Needles & Roots Festival

LINE-UP\n\nFriday, March 19, 2027 - doors open 6:00 PM\n\nVITJA PAUWELS\n\nSolo - guitar, vocals\n\nA fixture in the Belgian music scene is this Brussels guitar virtuoso. He could already be heard alongside, among others, Naima Joris, An Pierlé, and the Lara Rosseel Quintet, where his versatility and refined playing stand out time and again. As frontman of his own formation Early Life Forms, he recorded a much-praised live album with none other than Mark Ribot. Live, a range of guitars passes in review in the company of effects, electronics.\n\nZIMMERMAN\n\nSolo - Simon Casier: guitar, vocals\n\nThe solo project of Simon Casier - widely known for his unmistakable bass lines - bassist with the Belgian group Baltazar, Senne Guns, and Douglas Firs. Simon borrowed his name from Bob Dylan and he displays the same talent: timeless, modern songs. Burt Bacharach meets The Strokes. Honest, vulnerable, rock-'n-roll, and wonderfully Romantic.\n\nMARBLE SOUNDS\n\nDuo - Pieter Van Dessel - vocals, piano, guitar &\n\nRenée Sys - vocals, vibraphone\n\nThis duo has occupied a unique position in the Belgian music landscape for years.\n\nWith ‘Leave A Light On’, Pieter Van Dessel scored a straight-up Belpop classic and since then he has continued to challenge himself musically. Seamlessly forged indie pop with enduringly fresh sincerity. On stage: small, vulnerable, in a duo setup with Sijsele singer-songwriter Renée Sys.\n\nLINE-UP\n\nSaturday, March 20, 2027 - doors open 6:00 PM\n\nJOSEPH & MAIA\n\nDuo - Joseph G. Thompson - guitar, vocals\n\n& Maia Potier - vocals\n\nThis talented duo from New Zealand brings atmospheric folk songs, inspired by Ryan Adam, The Staves, and Noah Gundersen. Besides their strong compositions, the perfect harmony of the two is particularly striking. They are also headstrong, because they left a major record label to record their debut album entirely according to their own wishes.\n\nMAY ERLEWINE\n\nSolo - May Erlewine - vocals, guitar\n\nThis soulful folk and americana singer-songwriter from Big Rapids Michigan convinces effortlessly with a beautiful voice. She recorded her new fifteenth (!) album ‘Receipts’ with Theo Katzman van Vulfpeck and shows introspective songs full of wisdom. The meeting of Douglas Firs and May Erlewine on a magical concert evening in 2024 in Rotterdam held a promise.\n\nMarch 2027 this becomes reality in the Cultuurfabriek.\n\nDOUGLAS FIRS\n\nTrio - Gertjan Van Hellemont - guitar, vocals,\n\nSem Van Hellemont - guitar, vocals &\n\nBart Vervaeck - pedal steel, guitar\n\nThe indie-folk band of singer-songwriter Gertjan Van Hellemont, also guitarist with The Bony King of Nowhere. His last album ‘Happy Pt.2’ was mixed in LA with Kevin Ratterman (Ray Lamontagne, Feist, My morning Jacket). An indie gem of stature: a pronounced preference for American roots music can be clearly heard. Like no other, Gertjan sings about the difficult crossroads in this life. To keep the music small and honest in an intimate setting, a smaller trio lineup.