Laughing, singer Kim Kloet and guitarist Richard Vrieze talk about their meeting. “Richard invited me to come and cut his hair,” says the singer, who also cuts in addition to singing. “He picked up a guitar.” Richard completes her. “Yeah, I just wrote a song.”
Even before the cutting was finished, music had to be made. “Still with the apron on”, Richard beams, “and the curlers in.” Kim thought it would be a good plan to start singing the song. She did and it soon became apparent that it would be a shame to leave it at one time. The foundations for the band were laid and after a while Kim and Richard gathered a nice group of people around them. Guitarist Reinout van der Veen, drummer Maikel Tanger and his father Rolf on bass: The Black River Roots.
‘Oops I did it again’
After four rehearsals, it was enough and it was time to perform. “Go with that banana,” says Richard. “Since then we have had quite a few gigs, but yes”, it sounds. The reason the performances stagnated will be obvious. Corona made its appearance and with that came the draft.
The Roots longed for performances again in the long run and are therefore happy that this is now possible and allowed, because they like studio work, but live performance is even more beautiful. “We are all people who have a lot of fun making music and we want to convey that,” Kim says. “You’re kind of a mirror to others.”
From one of the songs the band has, the mutual pleasure is also apparent: an Americana version of Britney Spears’ was played. Oops I did it again† In addition to the serious tone of the song, it also has some coolness. Richard and Kim laugh when it comes up and ask if they should play the song for the basement session. Because you can if you want.
Album
“We do have some covers, including The Beatles, but all in a roots jacket,” explains the guitarist. “We also did that with songs by BB King and some old blues stuff. But the emphasis is on our own songs.” Kim also says that they want to write as much as possible themselves. That, according to the duo, is the most beautiful thing there is.
“We would prefer just a weekend away and then write as much as possible, create new things and then develop them. We have already done that once and it went very well,” says Kim. “Yes, in a relatively short period of time something like sixteen songs of our own. We supplement the rest with covers”, Richard hints on an album, because that has to come. “Yes, we really want to get that done this year.” The debut album of the five-piece roots and Americana band should be ready after the summer.