This year, I’ve published 31 full sessions and over 100 videos on The Influences. Looking through my hard drives, I’ve more than that waiting to be edited or published in the coming year.
Some amazing places opened their doors for these sessions this year; from Dutch venues like TivoliVredenburg and the legendary Paradiso, to workshops of painters and furniture makers, from old churches to my local petting zoo, and from musicians’ studios to bookstores. I owe each and everyone of them a thank you for their hospitality.
Could your place be next? Let’s talk about it.
I went back to Kilkenny and Dublin, filmed sessions at TakeRoot in Groningen and visited Oslo in Norway for the first (and likely not last) time. I’m ready to take The Influences to even more countries and cities and discover the local musicians there. And for those who’ve supported through Patreon: you’re making 2026’s journeys possible. More countries, more cities, more musicians whose influences deserve discovering.
Thank you for watching. Keep listening.
Matthijs
2025 in numbers
There is no better way to discover music than watching great musicians cover the songs they love.
The sessions from 2025 – a timeline
Jeffrey Martin
‘I can’t think of anything that has an ounce of meaning or dimension that doesn’t come from failure’, Portland songwriter Jeffrey Martin states on his website. He must have been an inspiring English teacher to take classes from, before becoming a full-time musician. The first night of my visit to Kilkenny…
AWKWARD i
If you’re a regular visitor of The Influences, you’ll have seen our earlier sessions with Dutch indie folk songwriter AWKWARD i. Well, good news, seven years after Kyd, Djurre de Haan has released a new record, and it might be his best yet. Unalaska is out now. Days before its…
Early James
Early James is a folk and blues musician based in Birmingham, Alabama. Back in November, he was the last session we filmed at the TakeRoot festival in Groningen. And it speaks to his credit that he still managed to surprise us with two unique covers of Bob Dylan’s Don’t Think…
Andrea von Kampen
Andrea von Kampen’s music felt like a secret discovery, a while ago, when I first heard her work. Like she’s singing and playing just for you. And although plenty modern in both lyrics and style, she could have been a singer from decades ago – in the way she crafts…
Chima
Kohei Kondo describes Chima’s music as something out of a fairy tale; soft-spoken yet layered with emotion. Watching them perform together, it’s clear how their crafts complement each other: Chima’s delicate voice weaving stories, while Kondo’s brush captures them in real time. I met them in The Netherlands, where they…
Case Mayfield
After more than a decade, Dutch songwriter Case Mayfield is back. He made a jump start back in 2010, released a couple of beautiful records that were as volatile as his live performances had a tendency to be – and then seemingly disappeared. To the eye of the public that…
Jarrod Dickenson
When Jarrod Dickenson and his wife Claire walked into the Mailmen studio in Utrecht a couple of months ago, their life was a lot different compared to the moment I’m releasing the session we recorded there and then. Back then they were relieved to finally have his guitars back from…
Parker Millsap
Hailing from Purcell, Oklahoma, Parker Millsap is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music seamlessly blends blues, country, rock, Americana, and folk. His soulful sound and character-driven narratives captivated the audience at De Melkweg in Amsterdam and me a few days later at the equally impressive Vondelkerk in The Netherlands’…
Immen
I first knew Dutch-Frisian indie folk songwriter Immen simply as one of the employees of my favourite record store Plato in Utrecht. Little did I know she writes some of the most captivating songs that are impossible not to dream away to. Late March 2025, her debut album Nimmen was…
Lydia Luce
Classically trained yet deeply rooted in folk tradition, Lydia Luce brings both emotional weight and graceful restraint to her songs. In early December 2024, the Fort Lauderdale-born singer and guitarist Chris West joined me at Loudmouth’s design studio in Utrecht to record a session for The Influences. They performed Occasionally,…
I Am Oak
Just like The Tallest Man On Earth, Dutch folk musician Thijs Kuijken started playing and releasing as I Am Oak at about the same time as this project, The Influences. At the time, around 2008, I was still writing for the local music website 3VOOR12/Utrecht and saw him perform with…
Áine Gordon
Áine Gordon has recently started a new chapter in her artistic career with the release of her first EP The Stray (produced by Joshua Burnside). The 4-track release has garnered a positive and unexpected reaction. People are resonating with different songs in unique ways, often hearing things even Gordon herself…
Dalton Mills
During TakeRoot festival in November 2024, American folk singer Dalton Mills stopped by our recording space with his guitar and a handful of songs that meant something to him. Mills is the kind of songwriter who pays attention to the details. He’s drawn to the spaces between words, the stories…
I’m With Her
To be completely honest, even after seventeen years of running The Influences, still there are times when I’m surprised by things I get to do and experience. Pretty often really. Trips I get to make, people I get to meet, places I get to see and music I get to…
Billie Marten
Sometimes the most liberating thing a songwriter can do is surrender complete control. For Billie Marten, that meant flying to Brooklyn in July of last summer, descending into producer Philip Weinrobe’s basement studio, and trusting complete strangers with her music. “I basically had no control, no authority, couldn’t hear myself…
Lizzie No
I love Kilkenny Roots. Not only is it in one of the nicest places, the shows and its atmosphere are spread out throughout the town. It’s big enough to have some great names each year, and small enough to be standing next to some of them while seeing someone else…
Junior Brother
Kerry-born musician Ronan Kealy has carved out a distinctive space in Irish music as Junior Brother, with his blend of traditional folk sensibilities and contemporary songwriting. Known for his intricate guitar work, haunting vocals, and songs that weave together mythology, landscape, and modern life. September 5th 2025, he released his…
The Deep Dark Woods & Erin Rae
When certain artists I admire are coming through my area, there’s no way I’m missing the chance to film them if I can make time. We had planned to shoot Ryan Boldt of The Deep Dark Woods and Erin Rae in the not-so-deep or dark woods nearby, but a sudden…
Todd Day Wait
Todd Day Wait walked into my setup with his guitar and played three songs that reminded me why I film these sessions. The Missouri-born musician has made his way from California to New Orleans and now calls Nashville home, carrying decades of American music tradition with him. He performed Willie…
Silver Lining
There’s something special about filming a session in a new city for the first time. Oslo did not disappoint for one minute. On the third day of filming in late September, Norwegian folky americana quartet Silver Lining walked into the setup and immediately made it feel like I’d been recording…
AWKWARD i & la loye
I’ve said it before: there are some musicians I will never stop filming, as long as they’ll have me. Actually, there’s quite a few. One of them is The Influences regular Djurre de Haan, or AWKWARD i. This Autumn, he’s going on tour with the equally talented Dutch indie folk…
Solo, by other people
The Influences is launching a special project: a musical tribute to Michiel Flamman, better known as Solo. In response to his serious illness, the idea arose to support him through music. Friends and admiring artists are covering songs by Solo, as a tribute to his work and influence. Michiel Flamman…
Keenan O’Meara
Sometimes the best moments happen when the crowd hasn’t arrived yet. The day Keenan O’Meara walked onto the stage at Amsterdam’s Paradiso for soundcheck, the historic venue was empty. The American songwriter (and filmmaker) from the Catskills was in town supporting I’m With Her (who also recorded a session with…
Joshua Burnside
Life is funny sometimes. When I was planning the sessions at Kilkenny Roots, I reached out and asked if Joshua Burnside would be able to make his way south from Belfast. He wasn’t. But on my way home I noticed he had a show in Utrecht coming up later that…
George Boomsma
About a year ago already, I had a brilliant day in De Groeverij – a small record store in Houten, where four musicians recorded a session. The first was Katherine Priddy, there’s two more on their way, but today I’m happy to finally post George Boomsma’s session. Boomsma, who tours…
Emily Scott Robinson
A week and a half ago, on Saturday November 1st, I once again made the trip North to the TakeRoot festival in Groningen, to film sessions with musicians on the line up – and some surprises. Like in 2024, we managed to film eight sessions and I’m delighted to publish…
John Smith
Twenty years in, and John Smith still carries himself like someone who has something to prove. Not to anyone or anything other than to the songs themselves. The British singer, songwriter and guitarist has collaborated with artists like Sarah Jarosz (I’m With Her), The Staves, the Milk Carton Kids, Lisa…
Himmelskip
They call it “cow-jazz.” Instrumental country by jazz musicians. Pedal steel guitar over dub rhythms. The sound of transcontinental railroads crossing fjords. Whatever you call it, Himmelskip’s music shouldn’t work on paper – and yet it does, brilliantly. Four young musicians from The Norwegian Academy of Music have created something…
Jonas Alaska
His self-titled debut landed him three Spellemann Award nominations – Norway’s version of the Grammys, essentially – and since then Jonas Alaska has released six more albums that people keep circling back to, the kind of records that travel well beyond Norway. People in other countries hear his voice and…
Peter Doran
Sometimes all it takes is one song. Whether it is a melody, arrangement, lyrics or a voice. Or in the case of Peter Doran’s Clockwork (off his sixth album All The World Is Runing On A Mystic Code), all four combined. I was sold. Don’t even remember how I found…
Diederik Nomden
Diederik Nomden is one of those musicians every other musician respects. Dedicated to his craft, fluent on multiple instruments, a brilliant member for any band (like Daryll-Ann, Johan, Ellen ten Damme, AWKWARD I, The Analogues, Her Majesty), collaborator (Bertolf, and others) and as if that’s not enough; a gifted songwriter…
2025’s videos in one playlist
