Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
The Pink Stones
I’ve lost track of the number of New West Records-artists that have recorded sessions for The Influences by now. All that matters right now is the newest addition: The Pink ...
Mick Flannery
Last Summer I visited Ireland to film sessions and Mick Flannery was pretty high up on my wish list. It didn’t work out logistically then, but luckily the singer – ...
Robyn Hitchcock
Sometimes the greatest sessions happen spontaneously. Like this one, when Robyn Hitchcock played in Utrecht with Emma Swift and agreed to also record a session the next morning. At the ...
Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
Kassi Valazza
Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing is one of those records you just can’t help but play over and over again. The American folk singer from Portland Oregon – who grew up ...
David Keenan
David Keenan, the songwriter from Dundalk in Ireland, is one of the most inspired and inspiring songwriters I’ve gotten to know in the past few years. Ever since that acoustic ...
Niamh Regan
Niamh Regan is a critically acclaimed songwriter from county Galway, Ireland. Her songs are windows into her world, snapshots of the intimacy of everyday life. Regan recently finished recording her second ...
Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears
In the 15 years of The Influences that have passed, a lot of my new favourite musicians are people I’ve gotten to know through other artists. They’ve either supported them ...
Brian Dunne
About a year and a half after his first session, Brian Dunne recorded another session. This time in the extraordinary surroundings of Soesterduinen, a sand drift East of Utrecht. The ...
Bertolf
I remember a phone call by Bertolf Lentink once, telling me he basically was planning to end his solo career. For a while after he toured with other bands, but ...
Conchúr White
Conchúr White, a singer-songwriter from County Armagh in Northern Ireland, was on his way to a show in Cork on Ireland’s south coast this August, when he and his fiance ...
The Brother Brothers
The first time I met Adam and David Moss, a.k.a. The Brother Brothers, they were seated next to me and Judy Blank at dinner during Down By The River festival ...
Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
Alexa Rose
Alexa Rose has a talent for writing songs that subtly force their way into your heart. Every since I first learned of her name – after noticing she was opening ...
Fantastic Cat
When four songwriters join up and start a super group, and you’ve filmed with three of them before, chances are you’re going to like their group efforts. Well, I don’t ...
Niamh Bury
The Influences went to Kilkenny, Ireland and invited local musicians to join them in the tower of the monumental Kilkenny Castle to record sessions. And they did. One of them ...
Ole Kirkeng
One of the lessons these last few years have taught me, is don’t take any opportunity to connect for granted. You never know when you’ll see that person again. So, ...
Aestrid
Aestrid feels like more than just a band. The Utrecht-based rock band is more of a pact between three good friends who help each other through whatever life throws at ...
Ireland, Sessions, TakeRoot festival
Adrian Crowley
Three years after filming his first The Influences session, Irish songwriter Adrian Crowley returned for another, during TakeRoot festival in late 2021. Yesterday we reached the 20.000 subscribers mark on ...
Ireland, Sessions, TakeRoot festival
John Blek
One of the great things about the TakeRoot festival in Groningen is that you’ll get to see some of your favourite acts perform and always will discover one or more ...
Krea
Karen Cowley compares releasing her first solo EP with ‘cycling a bike without stabilizers for the first time’. The Callows is her first solo work as Krea after her band ...
Lentink & Son
Allow me to introduce: Lentink & Son! You might know Dutch extraordinary songwriter and guitarist Bertolf from one of his six solo albums, his previous two sessions, live videos on ...
Alela Diane
This week marks the 15th anniversary of this website. It’s pretty special and a bit mind-blowing to think about everything that has happened in that decade and a half. I ...
The Deslondes
Bringing a band back together after a break isn’t always a good idea. Plenty of reunions end up a disappointment for both fans and the members. Well, not for The ...
Prize Collect
You haven’t heard anything by Prize Collect, yet. Until today. The Influences has the honour of sharing the first music by the Dutch band, formed by songwriter Marzio Scholten. Scholten ...
Sam Vano
Last week, Sam Vano released his debut EP Solitaire. Sam van Ommen, the Dutch songwriter, was previously known for Sam & Julia and these days plays guitar in Tim Knol’s ...
The Tallest Man On Earth
The Tallest Man On Earth and The Influences started almost simultaneously. His debut album Shallow Grave was released in 2008, the year this website started. Ever since, I’ve been following ...
Mariee Siou
Mariee Sioux Sobonya was born on the Humboldt coast in Arcata, California. When she was two her family moved to the Sierra Nevada foothills in the Yuba River watershed in ...
Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
Don DiLego
About a week ago, I filmed a session with New York City super group Fantastic Cat and attended their show at the Paradiso. That band consists of four songwriters, two ...
Dominic Billett
Erin Rae, Andrew Combs, Courtney Marie Andrews, Caitlin Rose, Kelsey Waldon… these are just a few names of artists who have had the pleasure of having Dominic Billett on drums ...
Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
Diana Jones
The first time I heard Diana Jones sing live was over a decade ago in Glasgow. My friends of Doghouse Roses opened for her at – I think – the ...
Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
Tyler Ramsey
Not unlike myself, Tyler Ramsey some years ago moved closer to nature with his wife and daughter. For me personally, I can tell you it was the best decision I’ve ...
Hala
People often ask me how I get musicians to record a session. The answer is simple: either I invite them nicely, or they contact me. Ian Ruhala of the Detroit, ...
Nathan Ball
Imagine driving across Europe for weeks, by yourself, playing shows and then driving hundreds of miles for the next one. That’s exactly what English songwriter Nathan Ball did last summer, ...
Siv Jakobsen
In a serene and picturesque setting in the woods close to my house in Huis ter Heide in The Netherlands, Norwegian songwriter Siv Jakobsen delivered a breathtaking second live session ...
Sessions, TakeRoot festival, USA
S.G. Goodman
“I never want to leave this world, without saying I love you.” As soon as those first lines of Space And Time, the opening song of S.G. Goodman’s debut album ...
Sophie Janna
Sophie Janna played ‘Thistle’, and gorgeous covers of Nick Drake and Anaïs Mitchell in an 19th century church. She also wrote an essay about her love and admiration for Mitchell.
Erin Rae
Since her first session for this website, Erin Rae has released her album Lighten Up – a gorgeous collection of songs, with a slightly new sound to them, compared to ...