Darling West
There must be something in the water up there in Oslo, Norway. So many lovely musicians and bands are coming through from there, like Ole Kirkeng, Louien and Malin Pettersen ...
Elephant
There is a big thing coming: Elephant will release their debut album Big Thing on May 27th, 2022. Elephant’s members (singer Frank Schalkwijk, drummer Kaj van Driel, guitarist Michael Broekhuizen ...
Gill Landry
When you take a peek at Gill Landry’s Instagram account, you’re bound to see many gorgeous landscapes and still images of his surroundings, wherever that may be at that time. ...
Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
Cedric Burnside
A lot of the times when I’ve just finished filming a session, I can’t stop smiling. At Take Root festival, the smiling began as soon as Cedric Burnside walked into ...
Brian Dunne
Imagine Brian Dunne as a little kid, sitting in front of the television, watching Bruce Springsteen playing his heart out. That moment sparked the fire in Dunne, from then onwards ...
Sessions, Ireland, TakeRoot festival
David Keenan
In August 2019, I stayed a few days with my friend Davie Lawson and his lovely family in Ireland. Upon arrival, his eldest son called me into his room to ...
Ian Noe
Days before the world ground to a halt, Kentuckian songwriter Ian Noe recorded a session for The Influences. We met at Paradiso Noord in Amsterdam and filmed three songs after ...
Gitta de Ridder
Gitta de Ridder comes walking out of the caravan she’s living in while building a new home in Almere, trying to stop her dog Lucky from giving me an enthusiastic ...
Sessions, Down By The River festival, USA
Blitzen Trapper
Filming with Blitzen Trapper was a dream come true for me, honestly. They’ve been one of the bands I keep listening to for well over a decade now. I remember ...
Tom Cunliffe
Tom Cunliffe’s record ‘Template For Love’ is great, so we met up in Utrecht to film Bruce Springsteen and Paul Anka covers and two originals.
Sam Brookes
British songwriter Sam Brookes covers Father John Misty and John Martyn for The Influences and played ‘Ekarma’ off his new LP Black Feathers.
Sessions, Down By The River festival, USA
Nicole Atkins
“Sure Tias!” was Nicole Atkins’ response when I suggested we would film another session at Down by the River festival where we would both be, in Spring of 2019. Literally ...
Adrian Crowley
Having listened to many of his lyrics, many times, it isn’t a surprise that talking to Irish songwriter Adrian Crowley and hearing him talk about his work and influences is ...
Bettie Serveert
Back in 2008, I was over the moon when I got to film the first session with the Dutch indie music heroes of Bettie Serveert. Since then, we’ve filmed a ...
Jimmy Diamond
Jimmy Diamond is a completely new band. New music and other inspirations by drummer Ruud Gielen, bassist Floris Poessé and guitarist Jim Zwinselman as lead singer, who never really sang ...
Nadine Khouri
I’m extremely glad to finally share the session in which Nadine Khouri played ‘You Got A Fire’ and covers of Sparklehorse and Leonard Cohen.
Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
Gold Star
During Take Root festival 2018, Los Angeles-based songwriter Gold Star recorded two songs from his latest record ‘Uppers & Downers’ and a raving cover of The Velvet Underground’s ‘I Found ...
Charlie Parr
One of the songs I might have played most in the past years, is ‘1922’ by Phil Cook from his album Southland Mission. I soon found out it was a ...
Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
Molly Tuttle
Usually recording a session after a live show isn’t the best idea. Musicians are tired, happy the job’s done and either want to enjoy a great experience or forget it ...
Robin Kester
If you’re interested in music and based in Utrecht like I am, Robin Kester isn’t a new name. She still only has one ep and a handful of singles out, ...
Justin Townes Earle
Earlier this week, Americana songwriter Justin Townes Earle died. He was 38 years old. It’s incredibly sad – first and foremost for his family and friends, and also for music ...
Fiskur
“You know me so well, write anything you want about me.” Ross Clark’s text message was pretty clear – I’ve got carte blanche. So, the first time I met Ross ...
Sessions, Down By The River festival, Scotland
Davey Horne
There aren’t many surprises and secrets left in life. Not of the good kind anyway. Remember when you’d read about an artist in some magazine, or just found an unknown ...
Sessions, Nashville, TakeRoot festival, USA
Caroline Spence
The first time I heard Caroline Spence’s single ‘Sit Here And Love Me’, was in a plane – somewhere in between Amsterdam and Glasgow. When Ryan Joseph Burns picked me ...
Sessions, Down By The River festival, USA
Caleb Elliott
Caleb Elliott and I spoke about staying hungry for music, discovering fairly late there’s more than just classical music and the important people in his development; his high school orchestra ...
Senora May
Back when traveling and going to shows were still things people did, I met up with Kentuckian artist Senora May in Utrecht. Her self-released debut ‘Lainhart’ has been a very ...
Sofie Winterson
Sofie Winterson and I only film in musea it seems. Last year we had the honor of filming at Panorama Mesdag in The Hague – find her Unknown Mortal Orchestra ...
Ole Kirkeng
The summer of 2018 would soon be coming to an end, and Rachel and I had just seen two of our favourite bands – Hiss Golden Messenger and Courtney Marie ...
Lewin
The Amsterdam Songwriters Guild has been around as long as I can remember and my friend Ro Halfhide is one of the people of the collective promoting the local songwriters. ...
William Fitzsimmons
Usually when I interview someone, I go in pretty well prepared. I never have questions written down or anything like that, but I’ll have read things and have an inkling ...
John Alexander
Earlier this week I dreamed of walking through Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Park. I looked at the wild squirrels, sat on a bench, ate a curry at Mother India’s Cafe, strolled through ...
Ryan Joseph Burns
Do you still know what day it is? I don’t, half of the time. I do know it’s Thursday though, because I’m posting a new video. About a year ago, ...
Ruben Hein
When we filmed this session, after Ruben Hein’s sound check for a Beach Boys tribute in Utrecht’s TivoliVredenburg, his most recent album Groundwork Rising had yet to be released. An ...
Kelsey Waldon
‘White Noise/White Lines’ is already Kelsey Waldon’s third record in five years time. The Kentuckian country singer has followed her own path since the start. And the cheers of her ...
Mikaela Davis
Mikaela Davis is a harpist and singer from Rochester New York, USA. She released a stunning record called Delivery in 2018. And she’s toured with The Staves and Bon Iver ...
Alela Diane
The first time I heard Alela Diane was live at the Motel Mozaique festival in Rotterdam, back in 2008. ‘The Pirate’s Gospel’ got a European release in 2007. Here was ...
Job Roggeveen
Job Roggeveen is an interesting and versatile artist. As a musician he played in several bands and started his own band Happy Camper, winning an Edison. As an animator, and ...
Robert Ellis
I have so many fond memories of the first session Robert Ellis recorded for The Influences years ago, I jumped at the change to do it again. In the fall ...
Farmer & Lewis
Some time in the Spring of 2017 I flew to Glasgow Scotland to film Ryan Joseph Burns’ album launch. That night in Saint Luke’s, I single-handedly filmed with six cameras. ...
Andrew Combs
It was January 29th 2015, when I first met American songwriter Andrew Combs. I was in the upstairs room in Paradiso Amsterdam and Justin Townes Earle had just finished his ...
Arborist
Two years ago, Dutch comedian and radio dj Dolf Jansen asked me to film a show he was doing with a band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. That night, the band ...
Erin Rae
I’ve been filming sessions for this website for twelve years. In all those years, there isn’t a singer I’ve heard more peers express their admiration off than Erin Rae. The ...
Michael Cassidy
The first time I heard Benbecula by the Scottish songwriter Michael Cassidy was in Amsterdam when Ryan Joseph Burns played me a mix on his phone. It sounded incredible already. But ...
Tim Easton
About ten years ago, Dutch drummer Kees Schaper (from Tim Knol’s band) toured with American songwriter Tim Easton. A perfect chance for me to film with Easton I thought. We ...
Sofie Winterson
Learning and development are recurring themes in my conversation with Sofie Winterson. As a songwriter she continously seeks new methods and inspiration. That is probably what makes her music so ...
TakeRoot festival, Sessions, USA
Anthony D’Amato
New York City-based songwriter Anthony D’Amato has been on a streak in the past seven years and released three full-length records and two ep’s. And now also two sessions for ...
The Low Anthem
The Low Anthem recorded two songs from ‘The Salt Doll Went To Measure The Depth Of The Sea’ for The Influences. Singer Ben Miller talks about their history. ‘I didn’t ...
Close Talker
Sometimes there’s little time between getting to know a band and filming a session. It only ever happens though if I immediately like the music a lot. The Canadian band ...
Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
American Aquarium
It was Anthony D’Amato who introduced me to American Aquarium. The singer from New York – who’s releasing a new EP soon – said I had to check them out ...
A New International
Musicians often ask me who they should listen to when we finish filming a session. Almost a hundred percent of the time I recommend the Scottish band A New International ...
Israel Nash
The times have been good for Israel Nash. He’s focusing on the positive, rather than the negative. In this session he covered Neil Young and Radiohead. ‘I’ve always known there ...
Sam & Julia
After spending most of his childhood years living in Zimbabwe, Nicaragua and Ghana, Sam van Ommen moved to Amsterdam, where he attended a local jam session and met singer Julia ...
Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
Becca Mancari
Becca Mancari made one of my favourite records of 2017. There isn’t a mediocre song on Good Woman. In fact, someone should really start a petition to rename it Great Woman. Anyway, ...
Sun June
Last week I told someone to simply listen to everything that came out on the Austin-based record label Keeled Scales. She would like everything she could find, I promised. I ...
Finn Andrews
There would be weeks where I didn’t listen to much else than The Veils. Their records formed an often welcome escape from reality. At times the songs brought comfort, distraction ...
Josh Ritter
‘The first thing you’ll notice at a Josh Ritter show is his smile. It’s a grin of elation, a grin of communion, a grin of gratitude. It’s the grin of ...
Fiskur
‘What I’ve learned from Scott is that kind of pride in songwriting; being able to put yourself into it, the drive and ambition for yourself in music.’ Fiskur’s Ross Clark ...
Marcus Hamblett
Marcus Hamblett is a man of many talents. Not only does he play guitar, bass, trumpet and keys, he also produces records and sometimes releases them. The chances you’ve seen ...
Carson McHone
The Austin-based songwriter Carson McHone visited us in Utrecht’s finest record store Plato with her band to record two originals and a dangerously addictive Teddy Thompson cover.
Anaïs Mitchell
When Anaïs Mitchell recorded this session for The Influences in 2017, she toured as Josh Ritter’s support. She recorded covers of Bob Dylan and Rachel Ries (Her Crooked Heart) and ...
Man Of Moon
Ever since my friend plugged their song The Road, I’ve been listening to Scottish indie rock duo Man of Moon. During their European tour with Django Django, we recorded ‘Sign’ ...
Lilly Hiatt
When Lilly Hiatt’s third record Trinity Lane surfaced in 2017, something just seemed to click. Her songs and the records sound blend so seamlessly. ‘It was a pretty natural thing’, ...
Jerry Leger
TakeRoot just announced its first names for 2019, featuring Brandi Carlile, Nikki Lane, Erin Rae, Caroline Spence and many others. In november 2018 I got to work with the lovely ...
Emme Woods
In December 2018 we hosted our third live show at the always lovely The Glad Cafe in Glasgow. Five local acts performed a couple of covers and originals in front ...
Buck Meek
American songwriter Buck Meek has very quickly become one of my favourite musicians – both his solo and Big Thief records are on the top of the rotation over here. ...
Bart Hoevenaars
Bart Hoevenaars isn’t a stranger in the Dutch music indie scene. In the early zeroes he released two record with postpunk bank MONO and toured Europe multiple times. After, he became known ...
Liza Anne
‘Every time I go into making a record, I’m trying to time capsule what it feels like to be alive. ‘Fine But Dying’ was a whole new thing for me. ...
Douglas Firs
Douglas Firs is a Belgian band that has been around creating great music for years now, but it was on their most recent record ‘Hinges Of Luck’ where they really ...
Jon Allen
John Martyn has somehow never before been covered in The Influences sessions. Until now, because Jon Allen recorded an addictive version of ‘May You Never’ for us, as well as ...
The Deep Dark Woods
‘The first time I really listened to Bob Dylan changed my life.’ The Canadian folk band The Deep Dark Woods produces some of the loveliest modern folk songs I’ve heard ...
Kim Janssen
A couple of weeks ago, Janssen and his band joined us at the Schenk Studio in Amsterdam to record two astounding cover versions of Vampire Weekend’s ‘Ya Hey’ and Bruce ...
Hannah Epperson
There aren’t many feelings better than discovering new music and getting fully emerged in its beauty. When it happens, nothing else matters. Hannah Epperson’s ‘Slowdown’ did that for me. So, ...
Gregory Ackerman
Los Angeles-based songwriter Gregory Ackerman covered Jack Johnson and Neil Young for The Influences. ‘I’m inspired by anyone who is writing music that people can really connect to – music ...
Demi Knight & Ryan Joseph Burns
When Ryan Joseph Burns came to Utrecht from Glasgow earlier this year, I set up a meeting with the Dutch country singer Demi Knight. After a quick rehearsal, they recorded ...
Awkward I
Awkward I is one of The Netherlands’ finest songwriters around. He recorded this new session, including a mind-blowing cover of Judee Sill: ‘What I particularly love about her compositions is ...
Judy Blank
‘When I see The Wood Brothers play, I know: this is it. Seeing them makes it easier for me to not care about things. Fuck that shit, I’m doing what ...
Anna Burch
‘Writing ‘Quit The Curse’ was so fun, cathartic, and also the most important thing I’ve done in my life.’ Anna Burch debuted on Polyvinyl Record Company with a catchy yet ...
Down By The River festival, Sessions
Jerry Leger
Jerry Leger’s records stand side by side to John Lennon’s in my living room. It’s only fitting because Lennon’s the first association I got from ‘Coat On The Rack’, the ...
Nicole Atkins
Nicole Atkins’ voice is a thing of wonders. So much power and soul. Words sung with so much feeling. But it’s too easy to focus on just that. Especially since ...
Ryan Joseph Burns
Ryan Joseph Burns couldn’t believe his eyes, when we entered the Soesterduinen, a stunning nature reserve just East of Utrecht. It’s a surreal sight at first. As you’ll know by ...
The Dead Tongues
‘There’s so much that I love about Charlie, but one thing that really struck me is how it feels like every time he sings and plays, he’s all in.’ The ...
Twain
‘I tend to look up artists that are powerful without explanation or for mysterious reasons. And the kind that are able to speak truths that are commonly understood but never ...
Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
Jim Lauderdale
It’s not that often I film sessions with a winner of multiple Grammy Awards, and a writer of songs that were recorded by Elvis Costello, The Dixie Chicks, Blake Shelton ...
Roald van Oosten
After sitting directly in front of him, focussing on filming him the best I know how to, I’m happy to report Roald van Oosten’s voice and songs still manage to ...
Christopher Paul Stelling
Christopher Paul Stelling has quickly become one of my very favourite folk singers from the last decade. The American already recorded a session for The Influences some years ago and ...
Kim Churchill
Meeting Churchill in Amsterdam, I saw a polite, very determined and self-assured musician, who knows what he wants and how he wants to get there. No shortcuts allowed. I like ...
Emma Gatrill
‘Listening to Björk and Emilíana Torrini always reminds me of how many sonic possibilities there are out there.’ It’s no wonder Emma Gatrill covered their songs in this session for The Influences. ‘I have ...
Courtney Marie Andrews
I’ve been fascinated by Courtney Marie Andrews’ talent as a songwriter and a singer since the instant classic ‘Honest Life’. Now, with her equally daring and striking new record ‘May ...
Jasper Schalks
‘John Prine is the finest lyricist I know, up there with Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt. Every sentence he writes hits the spot and it’s admirable how much Prine ...
The Mastersons
About a year ago, I met up with The Mastersons in my hometown Utrecht. They were about to release their strong new album Transient Lullaby and were touring Europe with ...
Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
Michaela Anne
Sometimes a voice simply forces me to keep listening. Luckily, combined with Michaela Anne’s songwriting that’s hardly an ordeal. Anthony D’Amato told me to check out her most recent record ...
Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
The Secret Sisters
If you’d asked Laura and Lydia Rogers some time ago, they’d have told you that there might never be a third The Secret Sisters album. They really didn’t know if ...
Tift Merritt
Stitch Of The World is her sixth album and it’s everything you could ever want. Tift Merritt’s voice is stunning as always, her songwriting more urgent than ever. In short: ...
Fiskur & Ryan Joseph Burns cover The Milk Carton Kids
In late May this year, we organized mini festival Caledonia. Like A New International, fellow Glaswegians Ryan Joseph Burns and Fiskur got on a plane to play. As they already ...
Siv Jakobsen
”Jolene’ is such a stunning piece of music – the lyric is incredible and really draws me into the atmosphere of the song. It makes me feel like I’m singing ...
I Buried You So Deep
Back in 2013, Small Houses covered ‘I Buried You So Deep’ in his first session for this website; a song by his fellow Americans of Frontier Ruckus. That band recorded ...
Ron Gallo
Every now and then I get asked the question: ‘You only record acoustic singer songwriters, don’t you?’ My answer: No, I don’t. There have been full band sessions since the ...
I Won’t Back Down
‘I’d always been a fan of Tom Petty’s ‘I Won’t Back Down’, but with a professional bully in the Oval Office, the urgency of those verse lyrics hit me harder ...
Frontier Ruckus
Up until a couple of years ago, Frontier Ruckus was just a band that I had heard of. Without stopping to take a moment and really give them a listen. ...