Roland Van Campenhout - roland & the deep blue sea '2024

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. Out On The Rolling Sea
02. Turn Around & Take Me Home
03. Fish In The Deep Blue Sea
04. Midnight Star
05. Wake Up All The Death
06. Under The Sea & Above



Legend, phenomenon, cult figure... the list of such superlatives could go on and
on. The man we are talking about here, Roland Van Campenhout, is not at all
interested in these descriptions of himself. He is simply a wonderful musician,
an impressive guitarist and impressive singer with the blues as his main
stylistic device. He is of course able to present it in its more pure,
traditional form. But also, and in recent years with obvious preference, in a
much more modern form.

Like on his latest live album 'roland & the deep blue sea', which sounds so
fresh and young that it is hard to believe that the Belgian will be turning 80
in the coming weeks (July 25). He is turning 80! In other words: eighty! OK,
other protagonists who started out in the 1960s have also reached this age.
Blues colleague John Mayall is already 90. But are they all still capable of
such a musical fountain of youth?

The album, recorded at GC 't Blikveld in Bonheiden in southern Belgium with the
full band - in addition to RVC, with a keyboard player, second guitarist, bass
and drums - offers a total of six pieces, five of which are longer, all between
around nine and eleven minutes long, which you immediately have to press repeat
after hearing for the first time. For example, the opener "Out In The Rolling
Sea" turns out to be a rousing psycho-blues track characterized by strict riffs
and flowing wah-wah sounds, in which guitars and electric piano, spurred on by
the two rhythm players, engage in such a fascinating duel in the second half
that Roland lets out a clearly audible "Wow" towards the end.

'Turn Around And Take Me Home', the following track, begins gently with floating
guitar sounds and a plaintive voice, and later on is not stingy with string
excesses. The traditional 'Fish In The Deep Blue Sea' advances here to a hearty
slow funk. And 'Midnight Star', the final number of the regular set, blows out a
splendid rock attack. The encore "Wake Up All The Death" with its many guitar
echoes and 'Under The Sea And Above' as the final, three-and-a-half minute
groove gem complete the track listing of this fascinating live album.

Roland Van Campenhout only came to music when he was twenty. In the mid-sixties
he started playing skiffle and folk, and then discovered the blues a few years
later. As a temporary member of the Rory Gallagher Band he travelled the world
and from then on absorbed all kinds of musical influences wherever he went. He
has played with various luminaries (including Tim Hardin, Leo Kottke, T.C.
Matics' Arno Hintjens) and has released around 30 stylistically rich albums to
date.

And yes, he is and remains, just like his German counterpart Richard Bargel, who
wrote the liner notes for the album, a 'niche musician', with, according to
Bargel, 'prizes and awards that were hardly noticed by the public.' But they
feel comfortable in this niche, because (Bargel quote): 'We both consistently
went our own way, away from the mainstream, which never interested us. What
interested us was our musical freedom, our authenticity and the individual
implementation of our rich song repertoire. Creating something of our own, not
just copying, playing against stereotypical thinking and simply ignoring
narrow-minded critics, that was and still is important to us today.' Roland Van
Campenhout's album "roland & the deep blue sea" is a magnificent proof of this
statement!

oland Van Campenhout guitar & vocals
Mirko Banovic bass guitar
Bruno Fevery guitar
Serge Feys keyboards
Teun Verbruggen drums

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