Chris Eckman

American singer-songwriter Chris Eckman may be familiar to older music lovers as the frontman of alt-country band The Walkabouts, which enjoyed success in the alternative circuit during the 1990s. For over two decades now, he has been making music as a solo artist and as a producer for others.

Last year his sixth solo album, The Land We Knew the Best, was released and named album of the month in the British music magazine Uncut: "...a remarkable album about loss, forgiveness, rebuilding a life from ruin, maybe the best thing Eckman's put his name to." The album features restrained songs with contained tension, reminiscent of the work of Nick Cave, Neil Young (particularly from the On the Beach period), Mark Lanegan and Leonard Cohen. As the years go by, Eckman's voice increasingly resembles that of Cohen.

Music that demands attentive listening - the Doopsgezinde kerk in Almelo is a fitting venue for this.