Gram Parsons 50th Memorial: Tim Knol, Freek de Jonge, Nico Dijkshoorn and others
Fifty years after his death, The Concertgebouw is organizing a major tribute to the legendary Gram Parsons. At the initiative of singer-songwriter Tim Knol, the Wandering Hearts, Freek de Jonge, VanWyck, Blue Grass Boogiemen, Nico Dijkshoorn, Awkward I, Bas van Holt (Dawn Brothers) and Fleur come together for an evening full of country rock and Americana. This concert is presented by Het Concertgebouw, Sugar Mountain Presents (Paradiso), Heaven magazine and Goomah Music.
Gram Parsons 50th Memorial: Tim Knol, Freek de Jonge, Nico Dijkshoorn and others
Tribute to Gram Parsons
In 1973 Gram Parsons died, the American musician and lyricist who had a major influence on bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Byrds and The Eagles. He was a music pioneer who shaped the sound of country and rock music from the 1970s to the present day. With the band The Flying Burrito Brothers he was at the basis of Americana. And through The Eagles, the 'Gram Parsons sound' reached an even wider audience after his death than he could ever imagine. Parson's death in 1973 came early, after a turbulent life. Meanwhile, his spirit lives on in music, from Elvis Costello to Ryan Adams and from REM to Norah Jones.
Tim Knol
The initiative for this tribute is from Tim Knol. He says: 'Gram Parsons was once one of my first musical loves. As a teenager I became completely captivated by his music and that has never gone away. I consider his song A Song For You to be one of the most beautiful songs ever written and I have been playing it all my life. It is an honor to now be able to organize a tribute for one of my greatest musical heroes.' Tonight he will be flanked on stage by the Wandering Hearts, Freek de Jonge, VanWyck, Blue Grass Boogiemen, Nico Dijkshoorn, Awkward I, Bas van Holt (Dawn Brothers) and Fleur. More names will be announced later.
VanWyck on Gram Parsons:
'In his songs you will find everything that makes American music so great. Small lives, grand desires, vast landscapes, deep truths and sentimental lies. Again and again that merging of past and future, of love and death, of whiskey and highways, cowboys and truckers, God and the devil. And all to some of the most beautiful melodies ever written.'
Nico Dijkshoorn about Gram Parsons
'When I want to briefly bring my parents to life, I put on Lazy Days by The Flying Burrito Brothers. A room full of family, my father in the middle and my mother on his shoulders. He jumps, hosts, runs and shakes as my mother screams, It's a Lazy Day.'
This concert is presented by Het Concertgebouw, Sugar Mountain Presents (Paradiso), Heaven magazine and Goomah Music.