Dieter van der Westen

As a child Dieter listened to the music of <a href="spotify:artist:6v8FB84lnmJs434UJf2Mrm" data-name="Neil Young">Neil Young</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3eqjTLE0HfPfh78zjh6TqT" data-name="Bruce Springsteen">Bruce Springsteen</a> , <a href="spotify:artist:0FI0kxP0BWurTz8cB8BBug" data-name="Mark Knopfler">Mark Knopfler</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7x83XhcMbOTl1UdYsPTuZM" data-name="Tom Waits">Tom Waits</a> played by his three older brothers in his hometown of Tilburg. Growning up he also got inspired by the Worldmusic of <a href="spotify:artist:2laFwNRffMM18LvKKDxCs9" data-name="Habib Koité">Habib Koité</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:73LjFn4z6WTV7MevyPxrRc" data-name="Idir">Idir</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6wH6iStAh4KIaWfuhf0NYM" data-name="Manu Chao">Manu Chao</a> which he heard in the neighbourhood he lived in. In his own music he combines this Americana, Folk and Worldmusic. After the well received debut album Old Oak Tree (2016) and the band album Me and You (2018), Dieter van der Westen and his fellow musicians have developed into a solid, versatile Americana, folk and alt-country act in the Dutch and Flemish live scene. During the corona period, Dieter and his brother, famous Dutch double bass player <a href="spotify:artist:0yaTeYrw4ULzSJjbhuRk3d" data-name="Eric van der Westen">Eric van der Westen</a>, recorded the acoustic duo album The Sun Will Rise Again and their new band album Honesty of the Hopeful, which they presented in Paradiso Amsterdam in 2022.

The fellow musicians in the band are Violinist Mirte de Graaff, who worked before with <a href="spotify:artist:1rVfa0RepB2c2WIQeaetbL" data-name="Jasper Schalks">Jasper Schalks</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0dlry5auUq3cthJIdRiCVb" data-name="The Lasses">The Lasses</a>. Guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:4wCoA0RnAgZMowbWrHqDzg" data-name="Aron Raams">Aron Raams</a> played with <a href="spotify:artist:287jMoxHzjERgHI6ja8TKa" data-name="Candy Dulfer">Candy Dulfer</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:492hDmhPyuIjP3MgTcIqgm" data-name="Caro Emerald">Caro Emerald</a>, among others, and is also the band leader of <a href="spotify:artist:0fvpn2k7FymYHxEx5U5FpP" data-name="Gare Du Nord">Gare Du Nord</a>. Gijs Anders van Straalen is a percussionist and drummer with well-known Dutch artists such as <a href="spotify:artist:7eK4wPcMgmSIxcGBS2lJl0" data-name="Wouter Hamel">Wouter Hamel</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1F3I9lXbjp3zfI8F9Ayhk5" data-name="Iris Hond">Iris Hond</a>.

In the Netherlands Dieter worked with <a href="spotify:artist:0KQX2wRHV2VLjuscfJFNxB" data-name="BLØF">BLØF</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6oeg2g6otjJxc19BUphrKo" data-name="Thé Lau">Thé Lau</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0e6dXSbAaFM0M9SlsgHIBj" data-name="Frank Boeijen">Frank Boeijen</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2UWFwMXUXbEs79qbI4NdTT" data-name="Paul de Leeuw">Paul de Leeuw</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7qTXJvgJUEhH5Ee9QIbVix" data-name="Gerard Van Maasakkers">Gerard Van Maasakkers</a> and the Grammy-winning <a href="spotify:artist:7JYdpWAsiqzrmMB3qxkEbI" data-name="Metropole Orkest">Metropole Orkest</a>.