Netherlands

This trip was my 8^th visit to the two small villages in the middle of the Nederland’s. I originally went to Marick and Eck en Wiel sixteen years ago with my friend Peter Wrona. We arrived by train and Pietre Stapel picked us up and took us to a party. He said you have arrived with your noses in the butter. My visits there have all been in the butter.

This visit was no exception.

My friend Philippe Pfeiffer and I spent every day playing music and sitting in the garden sharing our life and ideas. I spent 8 days learning one of his songs and then we recorded it in Dutch.

I spent an evening in the magical garden of Riesjart and Mariet Buss, with his giant wooden and metal sculptures all about and the chickens keeping things in order. Riesjart cooked and we drank his apple wine and spoke late into the evening.

I had an evening with The Stapel Panders at La Divina Commedia, an old church which has been renovated into a performance and pension that sleeps up to 26 guests. 15 years ago I went to sing with a group of international artists in a wild 2 week event that lasted 3 months. I stayed on afterwards and cooked with Hilda for the world travelers that came through the pension. Every afternoon we would ride the bikes to the market and return and feed anywhere from 6 to 30 guests.

The house I have stayed in the last 5 or 6 times I have been in the Netherlands is called Villa Zommerlust. My daughter Bianca lived there for a year and pealed wallpaper and then repainted the whole inside of the 1879 building. Selma Dijkland who treated her like a daughter is who I stay with. Selma and I had many adventures. She took me into Utrecht on the train on a hot day and we tracked down a new loop machine, thanks to some help from our friend Cable. Afterwards we drank beers in the square filled with students. We took bike rides all about the dykes and journeyed into towns for treasure hunting. We built a fence and put up an umbrella. Selma sat in the sun and I in the shade. We ate our meals in the garden and drank wine late into the dark. We had a road trip to Dortmund Germany so I could play a house concert; which is another story.

I got to visit my friend Johann Bakker’s concrete factory where Philippe works. Johann is the Opa, (Grandfather) in my song Amelie.

I spent a morning in the ART factory with Pier Stapel Pander. An elder home abandoned and re imagined into a pad for 4 young artists. What a kick!

And for all of these dear friends I sang the chants of Chartres with my new loop machine and every time there was big emotion.

My last evening I spent with Joeri Pfeiffer in Amsterdam. From his tenth floor apartment we looked out across the city and spoke of children and life. He drove me to the airport in the morning we drank coffee and I left for Italy.