In the modern world, a boundary separates stage from audience. But the Belgian band Surpluz performs charming traditional songs with bagpipe, hurdy-gurdy, dulcimer, accordion, guitar and clarinet, transporting listeners to a time when the line between entertainer and spectator was thin, when music was a larger part of everyone’s life, when farmers, soldiers, traders, weavers, smiths and tavern … More Surpluz: Dat Ik Zingen Moet!
No nation rich in musical talent seems simultaneously so remote and yet so tantalizingly close to the English-speaking world as the Netherlands. At the top of an impressive array of Dutch singer-songwriters is Guus Meeuwis, who has won a pile of music awards, and a knighthood, in his native country. Morgen (Tomorrow) displays the mix of love ballads and classic rock that is as much of a trademark as his studious, dark-rimmed … More Guus Meeuwis: Morgen
People who lose parents during childhood often develop heightened empathy and resilience. Maaike Ouboter’s parents died when she was in high school and in 2013, at age 21, she channeled her feelings into the reality show “The Best Singer-Songwriter in the Netherlands.” Her audition song, Dat ik je mis (I Miss You) explored not only loss but also strength through memory: “You soothe me, embrace me/You save and disrupt me, … More Maaike Ouboter: En hoe het dan ook weer dag wordt
