Written by Lauren Rosier
The new album, Candle To You, is the riveting, expansive new album by the contemporary folk artist, Ad Vanderveen. What is so unique about this record is that most of the album was written on the mandola and features instruments like the pedal steel, violin and viola, bass, drums/percussion, and harmony vocals. Because it was written on the mandola, it uniquely looks towards past timeliness and stillness.
On the opening track, “Do What You Love,” Vanderveen is both a storyteller and an advice-giver. He sings: “you need a miracle to make it on through… love what you find or you find what you love… do what you love and you’ll be taken care of…” It’s such a beautiful folk song with beautiful, gentle instrumentals and vocals.
The Amsterdam-born Vanderveen was born overseas, but his classic voice echoes the influences he borrowed from the folk/Americana greats like Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and more. This can especially be heard in the second track, “Following In The Wind.” The close resemblance in his voice to Young’s is incredible and the lyricism in this song is real.
“Over Time” is just a terrific storytelling song where he sings about going to visit an old friend, which put him on old memory “spin” and looking back “overtime” is just different looking back over your life. It’s such an interesting song. I really enjoy the tempo and energy of this track.
“All The Way Thing” talks about humility and love being an “all the way thing.” I love the lyricism in this song from Vanderveen. It’s a very honest and humble song.
On “Miss That World,” he gets a little more country with the gentle acoustic guitar playing in the background, and violins quietly being played beautifully. There was also a bluesy harmonica solo that took place after the first verse.
If Vanderveenb sounded anything like the folk greats earlier, he definitely took influence from them on the album’s last track on “Air Guitar.” You can just hear Neil Young or Bob Dylan’s influence on him.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by some of the songs on this record. It had some really decent songs on it that I enjoyed. I definitely recommend giving it a listen if you’re into Americana/folk music and into artists like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, or Woody Guthrie.
Connect with Ad Vanderveen
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