My mission: Keep The Great Crooners Alive - The start till now

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In 2023, something special happened. What began as an experiment with short videos on TikTok and Instagram grew into a widely supported mission, which would eventually lead to a new album and a new tour: Keep The Great Crooners Alive. A brand-new chapter in my career.

I shared covers of my great heroes like Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Robbie Williams, recorded right from my home. The videos were viewed, shared, and discussed millions of times. New followers and listeners poured in, and suddenly there was a huge group of people supporting my mission!

The reactions were both heartwarming and clear: “Release these covers on Spotify!” That enthusiasm confirmed to me that this mission could become so much bigger than just my own passion.

The original concept, artwork and title vs. the final artwork of 'Souvenirs'

GoFundMe and a new album

With that support behind me, I launched a GoFundMe campaign to record an album full of crooner covers. As an independent artist, making an album is incredibly costly, and even more so when it’s a big band album with the goal of honoring the greatest artists and crooners of all time. The crowdfunding campaign raised more than €7,500, which made a significant contribution to the realization of my fifth studio album. In that sense, this album is one for the fans and by the fans.

At first, we gave the project the same title as the mission: Keep The Great Crooners Alive, because that described exactly what it was about. After much discussion with my manager Marc Hofstede and A&R manager Menno Timmerman, however, we decided the album needed a title that would not only reflect the mission but also carry the personal meaning it has for me.

That title became Souvenirs.

Souvenirs: a life with crooners

The title came from a song I wrote together with René van Mierlo. Souvenirs felt like the perfect metaphor. The crooner covers that ended up on the album are, to me, all musical souvenirs, memories I have collected along the way.

Since my childhood, the great crooners have been my biggest inspirations. Their music has always been by my side, in both good and difficult times. Whenever I needed comfort, their voices were there. And during the highlights of my life, their songs played like a celebratory soundtrack.

Of course, the upbringing I received from my parents and the relationships with my friends have been the most important foundation of my life. But in a certain way, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Michael Bublé, and Robbie Williams also raised me. Their music brought me comfort, taught me to keep hope alive, and to celebrate life. That is exactly what I wrote about together with René van Mierlo in the song that eventually became the title track of the album.

The mission continues

Many of the great crooners are no longer with us, but their music remains. And as long as I keep singing, I will continue to carry their legacy forward. That is the heart of my mission: Keep The Great Crooners Alive. Because crooners never truly disappear. Their music lives on in our memories, in our hearts, and in every note I keep singing with full conviction. In that way, I hope to pass on my own musical souvenirs to a new generation and fulfill my mission.

On Friday, August 22, the first single Souvenirs will be released, including a very special B-side. You can already pre-save the single so it will automatically appear in your playlist the moment it comes out. Prefer to have the full album in your hands? Then you can already pre-orderen through my webshop. By doing so, you support the mission and will be among the very first to receive the album!