‘Tough’ might not be the first thought you have when you hear that father and son are in the same band. But the two fathers and two sons of blues band Doin’ Alright from Assen think differently.
“In the beginning I didn’t want that. Then we played together once and now I don’t like it if one of us isn’t there,” explains singer and bassist Paul van Berg. Together with his son Thomas (guitar), friend Erik Niemeijer (harmonica) and his son Martijn (drums) he forms Doin’ Alright.
“It’s still fairly new to me, but so far I really like it,” says Martijn. There is also a good mutual relationship between the band important. “Yes, you shouldn’t argue about who should do what,” says Martijn. “But we’re still working on that,” Paul jokes in between. “We’re not going to discuss that here,” Martijn adds with a smile.
The blues movement that the four gentlemen have mastered is a special one. “In the fifties they had a new movement of Robert Nighthawk and T-Bone Walker. They thought the place where they were at the time was much too cold. Then they went to California, to the west coast. That style of music has become very well known there.” , says Paul. “And that’s how the name westcoast blues came about.”
According to Paul, the genre is characterized by many jazz influences, especially with the bass and drums. “Actually, for this style you need a jazz drummer and a jazz bass player. Everything else – the vocals and the solos – is blues. That is not the case with all other blues”, the double bass player explains.
“I really like it,” says Martijn, the youngest of the four. “The music is very relaxed, but also complicated. You can go all out. Even when I play: I completely empathize.” Despite his age, he has no doubts whether the almost eighty-year-old music genre is right for him. “I have played other music before, but that current does not match this one.”
According to the drummer, the pop and rock music he played when he was still taking drum lessons is of a different order than the swinging west coast blues. Father Erik, who ‘has the blues’ all his life, played a major role in this. “That was always in my head, yes. In the car for example. But I always went to performances when he still played with other bands. It was always there. So I quickly got the rhythm “, Martin explains.
The men don’t get into their heads when it comes to wild plans for the future. “I’m quite old already,” laughs Paul with some self-mockery. “And I’ve seen that everyone who wants to live off the blues does it very badly. So we don’t pretend to become world famous. Not at all, actually.”
The bassist and singer wants to emphasize that their west coast blues are special after all. According to him, the same kind of blues is often played at blues festivals. “What we do is a bit different. I’m always proud that when we’re at a festival, we’re the outsider.”