Rise In Love
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
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
Streaming discontinued
For those following my music on digital platforms, you may notice that titles disappear.
This has to do with licences to labels that have expired and getting the rights back.
At this time there’s no plans to get them back up, so hold on to your CDs.
Announcing: Only Olney
Preorders now through STORE page, CDs available on sept. 22.
Tracklist:
1 Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
2 Women Across The River
3 If My Eyes Were Blind
4 Little Bit Of Poison
5 Vincent’s Blues
6 If It Wasn’t For The Wind
7 Jerusalem Tomorrow
8 Little Bird (What I Do)
9 Millionaire
10 Mister Vermeer
11 Sad Saturday Night
Ad Vanderveen & Guests
AV: vocal, guitars, mandola, harmonica, piano / Iain Matthews: vocal, guitar on If My Eyes Were Blind – Little Bit Of Poison – If It Wasn’t For The Wind / Kersten de Ligny: vocal, percussion / Freek de Jonge: guest vocal on Little Bird / Hella de Jonge:violin on Little Bird / Raphael Dudukas: oriental guest vocal on Jerusalem Tomorrow / Willie Ahrend: nylon string guitar / Jan Erik Hoeve: pedal steel, vocal on If It Wasn’t for the Wind and Sad Saturday Night, and David Olney: ghost vocal on If My Eyes Were Blind
AV notes:
Upon first meeting David Olney in 1993, I was awestruck by his music and personality and I instantaneously felt a connection that seemed to be mutual, to my surprise. I was a youngish singer songwriter taking the first steps on a solo path after having played in numerous bands, and David set a towering example for me rightaway. His playing, singing, writing and performing were what I wished I’d be able to do. His guitar playing fascinating, authorative, simple and sophisticated, especially in contrast with the raw directness of his voice. His lyrics so layered, captivating and touching on many levels at once. His performance so cool and real, stirring, vulnerable, rough and funny. He embodied all that a troubadour, craftsman and traveling minstrel should be for me.
I’ve been lucky to meet with David and work with him on many occasions since that first encounter. All over the world our paths have crossed, sometimes planned and sometimes spontaneous – on stage, in the studio, or at home at my place or his. Each time was a memorable and unique experience. He was a teacher to me, although we never consciously acknowledged that kind of roleplay. I suppose you could say – like in the world of classical music – I studied under David Olney. I’m happy that along our trails we’ve left some marks together, some living on as recorded musical souvenirs on CD.
Since David is no longer here to bring his songs to us, I have felt like trying on some of them, some I feel that fit me, although his shoes are too big to fill; there are some songs that suit me and feel like my own.
I guess what I set out to do with these recordings is keeping that feeling alive that grabbed me right from the start in 1993.
With the help of some good friends I’m glad to have captured some performances I feel are worthy of carrying on a part of David’s great heritage. I want to thank Iain Matthews, he and I shared quite a few adventures with David over the years and he brought some of these songs to the table.
Many thanks to all the other wonderful friends who sang and played on these songs, it has been a true joy.
Only Olney is set for a september 22 ’23 release. Stay tuned for details.
Heart Of Every Town double CD
AV Preview / interview Heart Of Every Town
2023 will see the release of Heart Of Every Town, a double CD by Ad Vanderveen.
The album features ten new original songs in two different settings.
Disc 1: Church is based on acoustic guitar with church organ.
Disc 2: Pub is based on electric guitar with band (The O’Neils’22)
Heart Of Every Town will be released March 3 2023.
More info and pre-orders on http://www.advanderveen.com/store now!
Live In Weimar ’22 – limited edition cd
This recording so rocks that it wouldn’t stay on the shelf.
LOBESHYMNEN LIVE WEIMAR ’22 – AD VANDERVEEN & THE O’NEILS
‘Lobeshymnen’ is what our German promoter said he heard after we played our show in Weimar on October 8th 2022, as the chills of autumn had descended on us and a few thousand people in the audience on the Platz der Demokratie.
It’s a word you would associate with the works of Bach, it means something like ‘praises’.
We thought it would make a great title for this Cd that marks our return as a band. It was great, chaotic and noisy to be back on stage in Weimar where we played so many times over the past 20 years. A few years ago I swore to never play electric band shows again but what do I know, here we are. We celebrated that our spirits, chops, instincts, hands and ears were still intact and we would like to invite you along with this live document, hoping you will be part of the same feeling.
Thanks go to Dirk Böttcher for initiating and organising, to Dominico Sneider for recording, and to all the fans for showing up.
AV, November 2022.
Tracklist:
1 Last Venture
2 Uphill
3 First Feeling
4 All The Waiting
5 Wildfire
6 Light Of Day
7 The Moment That Matters
8 Lost In Lederhosen
9 Denver Nevada
10 Melancholy Blues
11 Water Under The Bridge
Total playing time: 73 min.
With:
Ad Vanderveen: vocal, guitars, harmonica
Kersten de Ligny: vocal, autoharp, percussion
Jan Erik Hoeve: pedal steel, vocal
Timon van Heerdt: bass, vocal
Roel Overduin: drums, vocal
Layaway EP
For those unfamiliar; an article that is laid away and kept apart for later collection – with or without a down payment, is called a layaway. It’s also the title of a small group of songs I recorded during Covid isolation, keeping the wheels in motion.
Picking up instruments that were new to me and learning to play them on familiar songs, I was also joined by old friends – some of them live and some at long distance.
Molding the soundscape and atmosphere that became the template for the Cd ‘Candle To You’, these recordings were then laid away for some time.
On revisiting them we thought they should be taken home and made available now.
A streaming only 7-song EP release is set for August 19 2022 on all digital platforms. Better sound quality download available HERE: https://advanderveen.bandcamp.com/album/layaway
Layaway trackist:
1 Keep Me In Your Heart (Warren Zevon)
2 I Was Hank Williams ( Ad Vanderveen)
3 Angel Of Death (Hank Williams)
4 Rex’s Blues (Townes Van Zandt)
5 Love & Music (Ad Vanderveen)
6 The Long Way Round (Ad Vanderveen)
7 If I Needed You (Townes Van Zandt)
With: AV:vocal, mandola, banjo, guitar, harmonica / Kersten de Ligny: vocal, autoharp / Jan Erik Hoeve: pedal steel, banjo / Neil James Morrison: violin, viola, mandolin / Daniel Shergold: bass / Timon van Heerdt: bass, vocal / Michael Kay: percussion / Simon Moore: keyboards
Candle To You review Rock At Night, NL
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–something he truly confirms on ‘Candle to You,’ his latest album release.
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 like on obviously Dylan-inspired “Last Venture.”
But there is another great characteristic Vanderveen shares with the above two greats and the likes of what some would consider as true roots artists like Townes Van Zandt – Vanderveen is a great storyteller. And, of course, incorporating great lyrics into good music is an art in itself, and Vanderveen shows that he has real capabilities to do so.
Add to all this the way in which Vanderveen composed most of the album. As he explains himself, “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.”
What we get in Candle to You is an excellent roots rock album that defies both time and place in which it was recorded.
By Ljubinko Zivkovic, Rock At Night
Candle To You review Aiding & Abetting, US
| 3/17/22: Past present 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. |
| Jon Worley |
Candle To You review Screen Legion, US
Ad Vanderveen’s Soothing Style Shines on Candle to You
There’s something to be said for artists that can capture listeners and bring them into their world in just a few short measures. And that’s exactly what Ad Vanderveen pulls off with the opening track of his new record, Do What You Love. And it’s clear that Vanderveen does just that.
For love or money is a recurring theme of the human condition. Meanwhile, Ad Vanderveen addresses that enduring question on the opening track of his new record. And with soothing acoustics, harmonica, and Vanderveen’s lyrical refrain of “Do what you love, and you’ll be taken care of”, there are some poignant life lessons to be garnered from his music.
Ad Vanderveen Lays it All Out
Following The Wind takes a considerably darker turn than the album opener – and it’s a brilliant showcase of Vanderveen’s different styles. Minor chords change the mood from philosophical and wise to brooding and a bit more melancholy. And through it all, it’s clear that Ad Vanderveen simply has an ear for what sounds good – complete with a lengthy solo midway through.
Meanwhile, Over Time picks up the tempo and packs the flavor – with Latin/Flamenco influences permeating the primary melody. Only a few tracks into Candle to You, it’s apparent that Ad Vanderveen can pull off any style he chooses – and his musical range is refreshing to listen to.
Candle to You Puts Everything on Display
Even if this style of Contemporary Folk isn’t necessarily something you would listen to – or even come back to – there’s enough on Candle to You to keep even skeptical listeners coming back for more. Meanwhile, one of the things Ad Vanderveen does well is balance all of his influences in a way that’s cohesive.
At times, he slows it down, like on the title track, Candle To You. And other times, he picks up the tempo – or switches up the style altogether. And 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.
By Spencer Elliott, Screen Legion, US
Ad Vanderveen 
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