Hi folks!
The Hillbilly Boogiemen are mostly active as the Blue Grass Boogiemen
these days.
If you want to stay up to date with the band, go to
www.bluegrassboogiemen.nl for the latest news.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Linkedin.
Thanks for showing interest and hopefully we'll see you down the road somewhere.


New CD Out Now!
Persbericht Excelsior Recordings
Delivering the grass - Blue Grass
Boogiemen
'Delivering the grass' is het vierde album van de Blue Grass Boogiemen.
Deliverin' the grass is tevens hetgeen de Blue Grass Boogiemen al jaren
doen, zowel hier in Nederland als in de rest van Europa en in de VS. Van
Paradiso tot 's werelds meest beroemde bluegrassclub de Station Inn in
Nashville, Tennessee; van de Rodeo Bar in New York tot de Continental
Club in 'live music capitol of the world' Austin, Texas; ze traden er
op. Al ruim 22 jaar staan de Blue Grass Boogiemen voor het beste wat
Nederland qua authentieke rootsmuziek te bieden heeft.
Dit nieuwe album, wat wordt uitgebracht door Excelsior Recordings, is
het eerste album wat geproduceerd werd in samenwerking met Frans
Hagenaars. Hun gezamenlijke kennis en expertise heeft geleid tot een
eclectisch album met voornamelijk eigen werk, aangevuld met een paar
traditionals en nummers uit het bluegrass repertoire. Chris Hillman
(bekend van o.a. The Byrds en de Flying Burrito Brothers) schreef het
volgende over het album:
I RARELY ENDORSE ANYTHING THESE DAYS, AND IF I DO IT HAS TO BE REALLY
INTERESTING, REALLY GOOD AND HONEST AND UNIQUE. THIS RECORD HAS ALL THE
RIGHT INGREDIENTS. SOLID PLAYING AND SINGING AND A GREAT CHOICE OF
MATERIAL.
HEARING THESE BOYS KICK OFF THE JIMMY MARTIN CLASSIC “YOU DON’T KNOW MY
MIND” IS FANTASTIC, BECAUSE THEY KNOW THIS MUSIC, AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO
BE FROM KENTUCKY OR NASHVILLE TO KNOW THIS MUSIC, TO FEEL AND UNDERSTAND
THE SOUL OF BLUEGRASS. THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT.
THE BOOGIEMEN SWING, AND THEY SWING HARD AND FAST.
CHRIS HILLMAN
JULY 2013
De nummers behandelen de onderwerpen van het leven, waar iedereen mee te
maken heeft. Zoals hartzeer, de eenzaamheid, wanhoop en de dood. Dit
alles, op een klassieke manier beschreven en in authentieke bluegrass
(met hier en daar een uitstapje) gegoten, onderstreept maar weer eens
dat ook deze vorm van de blues haar tijdloosheid allang heeft bewezen.
En de hernieuwde opleving van dit genre in Nederland, is ook niet in de
laatste plaats te danken aan deze heren. 'De Boogiemen houden roots en
traditie actueel met een ongekende overdosis energie' werd ooit over hen
geschreven. 'Deliverin' the grass'; een beter bewijs hadden ze niet
kunnen leveren.
=> Here's how
to grow the Blue Grass seeds!! <=

Waldorf Weekend |
<update: 3 may '13>
Hi folks!
Here's a quick update for you, about what we've
been up to since the last one. We've been quite busy playing gigs
here in Holland and abroad. The first edition of the 'Bluegrass at
'De Parel van Zuylen' festival was a great succes and we
congratulate our fiddlin' friend Joost van Es with that. Looks like
there's going to be happening a lot more there in the future. We had
a lot of fun seeing many of our friends of the Rock'n'Roll-scene in
Germany, when we played at the Waldorfer Weekend (as Hillbilly
Boogiemen). Thanks folks, that you haven't forgotten about us! That
same weekend there was a wonderful Bluegrass festival going on in
Greven, Germany, where we played on Saturday and Sunday. We sure
hope to be back there again sometime. Then, another fun trip abroad
took us to our beloved Westport in Ireland, for a return to the
'Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival', which again was absolutely
brilliant. We're happy to see that the festival has been growing
quite big since the last time we played there. Lots of national and
international acts performed throughout the weekend, and there were
sessions everywhere. Thanks for showing us so much hospitality
again, dear friends in Ireland!
Apart from all the gigging
and traveling, we also have been in the studio to record for an
album by our friend Herman de Brock, at the 'Goodnight John-Boy
Studio'. We're looking forward to hear how that turned out.
Furthermore we finished the recording and mixing of our own
forthcoming album for Excelsior Recordings. It'll be a while before
it will be released, but we're telling you, if you like our music,
then you really got something to look forward to. It has become an
eclectic mix of numbers, with a whole lot of original tunes and some
classic favorites of ours. It'll be out in October, and right now
the folks from Excelsior and from 'Zwaardvis Bookings' (who will be
handling a lot of our festival- and clubdates from now on) are busy
getting together a nice line up for our release parties, which will
be held once the album will be out. We'll keep you posted on that
when the time comes.
Now we got some more fun stuff to look
forward to, like the 'Pijnackerplein Bluegrassfestival' in
Rotterdam, the 'Big Texas BBQ' right in the middle of The Hague and
later on in the year, one of the biggest festivals in The
Netherlands, the 'Zwarte Cross'. For dates, check our tourdates on
the website (www.bluegrassboogiemen.nl).
Hope we'll see you
somewhere down the line!
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the rest: Westport Ireland
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Greven Grass |
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Greven Grass |
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Parel v Zuilen |
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Parel v Zuilen |

click for more Ireland |
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<update: 3 may '13>
Hi folks!
Since the last update we've been in the studio to complete the
recordings for our forthcoming album. So far so good. Next month the
mixing will start and when that's done, it will be a while before
the album will be out. Can't tell exactly when, but we're working on
it.
We've had some fine gigs these last couple of weeks and have a lot
to look forward to in the weeks that lie ahead. To name a few: next
week we'll be at the bluegrass festival in Utrecht, NL which is put
on by our fiddlin' friend and honorary Boogieman Joost van Es. For
the line up, check the poster. We'll also be performing at the
Waldorfer Rock'n'Roll
Weekender in Germany and at the
Grevengrass Bluegrass Festival,
also in Germany.
So that'll be a lotta 'Rocking & Clogging' in Germany, all in the
same weekend! Only the Boogiemen hahaha...
On a sadder note, last week one of our absolute musical heroes and
arguably the finest singer in countrymusic ever, George Jones passed
away. Folks who know us, know that one of our mottos has always been
'Wherever we play, there are at least four George Jones fans'
(coined in an interview we had with The Washington Post some 15
years ago), and we always pay tribute to the Possum every show we
play. And now after his death, of course we will continue to do so.
We hope to see you folks at one of our shows, and please keep those
photos and messages coming in!
(photos by Jelle Mollema at the 'Museumnight', Espressobar Boijmans,
March 2013)
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<update: 11 march '13>
Hi folks!
It's been a great couple of weeks since our last update. We've had
some fine shows and met many old friends and made a lot of new ones.
Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to a special one, Jaap 'The
Birdman' Vogel, who came to see us play on a regular basis, and
oftentimes joined in doing his legendary rendition of 'Your cheatin'
heart' and playing harmonica on 'Life's railway to Heaven'. Well,
he's on that railway right now. Doctors gave him up 4 years ago, but
he was a though old boy. We're grateful our paths have crossed many
times, and he will be missed by all of us.
Between gigs, we've been in the studio, recording our forthcoming
album for Excelsior Recordings. So far everything has gone very
well. Producer Frans Hagenaars really knows his business, and we're
pretty confident it's going to sound great. There's a lot of
originals on it, which we haven't played a lot live yet, so that's
something to look forward to for the folks who like our stuff. We
tried to make the mix of tunes eclectic, as usual, and there will be
guest appearances by two fiddlers who are topclass over here.
Thanks for the nice response we got for our radio performance for
3FM. We had a lot of fun there, meeting up with our old buddy Fred
Siebelink. Always a blast. We hope to be back there sometime in the
near future.
Thanks also for the nice photos and footage you've been sendig us.
Keep 'em coming, they're greatly appreciated!
Next week we'll be back in the studio to finish the recodings, so
that'll keep us busy. Of course, there'll be gigs as well, so we
hope we'll see you all somewhere down the line.
All the best from the Boogiemen!
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<update: 4 febr '13>
Hi folks!
We're well into the new year, and these first couple of weeks have
been great for us. There has been another national tv appearance for
'Tijd voor Max' (www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7IsdpL2NGA)
and some memorable shows at the 'Kleine Komedie' theater in
Amsterdam, where we played alongside wellknown Dutch artists to
present the forthcoming album 'De Supersonische Boem' featuring
songs written by Annie M.G. Schmidt and Harry Bannink. Many of these
songs are very wellknown here in Holland and have been populair for
many years. If you want to hear us sing in Dutch, here's some
footage of the soundcheck:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWcTAHSpsmI. We got some great response
for both our tv appearances and the shows at de Kleine Komedie.
We're confident this exposure will open some new doors for us.
Last Saturday we travelled all the way to Nantes, France to do a
Hillbilly Boogiemen show there. The place was sold out and we got a
great reception. And what a wonderful welcome! We sure hope to be
back there some time in the future. Thanks folks of the Western
Country Friends, for showing us a wonderful time!
If you want to know where we'll be performing, please check our
website www.bluegrassboogiemen.nl and look under 'Tourdates'. We
hope you can make it to one of our shows! |

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Hank tribute, Paradiso, Amsterdam |
<update: 8 jan '13>
Hi folks!
First of all, we want to wish all of you all the best for 2013, and hope
to see you all somewhere down the road. We certainly closed up 2012 in a
great way. We did a couple of fun gigs, most notably our performance on
the tv show Top 2000 a GoGo, where we had to do bluegrass versions of
popsongs. The two guests (wellknown Dutch artists) had to guess which
songs we were playing. It was a great succes, and judging from the many
great reactions we got, it did our name, and bluegrass music over here
in general a whole lotta good (you can see the footage below).
2013 couldn't have started better. On January the 1st, we played for a
Hank Williams tribute show, entitled 'The day Hank Williams died', at
the famous Paradiso in Amsterdam. Apart from our own
(bluegrass-)versions of Hank songs, we also backed up a couple of well-
and lesser known Dutch artists. The place was packed and everybody we
heard from, had had a wonderful night. Again, we couldn't have started
2013 better than this way.
Then, on Saturday we were back in Amsterdam, for a gig at a club called
Pacific Parc. A place we'd never played before. And what a great place
it is! Great DJ's and a wonderful athmosphere. And special thanks to our
buddy Rik Krielaart for putting the word out. Very much appreciated
mate! We sure hope to be back there again in the future.
And last but not least, our annual gig at one of our favorite places in
the world to play; our own local hang out 'Café de Stad' in Utrecht. As
usual, the place was packed and fun was had by all. All in all a
fantastic start to what we hope will be a wonderful year for everyone!
(thanks to André van Rikxoort, Monique Lavalette, Roy de Rooij, Pantea
Hermans, Marije vd Poel, Don Sanne en Jerry Goossens for the pics)
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Pacific Parc, Amsterdam |

Hank tribute, Paradiso, Amsterdam |

Cafe de Stad, Utrecht |

Hank tribute, Paradiso, Amsterdam |

Cafe de Stad, Utrecht |

Hank tribute, Paradiso, Amsterdam |

Cafe de Stad, Utrecht |

"Hé hé wordt wakker.." |

".. hier is de bakker" |

"Hé hé wordt wakker.." |

".. hier is de bakker" |

backing up Tommy Allsup |
<update: 19 dec '12>
Hi folks!
It's the most wonderful time of the year! We've sure been
keeping ourselves busy, working on different projects. We've
recorded our addition to the Annie M.G. Schmidt (a famous Dutch
writer) tribute album, and are pleased with the result. It was
the first time we worked with the guys of the Excelsior
Recordings label and the collaboration went just fine. We're
looking forward to recording our next album for them in
February.
Another project was us backing up Tommy Allsup. Tommy played
guitar in Buddy Holly's Crickets and worked with Bob Wills, Ray
Price, the Ventures and numorous other big names in music. It
sure was a pleasure and an honour to join this legend on stage.
Another, to us very exciting project went on last Sunday, but
unfortunately, we can't say anything about that yet.
We're looking forward to a what looks to be a very exciting new
year, and hope the same for all of you. Merry Christmas
everybody! And we hope to see each and everyone of you in 2013!
(Photos courtesy of 'De Supersonische Boem' and Etienne
Stekelenburg)
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"Hé hé ....." |

backing up Tommy Allsup |

backing up Tommy Allsup |

backing up Tommy Allsup |

Tommy Allsup |

Tommy Allsup |

backing up Tommy Allsup |

Het Centrum, Horst |
<update: 6 nov '12>
Hi Folks!
We've had some fun gigs over the last week and a half. Some
private, and two public ones. The first of the latter was in
Horst, at a great little bar called 'Het Centrum', where we met
with some old friends, and made some new ones. We hope to be
back there before too long. And I must say, 'Duvel Triple' beer
is pretty darn good! Thanks for the pics Loes Coppus! The other one was a show put on by our good friend and master
fiddler Joost van Es (who also joined us for both sets), at de
Musketon in Utrecht. He's trying to get more attention for
bluegrass and associated acoustic music by putting on bands,
with a jamsession afterwards. We had a real good time and we
sure hope Joost is going te get things rolling out there. Keep
up the good work brother! Thanks for the pics Odette van Dort!
Another thing we've been keeping ourselves busy with over the
last week is arranging a song in Dutch! That's a first for us!
The Excelsior Recordings label is going to put out an album
featuring songs written by the famous Dutch writer Annie M.G.
Schmidt, covered by wellknown Dutch artists like Spinvis, Marike
Jager, Tim Knol, Henk Koorn (Hallo Venray), Dave von Raven (The
Kik), JW Roy en Anne Soldaat (www.musicfrom.nl/nieuws/...).
We selected one of her songs and 'grassed it up' to suit our
style. We'll be in the studio next week and are pretty anxious
to hear what we will sound like in Dutch! We'll keep you posted
on the proceedings.
That'll be it for now. Thanks for your messages and pictures.
Keep 'em coming, we sure like the attention!
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Het Centrum, Horst |

Het Centrum, Horst |

Het Centrum, Horst |

Het Centrum, Horst |

Het Centrum, Horst |

Roots in the Woods |
<update: 24 oct '12>
Hi folks!
Here's a few pics and a
link to some footage from our last gig,
shot by our soundguy John Blok. We played the 'Roots in the
Woods' festival in Apeldoorn and we had a lotta fun. The guy who
booked us there already asked us back for next year, so we
must've done something right.
And here's the poster Joost van Es made for the gig he put on
here in Utrecht, November 2nd. Looking forward to that! Joost
himself will be joining us on fiddle, which we're sure is going
to be great. Joost used to play with us on a regular basis
during the 1990's. He now has been playing with his own band
'Four Wheel Drive' for many years and does lots of studio work
and back up for many different artists in the Netherlands and
abroad. He can be considered one of the best fiddleplayers in
Europe, and it's a pleasure to share the stage with him.
In the meantime we're still busy selecting and arranging songs
for our cd for Excelsior Recordings. It looks like we'll be in
the studio around February 2013.
Finally, here's two other events we'd like to mention. One is
the 'Rock'n'Roll
Christmas Party' where we'll be performing as the Hillbilly
Boogiemen, and also will be backing up Tommy Allsup, who used to
play guitar in Buddy Holly's band. The other event is 'The
day Hank Williams died' on the 1st of January, at Paradiso,
where we'll be doing our tribute to the Hillbilly Shakespeare,
and will be backing up others as well.
Hope to see you folks there, or somewhere else down the line.
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Roots in the Woods |
%20Hek.JPG)
Claudia (tegen het) Hek |

IJsselpop |
<update: 24 sept '12>
Hi folks!
All three gigs over the last weekend went great. First on Friday
we played for IJsselpop in IJsselstein. A great little
popfestival, which also supports local bands. A pity that this
was the last edition of the festival, but we're glad to have
been able to be part of it. On Saturday we were booked for a
private party at a small horse ranch in Voorschoten...western
style. That was a lotta fun. The folks were all dressed up and
there was a lotta dancing going on. And on Sunday we performed
at a country & western festival in Arnhem. It had been quite a
while since we were booked for one of those, so it made a nice
change. Luckily there were no guns allowed, so there was no need
to feel unsafe (although we thought we spotted some injuns near
the restrooms...). Dutch singer-songwriter Dick van Altena
joined us on stage for a Merle Haggard song and the folks really
enjoyed the music.
So it had been quite a busy week with four gigs (we had a
private party earlier in the week), but the week that lies ahead
won't be. Which ain't bad, as we'll have time to concentrate on
the forthcoming album for the Excelsior label. So far we
recorded about 6 self-penned songs for the demo. It sounds like
they're about ready to be recorded. We'll keep you posted.
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IJsselpop |

IJsselpop |

IJsselpop |

IJsselpop |

IJsselpop |

(C &) Western in Arnhem |

Dick van Altena |

IJsselpop |

Cowtown - Pre-party |
<update: 17 sept '12>
That was another great weekend. Saturday we went to Germany for
the Cowtown Rocks Again weekender, which was a lot of fun. The
scene was an old western-type street and the stage was set up
was outside. First up were the Haystack Hi-tones, who did a
great set. Soon the folks were boppin' and jivin' around and the
atmosphere was great. Then we were up. It's always great to
enjoy the enthousiastic response of the rockabillies to our
brand of bluegrass. We also threw in some grassed up versions of
rockabilly tunes and they loved it. Afterwards there was a
wonderful afterparty where fun was had by all.
On Sunday we went down to Waalre where we played for the
Kempener Pop festival, sharing the bill with acts as diverse as
Demented Are Go to Dutch folk icon Armand. The show went great
and the crowds response was wonderful. It makes us smile with
pride to know we put bluegrass music on the popfestival-map over
here, and we can make the young folks feel the high-energy of
the music, just like they feel it in any other type of music. We
sure hope we'll be invited to many more of those festivals to
come, and keep giving Bill Monroe's music the stage and
attention it deserves.
Thanks folks in 'Cowtown' and at the Kempener Pop festival for
another unforgettable weekend!
Next up are another popfestival, this time closer to home, in
IJsselstein and a countrymusic festival in Arnhem. Hope to see
you folks there, or anywhere else down the road!

Kempener Pop - 2012
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Cowtown - Haystack Hitones |

If you wanna play in Cowtown, you
gotta have two fiddles in the band |

Okay, Robert broke a string, but where
the *bleep* is Arnold going? |

Cowtown - Are You Missing Me |

Cowtown - 2012 |

Cowtown - Are You Missing Me |

Cowtown - Afterparty! |

Kempener Pop |

Kempener Pop |

Marike Jager |

Blue Grass Boogiemen |

Tim Knol |
<update: 10 sept '12>
Hi Folks!
It was a great weekend again. This time we played the 'Into The
Great Wide Open'-festival, on the beautiful island Vlieland, The
Netherlands. Our set went like a dream, with very enthousiastic
response from the crowd that came to...see us play on the stage,
which was set in the middle of the woods. We were joined on
stage by the lovely Marike Jager who sang her song 'Reducer',
bluegrass style. She did a great job! Tim Knol also came on
stage and did a wonderful rendition of the Hank Williams song 'I
saw the light'. Both Tim and Marike are very popular singers
here in the Netherlands and it was an honour to have them on
stage with us. Then, at 00.30 in the morning we played another
set, and this time we returned the favor to Marike, backing her
up for her set. And again, Tim joined us and sang Bob Dylan's
'You ain't going nowhere' and his own 'Sam's leaving town'.
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After several requests from the crowd, which grew larger and
larger as everyone was twitterin' 'n' tweetin' around, we called
it a day. And what a day it was!
Thanks folks, for the support and the warm welcome. We sure hope
to be back at this wonderful festival sometime in the future!
This weekend, on Saturday, we'll be traveling to Germany to see
our friends at the Cowtown Rocks Again Rockabilly weekender,
with The Haystack Hi-Tones, Junior Marvel, K.C. Credit. DJ
Sputnik and The Spinning Two will be playing the records. On
Sunday day we'll be back in Holland to play the Kempener
Pop-festival, alongside Peter Pan Speedrock, Nashville Pussy,
Demented Are Go, Armand and many others. Again, a weekend to
look forward to!
Hope to see you folks there, or somewhere else down the road.
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Swapping jokes again |
<update: 4 sept '12>
Hi folks!
We had us a great time at the Appalachian and Bluegrass music
festival in Omagh, N-Ireland again. We met a lot of our friends and
made us many new ones. The shows all went very well and we sold out
on the cds. Especially the show at the sold out marquee, on Saturday
night, was fantastic! Also the sessions at the pub near where we
were staying were great. The organiser of the festival made it clear
that we will be back at the festival sometime in the future and
we're surely looking forward to that! Thanks folks, for making us
feel so welcome again!

This week we'll be going to the 'Into the great wide open'-festival,
which is quite a big deal over here. One of the biggies so to speak.
We hope the folks will be up for some bluegrass between all the
other types of music featured there. Looking forward to that!
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Starting young! |

Have you hugged your banjo today? |

Wilbur Tharpe, spirited gospelsinger
and even more spirited joketeller |

Devil is waiting for me... |

'We love the Boogiemen!'
(Cassie and Yvonne Fleming)
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Blue Grass Boogiemen, Texas-BBQ, Den
Haag-2012 |
<update: 27 aug '12>
Summer break has only just been over, and already we've been pretty busy
during the last weekend. On Friday we played at a festival featuring
country, rockabilly and bluegrass music in The Hague at the Grote Markt,
right in the city centre. Also performing were our friends from 'K.C. Credit
and the Cashiers' and 'Stringcaster'. It was great to see those guys again,
as well as catching up with our local friends that came to see us all play.
Then on Saturday we did the so called 'Tour de Terras', where a number of
bands play short sets at various stages in the city centre. That was quite
hectic for the bands performing, as they all had to do 7 sets with only a
few minutes in between to get to the next stage, do a short soundcheck and
perform again. But for the audiences sitting at the different stages, the
concept offers a great opportunity to see a whole bunch of acts within a
relatively short timespan. And the organisers did a fine job putting the
whole thing together and accomodating the artists, making sure that everyone
would be well up to it all. Luckily the weather wasn't nearly as bad as
expected, so a lot of folks showed up and fun was had by all. Then on Sunday
we performed at a private party for folks who have been supporting us for
quite a while now. A nice way to start our new season!

Stringcaster, Texas-BBQ, Den
Haag-2012
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And this week we'll be traveling to Northern Ireland to see our friends
at the Ulster American Folk Park in Omagh again and to perform at the
Appalachian and Bluegrass Festival. Apart from the show at the marquee on
Saturday night, just before Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper (USA), we,
along with many other bands from the US as well as from Europe, will be
doing several sets on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, throughout the park.

KC-Credit and the Cashiers,
Tx-BBQ, Den Haag-2012
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And there will probably be a lot of old-time and bluegrass jamming going
on, so if you're into all that and have the opportunity to go, it certainly
is well worth the trouble. The Ulster American Folk Park itself already is
well worth the effort, as it is a sort of permanent exhibition of how the
folks lived during the days of the great migration to the US, and what their
first settlements in the 'new world' looked like. So the perfect backdrop
for some great music!
So, as ever, we're keeping ourselves busy and we certainly got some great
things to look forward to. We'll keep you posted!
P.S. Thanks for sending your snapshots. They're always very welcome and we
like to use them when we can. So keep 'em coming!
<update: 20 july '12>
As we wrote earlier, the summer break is coming up. After that
we'll continue working on our forthcoming cd for the
Excelsior
label. It's going te be one with mostly original songs and we
sure hope you're going to like it. The whole project is quite
exciting for us, as Excelsior Recordings is one of the major labels
over here in Holland. We sure are proud to be on there.
Also, after the summer, we'll be coming over to see our friends
at the Ulster-American Folk Park (Omagh, N-Ireland), for the
Appalachian and Bluegrass Music Festival. That's always a treat.
Apart from the performances (by bands from the US as well as
Europe) there's always plenty picking going on at the various
jamsessions. Maybe we'll even enjoy a Guinness over the weekend.
After that, we'll be hurrying back for the 'Into the great Wide
Open'-festival here in the Netherlands. That's a major event
over here and we're very much looking forward to that also, as
we are to the other festivals and clubdates we'll be doing of
course (you can find them under 'Tourdates')
foto: Blue Grass Boogiemen, Texas-BBQ, Den
Haag
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<update: 10 july '12>
it has been a wonderful weekend again. First, on Friday, we played
In Schaffhausen. A gig Tina Clark organised for us. The name of the
bar is Dolder2, and we sure had a lot of
fun. Saw some old friends and made some new ones. We sure will be
back there sometime. Thanks Tina, for your hospitality!
On Saturday we travelled to our friend Jacob, who used to own the
bar 'Ledig Erf' here in Utrecht. He now runs a place in the Vosges
Mountains:
La
Haute Fourche, and the Tour de France was going to pass through their village.
After that, we played for the residents of his place, which was a
lot of fun. It was also great to see our friend DJ Jan de Kruiff
again. That had been a while!
On Sunday we went back to Switzerland again, to see our friends of
the Helsinki Klub . We've played there many
times before, and it's always a blast. Great to see so many folks
show up on a Sunday evening. It sure is one of our favorite places
to play. We hope to be back in Zürich before too long!
Thanks folks in Switzerland ad France, for making us feel welcome
and showing us a good time! We'll be back!
|

Dolder2, Schaffhausen - photo: Tina Clark |

Souvenir: Tour de France hat |

Belle, Maurice and Erik were staying at Jacobs place in the
Vosgese Mountains also |

Jacob in front of 'La Haute Fourche' |
.JPG)
Blues and Bluegrass festival Hoogeveen

Continental Club -
photo: Angélique de Hoyos

dB's 18/2/'12 - photo:Michel
Fenderwoods
.JPG)
Maloe Melo mei '12 - photo: Sappho
Panhuysen |
<update: 1 july '12>
Our summer holiday break is coming up, so it's time to reflect some
on the passed couple of months. We had some pretty memorable gigs
and made lots of new friends. It was a pretty eclectic mix of events
where we performed: apart from our clubdates we played at
bluesfestivals, rockabilly festivals, a jazzfestival, a
punk/garage/hardcore festival and later in the year we'll be at the
'Into the great wide open'- festival, which is one of Holland's
major music events.
We haven't done that much traveling abroad since we returned from
our last tour in the US, but we'll be coming to look up our friends
in Northern Ireland where we'll be appearing at the Appalachian and
Bluegrass music festival in the wonderful Ulster American Folk Park
in Omagh. Looking forward to that!
Our latest cd 'Live at Café De Stad' has gotten some good reviews.
It is available through this site, but also through CD Baby (as well
as some of our other albums). It's only a few months old, but we're
already working on the new one, which will be released on Excelsior
Records (one of Holland's premier labels). It will have a whole
bunch of our own songs on it and we're looking forward to working
with the guys from Excelsior Records.
That's it for now. Have a wonderful summer friends and we hope to
see you soon! |

Pijnacker - photo: Etienne |

Pijnacker - photo: Etienne |

Pijnacker - photo: Etienne |

Pijnacker - photo: Etienne |

Pijnackerplein - photo: Jolanda
Haanskorf |
NEW CD
OUT NOW
_______________
Blue Grass Boogiemen - ´Live at Café De Stad´
Hi Folks!
This is our latest CD. We recorded it live at Café De Stad, in
Utrecht, Holland last October, to celebrate the 12,5 year
anniversary of the cafe.
Apart from our usual line-up and repertoire of classic bluegrass
tunes, this album also features Maurits Westerik (GEM), Spijk
Groenendijk and Jolanda Peters (The Faraways) as guest singers and
Joost van Es on fiddle.
It's a limited edition, so don't wait, don't hesitate, get your copy
now before it's too late! |

|
 |
Our new Blue Grass Boogiemen t-shirts are here!
Designed by no one less than
Claudia Hek herself (www.claudiahek.net)
as a return favour for Bart and Arnold's contribution to the cd
she made with the 69'ers last year. Though the 69'ers are not together anymore, you still might want
to check out their cd; it got some great reviews from all over
the western world.
But before you spend all your
money on them, save 10 bucks and get yourself a brand spanking
new Blue Grass Boogiemen t-shirt! You deserve it!
|
NEW CD OUT NOW:
'Hits of Hank Williams' - Blue Grass Boogiemen
This album is the last in a series of Dutch artists covering American
countrymusic icons, initially put out by the Dutch 'Starsound' label (which
no longer is in business; fortunately the CRS label was willing to release
this one). A few years ago Starsound Records owner Ruud Pennings asked us to
do a 'Hits of Hank Williams' cd for his project. Though at first we thought
that an album featuring only somewhat more obscure numbers instead of hits
of 'the Hillbilly Shakespeare' would suit us better, we simply just couldn't
resist the offer. Hence often covered favorites as 'Jambalaya (on the
bayou)' and 'Cold, cold heart' couldn't be left out (we already recorded
'Your cheatin' heart', 'Move it on over', 'A mansion on the hill' and 'I'm
so lonesome I could cry' for previous albums), but that didn't matter to us
at all; we're all huge Hank Williams fans and to us all of his songs are
hits.
As a matter of fact, ever since we started playing together, Hank's songs
have been an integral part of our repertoire. We've even done many Hank
Williams tribute shows, playing his songs exclusively. And folks who know
us, know that almost every after hours jamsession we're involved in, sooner
or later evolves into a celebration of Hank's work. So, to say the least, we
love his music, on and off stage, and we're convinced of the fact that the
world can never have too many albums with Hank's songs, whether they're
well-known hits or not.
Of course Hank Williams wasn't a bluegrass artist, but his songs are very
suitable for and often covered in the genre. Notably 'Father of Bluegrass'
Bill Monroe himself recorded some of Hank's songs (they even co-wrote one,
entitled 'I'm blue, I'm lonesome') and many other bluegrass greats followed.
But the music of Bill Monroe and that of Hank Williams have more in common.
Both men were no strangers to that feeling called the blues and both men
wrote and sang about it in their own uniquely intense and inimitable ways,
resulting in what we think is some of the most passionate, heart-wrenching
and soulful music ever recorded. Indeed, 'blue and lonesome'.
Yet another similartity between the music of Bill Monroe, bluegrass, and the
music of Hank Williams is that both have stood the test of time. This is
proven by the the fact that nowadays their appeal still seems to be as big
as ever, but to an ever growing audience, more diverse than ever before. And
both Williams and Monroe, as they have done since the beginning of their
careers, continue to inspire artists all over this world even after they
themselves have left it years ago (Hank in 1953, Bill in 1996).
Needless to say, to us it was quite a challenge to record this album. To
interpret these classics and do them justice by trying to make them our own,
yet fully retain the respect and traditions of the music we love, was not,
and in our opinion wasn't supposed to be, easy. But we think we did the job
and hope that you'll agree.
So making this album truly was a labor of love. But how did we go about it?
Well, first we decided to only use songs Hank actually wrote, then everyone
of us suggested a few and together we made a selection. When we started
arranging them we obviously tried to convert most of the songs into
bluegrass. A few others though, we tried to keep somewhat closer to the
original. Some we changed around altogether. But, with the exception of
'Let's turn back the years' (which is rewritten into a tribute to Hank) and
'Cajun baby' (which Hank did write, but as far as we know never actually
recorded) we always tried to stay true to what we think was the essence; the
meaning of the words and the overall feeling of the songs.
It became quite an eclectic mix with styles ranging from bluegrass to
country to rockabilly to cajun. Our friends Joost and Mark of the Dutch
cajun band 'Captain Gumbo' helped us out to add some cajun-flavor to 'Cajun
baby' and 'Jambalaya (on the bayou)' with their 'tit fer and French
accordion, but the rest of the songs are all played with the traditional
bluegrass line up of banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, upright bass and some
dobro here and there. It just goes to show how well Hank's songs work in
some of the different types of music we enjoy, and enjoy to play.
We truly hope you too will enjoy our versions of these 'Hits of Hank
Williams'.
 |
The World
International Blue Grass Band (feat. Arnold)
Click on the picture for a short story and some photos! |
<update: nov '07>
Well, Arnold is back from his trip to the planet of Butch Robins. And what a
trip it was! Everything went very well and Robins has pointed out that he
wants him back for every tour he's going to organise for the World
International Blue Grass Band. The point he wanted to make with this group
was showing that bluegrass music is as international as most any other form
of American music, like blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll and also rap, hiphop and
r&b. Well, he succeeded in his mission and everyone was very enthousiastic
about the band and the whole idea behind it. If you want to read more about
his view on this, you can read all about his motivations on
www.worldinternationalbluegrassband.com.
The Boogiemen have been going strong, also with Arnold gone, thanks to Joost
van Es and Jan Michielsen of Four Wheel Drive and Izak Boom, who helped us
out. Thanks a lot guys! Your cheques are in the mail!
 |
The World
International Blue Grass Band (feat. Arnold)
Click on the pic to read some and to see a bunch of photos!
|
Meanwhile we're still busy with the Hank Williams CD. Yes, it takes a while,
but then again, we're nearing the end of one of the busiest years we ever
had in our 17 year span. 2008 looks promising as well so we hope to meet a
lot of you folks down the line.
Thanks also to everyone who voted for us and made us win the Gram Parsons
Award (for best acoustic/traditional country band) for the 8th time!
The Boogiemen are also featured in the new book on 50 years of popmusic in
Utrecht, The Netherlands (www.villa-utapio.nl).
It's a very enjoyable book which comes with two CD's and yes, the Boogiemen
are on there as well.
Finally, the music of the Boogiemen will be featured in a Swiss movie called
'Der Freund' by Micha Lewinsky and Langfilm AG (www.derfreund.ch)
which will be played in Swiss cinemas before too long. So we suggest to all
our friends in Switzerland to go see that movie!
That's it for now. Hope to see you soon and keep those message coming in our
guestbook. We love to hear from you!
Oh, and if you prefer to leave a message with a picture, a videoclip or
whatever you can also visit one of our Myspace-sites:
www.myspace.com/hillbillyboogiemen. See Ya!

design: www.shamrocking.com
 |
<update: jan '07>
The year 2006 was a really good one for us, as it was a year in which
we performed at, apart from the many trips abroad (Ireland, Denmark, Norway,
Germany, France, Ireland, Belgium and Switzerland), a lot of great shows in
our native Holland.
The highpoint without any doubt being one of Holland's biggest
festivals
'Lowlands', where we
played alongside acts such as Iggy Pop and the Original Stooges, Muse, Massive
Attack, Fun Loving Criminals. 'Blue Grass Boogiemen verpletteren Lima-tent' is
what VPRO's 3voor12 wrote, which means as much as 'Blue Grass Boogiemen
shatter Lima-tent', which was no exaggeration we can state in all modesty.
Many people who saw us (including the soundguy of the festival) told us
afterwards, or wrote in our guestbook (thanks!) that they had never
experienced such an overwhelming reception by an audience in their lives.
To us also it was quite a surprise. We finally put bluegrass music on the map
there and proved that this type of music also can work very well on
big
pop/rockfestivals, as long as it's being played with the right energy and
enthousiasm it deserves. Just like our friends of the Hackensaw Boys, who
proved that their brand of acoustic music also is very suitable for such a
festival.
As opposed to anyone who thinks bluegrass isn't suitable for mega-festivals
and big stages (as if anyone would be able to decide where bluegrass does or
doesn't belong), we want to reach as many people as possible. We're actually
quite happy to play those big stages and festivals, because there we also
reach a lot of folks who have never heard of this music. Judging from all the
messages we got after Lowlands, it seems we won quite a few souls there for
this music. And at '
Noorderslag'
(another quite important festival in Holland) we got the same reception.
Thanks to everybody who was there and cheered and shouted for more! We'll
never forget this.
In 2007 there's also a few things to look forward to (sorry to our
friends in the States, no trips across the deep blue planned this year). In
March the recording of our addition to Starsounds series 'Hits of...' will be
recorded. Starsound asked us to do a
Hank Williams CD. Apart from some
of his best known songs there'll also be some lesser known material selected
for this CD. We sure hope you'll like the result.
In April a reprint of the book
'Elvis in Nederland' by the well known
Dutch writer Rob van Scheers will come out, and a CD comes with it on which
many famous Dutch artists (ánd the Blue Grass Boogiemen) perform an
Elvis-song. Of course we recorded Kentucky's official State Song 'Blue Moon of
Kentucky'; one of 'The Father' Bill Monroe's best known (if not thé best
known) songs which Elvis covered for his first Sun-single. We hope you'll like
the result.
 |
Also,'Gutsman de
Voorstelling' will be playing all over Holland throughout 2007. This
is the theatre-danceshow which we made the soundtrack for. We recently saw the
show and were really impressed. Already we had some folks inquiring after the
soundtrack, but right now it's not available on CD. We're still negociating
and hopefully it'll be available in one form or another before too long.
We're also working on a programme about Bluegrass music for schools. We
recently did such a show when we were invited by the Insula College in
Dordrecht. It was quite an experience, but we managed to keep the attention of
the 15-year olds and judging to the messages we got afterwards we also won a
few souls for the music. Hopefully we can get more schools interested and
start that Monroe-doctrine in schools all over the country. Next thing you
know, there'll be Bluegrass in the Top 40!
All the best for 2007 everyone and hopefully we'll see you somewhere down the
road!