After Halloween
When the pandemic hit, it shut down a fine band called dreamwest which was just getting rolling. Along with Coen Spek (percussion, vocals), Michiel Spek (lead guitar, vocals) and Jolanda Haanskorf (vocals), we had a solid CD that was getting airplay, and we’d done a number of good “live” shows, including radio and regional television. We got together on a Wednesday evening for dinner and to plan our next series of moves, but then on the following Sunday the country – along with the rest of Europe – shut down. Adios, dreamwest.But it’s an ill wind that blows no one any good, and for yours truly what was first perceived as a cruel twist of Fate was merely the end of one particular path. The band and CD were the summation of 53 years of playing and learning. With the help of my bandmates, being able to apply those lessons and seeing it all work was hardly a waste of half a century.
Between then and now, I continued to write songs, recording twelve of them under a new handle, After Halloween. I also returned to the flute, an instrument I’d dabbled with in 1970/71.
And somewhere in there, I made the conscious decision to finally break away from more traditional guitar-driven, “hum and strum/pick & grin” music and spare myself from further being confused and lumped in with what’s come to be called Americana, a trash can categorization I wanted nothing to do with despite having reached the point where I can crank out quality albums of the stuff in my sleep. Dreamwest and Live @ Coen’s allowed me to finally step away and say, “Later.” It’s nothing personal. Well, not too personal.
I have been exposed to far too many types of music, have played too many different types of music, and have seen far too much of Life to be satisfied with limiting myself to one genre, one in which it’s apparently acceptable to put out albums which are creatively little more than variations on a theme. Why not just re-release the same tunes every twelve months, with a different collective title and new artwork? There’s so much more out there, so much more that can be done even with the same instruments. You don’t need to stock up on exotic instruments to do something different, but you do need to make the conscious decision not to be bound by restrictions others have imposed on music.
As Jefferson Airplane once sang, you’ve got to “tear down the walls.”
The planned project I Was Here will be my first exercise in tearing down those walls on a musical level (I’d broken away lyrically long ago).
I say in advance there won’t be anything groundbreaking. Nothing to rival The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Miles Davis’ Birth of the Cool, or Peter Gabriel’s Passion. It will, however, be something new and challenging for me, and that’s what matters.
Now.
It's entirely possible every single person who checks out the new songs will think, “That’s crap.”
And that’s fine. There’s nothing I can or would say to try to change their minds. Of course, I might ask, "How’d you like the price?”
dreamwest
dreamwest began life as the acoustic duo, Bill & Jolanda. In February 2019 they opted to become dreamwest which, in comparison, "trips along softly on the tongue" (Shakespeare).
That September, they were joined by percussionist/vocalist Coen Spek. A week or so later, Coen's guitarist/vocalist (and twin) brother Michiel came on board.
(Followers of the Rotterdam music scene will recognize them as The Dutch Bacon Brothers.)
dreamwest "on the air" in Friesland
dreamwest's CD/EP "LIVE! at Coen's" released 01/01/2020!
The dreamwest website is here.
When the pandemic hit, it shut down a fine band called dreamwest which was just getting rolling. Along with Coen Spek (percussion, vocals), Michiel Spek (lead guitar, vocals) and Jolanda Haanskorf (vocals), we had a solid CD that was getting airplay, and we’d done a number of good “live” shows, including radio and regional television. We got together on a Wednesday evening for dinner and to plan our next series of moves, but then on the following Sunday the country – along with the rest of Europe – shut down. Adios, dreamwest.But it’s an ill wind that blows no one any good, and for yours truly what was first perceived as a cruel twist of Fate was merely the end of one particular path. The band and CD were the summation of 53 years of playing and learning. With the help of my bandmates, being able to apply those lessons and seeing it all work was hardly a waste of half a century.
Between then and now, I continued to write songs, recording twelve of them under a new handle, After Halloween. I also returned to the flute, an instrument I’d dabbled with in 1970/71.
And somewhere in there, I made the conscious decision to finally break away from more traditional guitar-driven, “hum and strum/pick & grin” music and spare myself from further being confused and lumped in with what’s come to be called Americana, a trash can categorization I wanted nothing to do with despite having reached the point where I can crank out quality albums of the stuff in my sleep. Dreamwest and Live @ Coen’s allowed me to finally step away and say, “Later.” It’s nothing personal. Well, not too personal.
I have been exposed to far too many types of music, have played too many different types of music, and have seen far too much of Life to be satisfied with limiting myself to one genre, one in which it’s apparently acceptable to put out albums which are creatively little more than variations on a theme. Why not just re-release the same tunes every twelve months, with a different collective title and new artwork? There’s so much more out there, so much more that can be done even with the same instruments. You don’t need to stock up on exotic instruments to do something different, but you do need to make the conscious decision not to be bound by restrictions others have imposed on music.
As Jefferson Airplane once sang, you’ve got to “tear down the walls.”
The planned project I Was Here will be my first exercise in tearing down those walls on a musical level (I’d broken away lyrically long ago).
I say in advance there won’t be anything groundbreaking. Nothing to rival The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Miles Davis’ Birth of the Cool, or Peter Gabriel’s Passion. It will, however, be something new and challenging for me, and that’s what matters.
Now.
It's entirely possible every single person who checks out the new songs will think, “That’s crap.”
And that’s fine. There’s nothing I can or would say to try to change their minds. Of course, I might ask, "How’d you like the price?”
dreamwest
dreamwest began life as the acoustic duo, Bill & Jolanda. In February 2019 they opted to become dreamwest which, in comparison, "trips along softly on the tongue" (Shakespeare).
That September, they were joined by percussionist/vocalist Coen Spek. A week or so later, Coen's guitarist/vocalist (and twin) brother Michiel came on board.
(Followers of the Rotterdam music scene will recognize them as The Dutch Bacon Brothers.)
dreamwest "on the air" in Friesland
dreamwest's CD/EP "LIVE! at Coen's" released 01/01/2020!
The dreamwest website is here.
