"Ad Vanderveen sings simple songs about love, longing, wandering and coming home. We tend to associate depth with complexity when, in fact, it is only the simple things that have real depth. You only have to hear Ad sing a song one time to tap into its meaning. And the feeling will grow stronger and deeper the more you listen", David Olney, liner notes for Brand New Everytime.
david
olney-a live major poet, by Ad
Vanderveen
there’s
very few people that can express what david olney does,with just a voice and
acoustic guitar.a voice that tells of a life,a guitar that sounds like a band or
orchestra and every song rolling like a movie,all complete by itself.
the
first time i saw david was on a singer-songwriter night in a club
in lichtenvoorde;a small country town in the east of holland,i think it
was in’94.on the bill were olney,steve young
and myself.
i
had opened and sat in the audience , the adrenalin still rushing through my
veins and feeling wide open to what was to come when david took over.
over
the years friends of mine had introduced me to some of his records but for some
reason they hadn’t really quite reached me yet.
this
time was different; he started with ‘the lean
and hungry years’,although maybe not even his greatest song, it hit me
right in the heart and left a deep and lasting impression there.
little
did i know then that we would record that very song together as a duet for one
of my records a year later
as
the evening progressed song after song blew me away and i remember being
fascinated with the lyrics propelled by the incredibly cool understated guitar
playing. it turned out that
night’s show was recorded and released as the‘live
in holland’cd,perhaps my favorite olney record.
the
thing about david olney is i have to experience him one on one to really get the
full feeling out of it,he draws me right into the heart of his songs where more
can only be less.
there’s
two sides to his music;there’s the tender deep and sensitive poet and
there’s the raw rough and rowdy rock&roller.the one so intensely beautiful
and vivid it’ll make you cry,the other so wild and hilarious you’ll want to
holler and laugh it away.
i
did both that night and every time i caught his shows in the years that followed.
his
songs, delivery and great guitar playing continue to inspire me,just like the
work of other great ones that were my heroes when i grew up.
i’m
glad there’s still some people i can feel that way about.
ad
vanderveen.
©2000