.rtvwest.nl/static/podcasts/storkonair/dircaster.php

Klauw Podcast 5 - Songwriters Guild!

Jaap and I (Kat) have been doing a podcast for three month or so. We talk about whatever is going on in our lives at the time. And since we have both been working hours and hours every week on the songwriters guild, its become our main topic of conversation! Particularly our latest edition, we hardly talk about anything else. So if you want the inside gossip on the guild, plus hear some music from some of the members, check it out here where you can download the mp3 to your computer, or search for "Klauw" in Itunes. The word "podcast" can be deceiving - you dont need an ipod to listen, you can upload it to any portable mp3 player, and you can even just simly listen to it on your computer.

From the V.I.P Seats - Lokaal Part Five

Last Sunday was the fifth edition of the songwriter’s evenings in Lokaal, organised by the Den Haag Songwriters Guild. Ton Jenner, Natalie Hagen and JopLin were booked to perform. To keep it simple, we had them play that order. Furthermore, Ton helped us out with setting up for the evening, so it was handy that he also kicked the night off.

Ton has a very particular way of playing. His songs are full of meaning, and he brings across his message in a serious manner. Seriously enough to keep the audience’s attention till the very last note. Sometimes it can happen, when the subject matter of songs is on the darker side, that the audiences’ attention can begin to wander, due to expectation of a certain level of entertainment. In my opinion, Ton could act on this, and by using some clever introductions, could manipulate the emotions of his audience more deftly.

The second segment of the night was in Natalie’s hands. She performed together with Ray, one of the band members from her fresh band “Trailer Trash Nana”. A performance that the well-filled venue warmed to. The majority of the audience stood right up against the stage, which made it a difficult job for myself to take photos! Luckily popfotograaph Ron was on the frontline with his weapon ready to shoot. Her voice floated out into the street, and charmed more people in from the street.Soon we found ourselves looking at the first packed house since we started the gigs in Lokaal. Natalie finished her performance by introducing all the rest of the members of her band, who had all turned up to watch.

After a short break of a few minutes the final band of the evening, JopLin, took to the stage. Singer Joppe Quaedvlieg was accompanied by Lindy Janssen on the guitar. Their sensitive repertoire filled with humour, songs about metrosexuals, coffee (or sex, whatever you make of it), bought some entertaining variation into the performance. This Utrectrian duo uses quite peculiar lyrics. Vocals alternated with rhythmic speech and finger picking on guitar caused me almost to forget to take any photos.

It’s a bit unfortunate that every Sunday night around 11pm people start to head to their beds. But there will still 50 people in the venue, so we really had nothing to complain about. This was of course thanks to the commitment of JopLin, who kept the public charmed with their unique performance.

So once again we can confidently say it was a successful evening. There was a great atmosphere in the venue, where many people sat and discussed the singer songwriters who had presented themselves on the night. Next Sunday the Den Haag Songwriters Guild will be back in Lokaal once again, this time with Tzja Giantor, Colin Black, and from Rotterdam Aletta

The guild is having another baby soon!

After our first child, Savanna left home and went on without the guild for a while, we decided that we had to look arount for other places where we could do gigs on a regular basis. At the very beginning, we knew that Savanna was probably only going to be for 2 months, so in august we were already in discussion with Lokaal Vredebreuk to start something there on a weekly basis. So we did. Tonight the fifth succesful night will be there already, and many, many more are still to come.

Besides the weekly gigs in Lokaal Vredebreuk, we are starting in Januari in café Murphy's Law. A cosy café what is perfectly suited for singer-songwriters. Café Murphy's Law is known for their weekly jamsessions (jazz) on mondaynights, and now they want to do something with singer-songwriters as well. It is located at the Dr. Kuyperstraat 7, which is just around the corner from where tram 9 stops for the first time after "het Malieveld". 2 tramstops from central station, means an ideal place to bring others along, coming from further away. We are going to start booking artists for these nights soon, so if you are interested in playing there, send us a demo and biography, or just contact us by mail if you are already a member of the guild.

Ofcourse, the nights in Lokaal Vredebreuk will continue as is.

This Sunday in Lokaal Vredebreuk

This sunday it is already the fifth edition of Den Haag Songwritersguild presents in Lokaal Vredebreuk. This week Ton Jenner, Natalie Hagen and JopLin will perform their own material. As far as i know, both Natalie and JopLin will be playing as a duo, so that's 5 musicians for tonight. We don't have any demo material of Natalie yet, but you can find some information about Ton here . If you go to the cd part of his site, you will find links to listen to the tracks he produced in the past. Ton is also a well known producer in the songwriterscene, with off course, a lot of experience with songwriters. If you're interested, come on sunday and have a chat with him after his gig. JopLin, has got a website that is a piece of art on itselves. you can find it here Info about them is a bit limited on the site, but on their myspace, there's a lot more information to be found. I hope to see you all next sunday in Lokaal Vredebreuk!

From the V.I.P Seats - Lokaal Part Four

Since it was the Haags Pop Week this week, and every one had a reason to go out and see live music every night of the week, I was pleasantly surprised that there was once again a good turnout on Sunday night. There were quite a few singer songwriters there, who came to check out their colleagues in action. So it was an attentive audience, and the expectation was high. Our performers were R.C. Henry, Margot de Graaff, and Jane on the Roof (Hester den Boer). Jaap had to work until 10pm, and he normally takes care of the sound, there was a bigger responsibility that usual on my shoulders. Thanks to public transport (Tram 6 wasn’t running) I was 15 minutes too late, and had to set up the stage in three seconds flat. Luckily the amount of gear required for singer songwriters can fit on a postage stamp, so in ten minutes we were ready to go.

RC Henry took his Dobro out of its case and did what he had to do. The atmosphere was set from the moment he hit his first chord. He immediately had the full attention of the public and was able to hold this throughout the set with ease. The sound of the Dobro invokes the Deep South, if you close your eyes you’re on the side of a swamp in a small town in the southwest of the USA. His song “Seven Deadly Sins” was a perfect example.
Margot continued the happy theme of Heaven and Hell, she sang a great song about whether she was going to end up in heaven or not! The small problems I had with the sound in the first set were gone by this time, and Margot’s beautiful alto voice resulted in a fantastic set. Her strong guitar playing and catchy choruses kept the audiences attention, and their enjoyment was obvious. After the gig she told me that she had really enjoyed it and was keen to play at guild events again in the future. If it was up to me she would be playing again at the very next gig we put on! But everybody needs to get their chance….
Jane on the Roof was next. She performed mostly solo, but her friend added some extra vocals here and there. With Jane it’s all about her voice. She has an extremely unique sound. She sounds as if she stepped straight out of the middle ages as a folk singer. Some of the public didn’t quiet know how to take it, but those who “got” it paid close attention.
Jaap turned up just as Jane on the Roof had finished. Upon special request from him, she played an extra set, and this bought us also closer to the agreed finishing time of midnight.
Once again it was a successful evening and a great collaboration between the songwriter’s guild and Lokaal Vredebreuk. A well filled venue made it a night to remember, not only for the public but also for the performers themselves.
Till next week!

Kat

Pim de Waard (Indubio)

Pim is the first musician I met in Holland. He is a prolific songwriter. I stayed in his house for a few months, so I got to see firsthand the almost daily ritual with which he dedicates to his songwriting. Several songs a week would flow from his pen! One of his biggest heroes is Bruce Springsteen. His band Indubio has been going since 1999. In 2001 he reached the finals of the Grote Prijs van Nederland, and performed in Nighttown, Rotterdam, and in October 2006 they played in the final of the Ramonaaa award. The band has been busy also, and have made a videoclip, which you can watch here. In 2004 Pim switched from writing in English to composing Dutch songs. He created a whole show's worth of new songs. Now he combines the two, and he has a vast and varied repertoire.

Pims songs comine rock music with just about every other syle imagineable. Every time I see a show of theirs, I find something new, another new ingedient has been added to the mixture.

He has written for the Klauw once, you can find the article here. Pim will be performing for the guild in the near future, keep an eye out for him!

www.indubio.nl

Cafe Briljant in Haarlem - Sweetly Serious

Before I set the songwriters guild in action, I had already begun another initiative to work together with other singersongwriters in getting gigs. After inviting both Barbara and Natalie on seperate occasions to play a support act for my band Katbite in De Maatschappij in Scheveningen, I suggested to the both of them that maybe we could look for some gigs together as a group. They were both into the idea, so I sent out a few emails. Shortly afterwards I became incredibly busy with other things, the klauw, the songwriters guild, my own band, etc, and I had almost forgotten about it when I got an email from Cafe Briljant asking if we would like to play!

So 19 October it was - I asked a friend to drive me there and back, and i would pay his gas. Unfortunatly he didnt tell me that he always got lost in Haarlem and hated it there, if I had of known I would have studied a map carefully in advance, or have simply gotten the train instead, but as it was we ended up being about 1 1/2 hours late to the venue, after spending a lot of time driving randomly through the streets and smoking several stressy cigarettes on the side of the road. But luckily this time we didnt end up in a brick wall or a canal, and although I was a little shaken, we arrived at the cafe to find Barbara and Natalie fresh and ready to go.

Barbara opened the evening, showing once again the fruits of playing as regularly as she does. She has a very relaxed, comfortable air on stage, which is conveyed effectively to the audience, and I find it a pleaure to listen to her every time. She played a mixturee of old and new material, and had plenty of funny little things to say in between the songs. I must say that she is quite an inspriation to me, and one of the reasons I wanted to start Sweetly Serious in the first place is so that I could learn from her. She played for about half an hour, but remarked when she came offstage that it was not really a suitable cafe for live acoustic music, something which hit home when I got up there to play myself.. but anyway, before that it was Natalie's turn. She bought along Ray to accompany her on guitar, a sucessful combination that went down well in Musicon at the first festival we put on, and tonight it was clear that they had been working a lot on improving the arrangements. Natalie sang her heart out and put loads of energy into her performance, as she always does. I have never seen her play with a band but it is obvious that she would put forward a fanstastic show! Trailer-Trash Nana, bring it on, I cant wait!

Then it was my turn, I played for a full hour! I think thats about the longest solo gig that I have ever played. There was a guy who had seen Katbite perform several months ago in the same cafe, and he had bought the album. He was calling out the names of songs that he wanted to hear, which was great!

I was totally exhausted the next day at work, it was almost 2am when I finally made it into my bed, as we managed to get lost also trying to get out of Haarlem, and drove randomly around industrie terrain for a while before finally getting on the highway

Although the cafe is not very suitable for this kind of music, its still possible to find an enthusaistic audience. Ton Jenner, Jesse Edmond and Edwin van der Hoeven will be making a similar pilgramage there on November 30. I probably wont go along, but I might ask them to write a review of the night again.

Kat

Sweetly Serious