Had I taken the time to list my favourite records of 2023, Hollow Hand’s Your Own Adventure would be pretty high on it. There’s something about the Brighton based folk-rock ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Sessions, Down By The River festival
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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.
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’, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
Elephant Stone
I went to Glasgow for a couple of days in November. The morning after I flew back, I managed to get myself out of my bed and on a train ...
Doghouse Roses
Last November, I was invited by the Scottish alt-folk duo Doghouse Roses to attend the launch of their third record Lost Is Not Losing in Glasgow and to film a ...
Emil Landman
Last year Emil Landman packed a bag, his guitar and some microphones and travelled across the world. Whatever he saw and experienced was turned into song and later recorded at ...
Chatham County Line
The great thing about Chatham County Line is that they combine the typical bluegrass sound with a more traditional element and an impeccable songwriting talent. Everything about this band just ...
Kacy & Clayton
It’s hard not to think of Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention when listening to Kacy Lee Anderson’s voice, but luckily there’s a lot more to Kacy & Clayton than just ...
The Young Folk
Early in 2015 I met The Young Folk from Dublin and filmed a session with them in Amsterdam. Later in the year we got to hang out a couple more ...
Yorick van Norden
Yorick van Norden is the kind of guy who can tell you in which key McCartney played a certain song during a certain show decades ago, or who was the ...
John Paul Keith
Last year I had the pleasure of meeting and filming with John Paul Keith, whose albums have made a lasting impact on me over the past couple of years. Especially ...
My Bubba
My bubba is another one of those acts that I’ve seen and read about for a couple of years, and when I heard their latest records Goes Abroader, it was ...
Into The Great Wide Open, Live, Sessions
Theo Sieben
There’s nothing better than listening to musicians who are really outstanding instrumentalists and sing their songs with every bit of heart and passion they have in them. Theo Sieben is ...
Into The Great Wide Open, Live, Sessions
Leine
Earlier this year I published a session by Leine that was recorded in Amsterdam in 2012. In September this year, she played a live session for us at Into The ...
Into The Great Wide Open, Live, Sessions
Tangarine
Tangarine were the first to play a session on the Sunday of our Into The Great Wide Open show. Twin brothers Sander and Arnout Brinks are known for their delicate ...