Ad Vanderveen - Still Now

On the above picture, you have Ad Vanderveen on the left and Iain Matthews on the right. I took it right after a set where they played more or less together for about 2 hours - maybe that why Iain seems a little bit tired - a generous and intense performance held by two artists who are also friends in the daily life helped on vocals and percussions by the talented Kersten de Ligny (Acoustic In Paris, la Pomme d’Eve, Wednesday July 2nd)
You all know Iain Mathews of course (Pyramid, Fairport Convention, Matthews Southern Comfort, Plainsong…). He is a legend for me and many people, I was proud to talk to him and believe me he is a very gentle person backstage. Among many things, he told me that he has enough material now to release a jazz oriented record and looking for a label...
But today, let me introduce to you Ad Vanderveen, I mean to those of you who missed the chance to listen to him before now. Although born a Dutchman, half of Ad’s family is Canadian and that may be part of the reason why his music is deeply rooted in a style nowadays known as Americana. At the moment Ad Vanderveen is touring with a band called The O'Neils, on occasion with colleague and friend Iain Matthews, as well as doing his solo shows. He also became known in Folk circles as one third of a singer/songwriter collective called More Than A Song (together with Eliza Gilkyson and Iain Matthews).
Ad Vanderveen just release a studio record called Still Now (2008, Blue Rose Records). While the contents of the songs are mostly about emotions dealing with love, loss, divorce and starting a new life, the form of Still Now is twofold; one disc is an electric band record, with plenty of guitar improvisation (Still Now - The Garage); the other disc is purely acoustic in the way the songs were born (Still Now - The Living). A yin and yang album in a way. I had the chance to see Ad playing live both electric and acoustic sets, believe me he is a tremendous guitar player, Neil Young-like style, and his songwriting is very intimate and evocative. You’ll find those two sides on the record. Still Now is a wholly impressive work (available on his Web).

Ad Vanderveen
Web: advanderveen.com
MySpace: myspace.com/advanderveen

Kersten de Ligny
Web: sk-management.nl
MySpace: myspace.com/kerstendeligny

Iain Matthews
Web: iainmatthews.com

Ad Vanderveen - Late Bloomer .mp3
More Than A Song - All The Way .mp3
Iain Matthews - Cartwheel Avenue .mp3

Bonus: Fairport Convention - Crazy Man Michael .mp3

Photo: Leaky Sparrow – Ad Vanderveen and Iain Matthews – La Pomme d’Eve, Paris – July 2nd, 2008