Phil Friendly is an American rockabilly artist who tours through Europe every once in a while. I met Phil Friendly in 2010. We played at a rock and roll party with both our bands, Dee Ann and the Nightcaptains, and The Phil Friendly trio. We really had a blast as did all the greasers, cats and kittens at the party.
Phil Friendly
Phil started his 2011 tour this January. He has two musicians to join him: John on drums. He has been touring with Phil for many years. His own band is called the Jacuzzi Sharks. Martijn on bass. He is bassplayer of Catslappin’ Chrissie and the Vibro Kings.
I had the honour to join Phil Friendly at two of his shows for a guest performance, to sing a duet. We wanted to sing Johnny & June’s “Jackson” live at a local Rotterdam radio show called Live uit Lloyd. But we thought it would be good to do a trial first at D’Oude Stoep in Vlaardingen, where he would have a show the day before. The cafe was packed, everybody was happy to see Phil perform in The Netherlands again. A roots/ Americana repertoire mixed with his own songs from his last cd. This cd contains Phil’s ballad ‘Every Single Day’ which is featured in a movie called: ‘Saving Grace B. Jones’. It will be out in theatres in North America starting from January, 2011.
Phil Friendly with Ronald van Oudheusden
I know him as a modest person, singing and playing his songs with passion and respect for the original artists. In Vlaardingen I saw him move his feet for the first time! Was he inspired by Carl Perkins? He had fun, you could see that. And the audience had fun too.
During the second set I was called on stage and we started the first lines “We got married in a fever”. We saw the crowd singing along and acting a little crazy, because the rhythm of this song is very catchy. It makes you want to ride a horse in the desert or something. So we sang, no rehearsal to prepare us, and it worked! People loved it. We were ready for the next day, at the radio station. But first I enjoyed the rest of the show between all of his Dutch friends. And he has a lot of them. Some people loved the show so much, they wanted to go to his next show too, 2 days later in de Bierbron in Vlaardingen. After that… Phil will be touring all over the country, including Belgium and a festival France.
Phil Friendly
The next day I met Phil, Martijn and John at the radio station Radio Rijnmond. Ronald van Oudheusden is the presenter of a show called “Live uit Lloyd”. He is a guy with a lot of sense of humor. But you’ll also be surprised and never know what’s next. You could say he’s crazy in a healthy or maybe disturbing way. Anyway, never a dull moment with Ronald.
The first song they played was Honey Don’t. A very well known song written by Carl Perkins (I can hear you say “duh” but in case some rockabilly newbies are wondering…)
‘Back Home’ and ‘Every Single Day’ are the songs from his cd. Every Single Day reminds me of “Solitary Man” written by Neil Diamond, also played by Johnny Cash. I don’t know if he was inspired by this song.
Jackson went very well, I was releaved. There is always more pressure performing in a recording or radio studio.
The interview was in Dutch and English. Phil understands Dutch very well. As we expected Ronald joked around a lot, but he was also very serious and interested in his carreer next to music. Phil already has a degree in teaching Dutch and English, but will pick up medical school again soon. For the time being, this will be his last European tour. Let’s enjoy while we can.
Live uit Lloyd with Phil Friendly
Tourlist:
January 21st – De Joie, Maastricht, Holland
January 22nd – t’ Proosje, Schiedam, Holland
January 22nd – Hier, Den Haag, Holland
January 23rd – The Rambler, Eindhoven, Holland
January 27th – Omroep Brabant, Radio Show, Live, Holland
January 27th – D’Oude Stoep, Vlaardingen, Holland
January 28th – RTV Rijnmond, Radio Show, Live, Holland
January 28th – Lambiek, Tilburg, Holland
January 29th – Radio 2 – TROS, Radio Show, Live, Holland
January 29th – De BierBron, Vlaardingen, Holland
January 30th – Hart van Veghel, Veghel, Holland
February 04th – De Zwaan, Heeze, Holland
February 05th – Tielemans, Boekel, Holland
February 06th – Ace Cafe, Rumst, Belgium
February 11th – Cruisers Rock’n’Roll Club, Ploegsteert, Belgium
February 12th – ‘Dance to the Bop’ Fest, France
February 16th – Honky Tonk Cafe, Brielle, Holland
February 18th – Baccus Cafe, Geel, Belgium
February 19th – Blues Cafe, Apeldoorn, Holland
February 20th – Rockabilly Party, Uden, Holland
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