biography by Arthur Wood, founding editor of FolkWax, U.K.
[ edited version ]:

Ad Vanderveen is a singer/songwriter and guitarist whose star has been rising over the European and American musical landscape throughout the past decade. Although born a Dutchman (September 21, 1956 in Hilversum), half of his family is Canadian and that may be one of the reasons why Vanderveen's music is firmly rooted in a style nowadays known as Americana. His mother had played organ in church when she was a young woman, and at home his father played piano. Ad was given his first guitar at the age of seven, and would also attempt to play the family piano. When he began listening to records, it was to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks. Later, Ad discovered the music of Neil Young and numerous other singer/songwriters. His high school band was called Room Service, and changing the name to Brinker they cut a pair of pop singles in the late 70s. Vanderveen formed his first Alternative Country Rock band, The Cotton Brothers, in 1980, which subsequently mutated into Personnel.

Personnel's debut album on the Boni Records label was titled On Strike. Three years later C&W Records issued Off The Record, which was credited to Ad Vanderveen and Personnel. After numerous Personnel changes and with fellow singer/songwriter Philip Kroonenberg on board, the band recorded Personnel Only, their breakthrough cd, in Switzerland. This Polydor release featured the hit single Everybody Knows. The follow-up album, Continuing Stories, recorded in Nashville and produced by Bill Halverson, featured guest appearances by Al Kooper, Flaco Jiminez, Al Perkins and Leland Sklar. Ad then decided to leave the band.

Vanderveen launched his solo career in 1993 with the mini-album Travel Light, a Polydor release. The full-length recording, Sooner Or Later, on Via Records, was greeted with critical acclaim, while David Olney was a guest on Brand New Everytime. Wonders Of The World closed with a fourteen minute long rendition of Cortez The Killer. The latter cut presaged Vanderveen's next project, featuring his garage band The O'Neils with three old friends - Roel Overduin [drums], Martijn Van Donk [bass] and Hans Minkema [guitar]. The quartet's self-titled 1998 album on the Dutch imprint, Inbetweens Records, featured eleven songs penned by Ad. The following year Vanderveen released a couple of CD EP's. The title track of Eyes Never Lie, featuring Ad and The O'Neils, was teamed with two solo cuts and a live recording, while the three-track Star Of Bethlehem by Ad and Sonya Hunter, was a special Christmas single.

Working out of his home studio, and sub-titled Songs From The Basement, Ad's next project Here Now, recorded in 1999, found him once more in an acoustic setting. Iain Matthews, who settled in Holland in the Spring of 2000, following almost three decades as a U.S. resident, appeared on the tracks Lasting Kind Of Peace and Darkness Under The Sun. Prior to Matthews' relocation to Europe, in early 2000, Ad had been in Texas for the initial recording sessions of what became the trio recording More Than A Song. The trio consisted of Matthews, Vanderveen and Eliza Gilkyson. Subsequent sessions took place in Norg, Holland, in early 2001 and the album appeared in Europe that fall. The trio undertook a lengthy tour of Holland in February/March 2002 which resulted in the live album Witness, plus a documentary DVD titled - Witness.

Backtracking a little, recently returned from Texas, in Amen, Netherlands, on February 6, 2000, Ad recorded the solo/live album One On One. The fifteen songs he performed, spanned Ad's career from Personnel through his first five solo discs and work with The O'Neils, and the collection included a pair of previously unrecorded songs. On the recording, Ad displaying his diversity by accompanying himself on guitar, dobro, piano and harmonica. A couple of months later, on May 7, 2000, at the Café De Amer in Amer, Holland, Iain and Ad recorded a fourteen song duo/live album that they subsequently titled The Iain Adventure. The duo toured the UK that fall and again in the spring of 2002. Stateside, Iain and Ad performed at the September 2002 Americana Music Conference in Nashville. In the spring of 2003, Vanderveen was the support act on Plainsong's UK tour to promote their latest album.

Ad's latest solo album The Moment That Matters surfaced in the spring of 2003, and features ten original songs and two covers. David Olney guests on his classic composition If My Eyes Were Blind, and The O'Neils [Timon Van Heerdt [guitar] replaced Hans Minkema], Eliza Gilkyson, Astrid Young and Iain Matthews contributed to the sessions. In 2004, by request of AV's US label UTR Records, a best of compilation was put together called Late Bloomer. The disc contains 16 tracks, from 1992's Continuing Stories up to 2003's The Moment That Matters, plus the newly written title track. Also released in 2004 was the DVD Late Bloomer Adventures, featuring new recordings of both older re-arranged and brand new songs. Like many of AV's records the disc builds up, starting with footage from AV's solo theatre performances, later joined by Iain Matthews, and ending in full energy electric band improvisation with the O'Neils. Extras include home recording sessions, a video recording of Cortez The Killer (the same version that appeared on Wonders Of The World in 1997) and an interview.

Discography:
with Personnel: On Strike [1983]; Off The Record [1986]; Personnel Only [1990]; Continuing Stories [1992]:
with Iain Matthews: The Iain Adventure [2000]:
with More Than A Song: More Than A Song [2001 Europe/2003 U.S.A.]; Witness [2003]; DVD: Witness [2003]
solo: Travel Light (mini album) [1993]; Sooner Or Later [1994]; Brand New Everytime [1995]; Wonders Of The World [1997]; The O'Neils [1998]; Here Now [2000]; One On One [2001]; The Moment That Matters [2003]; Late Bloomer [2004]; Fields of Plenty [2005]; DVD: Late Bloomer Adventures [2004]

"Ad Vanderveen sings with understated but real emotion. He is an inventive guitarist. He writes with true poetic sensibility. Yet he never sings or plays to merely show off. His music has an honesty and humility that is remarkable".
Singer/songwriter David Olney, Nashville 2003

"Ad asks the big questions in his lyrics, and goes for the big love in his life and the large melodies in his music. He leaves out the extraneous notes on his guitar and avoids musical overstatement in his songs .... What remains is what counts: the essence of the music, the pure feel, the arrow to the heart".
Singer/sonwriter Eliza Gilkyson, Austin 2002

"AV's songs are life itself. No hidden agendas and no punches pulled. He has both the love and adoration of his growing army of convertees and the unwavering respect of his peers". Singer/songwriter Iain Matthews, Amsterdam 2001 Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.