As Kristy Cox and Grasstime made plans for a European tour that had been postponed since the pandemic, they had to work with all the moving parts of a touring band. The travel details—plane, trains, and boats—were handled for them by Dave Byrne of My Grass Is Blue, but they had to fill in the roles of a couple of band members who could not join them. Fiddler Ellie Hakanson, who also plays with Missy Raines and Allegheny, was needed for their album release in the States.
Tyler Griffith, who played bass for the band and lives part of the year in the Netherlands, recommended Tijmen (rhymes with Simon) Veelenturf. The two had met and when they had the opportunity to play together. Veelenturf learned that Griffith had played for eight years with Michael Cleveland, whom he calls “my biggest hero in bluegrass fiddle,” and enjoyed Griffith’s stories about those years.
Veelenturf’s credentials left no room for doubt either. He began playing the violin at age seven. He also discovered bluegrass early and picked up the banjo for a couple of years, but when he chose to study music, he explains, “I couldn’t take banjo lessons at conservatory, because nobody was playing it.” He went back to violin for his audition but admits the banjo was the first instrument that drew him to bluegrass.
Fluent in several languages, Veelenturf might also be described as musically multilingual. He spent his first year studying classical violin but then discovered the world music department. He was exposed to Argentinian tango, Spanish flamenco guitar, Turkish, Latin, and Indian music. The opportunity to play tango with the violin teacher convinced him to switch departments, where he completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, sharpening his technique along the way.
Although bluegrass music continued to attract him, as he listened to professional banjo players, he decided to “leave that to the real professionals” and stick with the fiddle. His proper introduction to bluegrass came through a Dutch band the Blue Grass Boogiemen, his “first heroes.” He admired their authentic sound, inspired by listening to their influences—such old school players as Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin, the Country Gentlemen, and the Stanley Brothers. Veelenturf started listening to their heroes.
Two words are used to describe Veelenturf: authenticity and virtuosity. He believes authenticity is the element in bluegrass—and in music in general—that draws in listeners, even if they cannot explain just what they like. When it sounds real, he says, people like what they hear, sometimes saying, “I don’t know why I like it, but I do.”
As he has honed his craft, Veelenturf has played with a variety of bands and musicians playing in a number of major venues and festivals across the Netherlands, as well as the La Roche Bluegrass Festival and Mirande Festival in France, and the European World of Bluegrass.
He traveled to the US last year, where he attended Society for Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPBGMA) conference in Nashville, where he says, “I fell in love completely.” Griffith helped him find a place in the jams with such bluegrass stalwarts as Special Consensus and Seth Mulder.
He said, “They could maybe hear that my way of playing was not completely what they’re used to, but they could hear I was there to learn, to really play, not to fake it. I think they really accepted me.”
During that visit, he also played a bluegrass cruise with Griffith and Mulder’s Midnight Run. He returned for International Bluegrass Music Association World of Bluegrass ™ in the fall, and attended Bean Blossom and Starvy Creek festivals. He was also the first fiddler from outside the US to win the Mountain City [Tennessee] Fiddler’s Convention. He realized that to take his music to the next level, he needed to be in the United States where the music is “the real deal” with no room for bluff.
When presented with the opportunity to tour with Kristy Cox and Grasstime, he says he had a short turn-around time to prepare before they arrived.
“I didn’t have much time, so I transcribed all the fiddle parts and confirmed where all the fills would be, so I would be prepared.”
Cox admitted it’s always a little nerve-wracking when adding someone they haven’t played with, even though they are accustomed to filling in positions in the band in the States. But, she said, they trusted Griffith’s opinions on musicians. They talked through arrangements on Zoom and, she said, “we got off the plane at 8 o’clock in the morning and our first show was 8 o’clock at night, so we literally had a couple of hours in the afternoon to run the songs—and he just nailed it.”
During rehearsal, Veelenturf said, “at least I knew the recordings,” but Jason Bailey, the mandolin player told him, “I hope you didn’t prepare too well because we’re going to do everything differently.”
Robbie Morris, guitarist and vocalist for Grasstime, said they knew quickly that Tijmen was a good fit. Despite some nerves on day one, by day two, they knew he was right for the band. “He surpassed all expectations—not only his music but as a human—-all the things that matter.” Morris went on to say, “He had the technical ability, the technical acumen. He also had the willingness and desire to learn, to be better at what he was doing. He already had all these skills and all the genres, but that was not enough [for him].”
Over the course of the tour, the formation grew stronger. It didn’t hurt, Cox joked, that Netherlanders share the same quirky sense of humor as Australians. “We’re known for our sarcasm,” she said, and Tijmen shared that “out there sense of humor.” During the tour, she said, they started playing the Vengaboys’ 1998 hit “We Like to Party.”
“Every time we got in the bus, we put the song on and drove Dave, the tour manager, completely crazy.” Within a few days, Tijmen started playing fiddle for the song and by the end of the tour, they closed their set on the mainstage of the festival with a bluegrass version of the song. “It was all his idea,” she added. The crowd loved it.
The members of Kristy Cox and Grasstime confirmed what others have reported: Bluegrass musicians are treated like rock stars when they travel abroad. Cox noted that country music has had a huge following in Europe since the 1950s. She also noted that bluegrass has such a strong connection to Celtic music that it resonates in Europe—especially in Ireland. Not only is the music high energy and fun, she noted, “I think bluegrass music could save the world.”
During the nearly three-week tour through the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, England, Ireland, and Germany, they reported many highlights. When they were at the Buhl Festival in Germany, they ended up with fifty or sixty pickers on stage. They played “Blackberry Blossom” five banjos deep, five fiddles, five bass players. Called back for encore they played “Sitting on Top of the World,” followed by a twenty-minute version of “Wild Bill Jones.”
The jamming was a high point for Veelenturf, who finds those experiences more limited. “When we got off the stage, a jam broke out immediately,” said Veelenturf.
“Right by the stage door,” Morris added.
During the highly successful fun, Veelenturf made such an impression on the members of Grasstime that they are working with him on his visa application to bring him to the States where he can continue to grow as a bluegrass musician. The process is more challenging for musicians than for performing artists, Cox noted, since they have the credentials but lack evidence to support their activity in music.
Cox, who came to the US from Australia, understands the desire. “All I wanted was bluegrass, and all he wants to play is bluegrass. but you get to a level in your home country. You reach a peak, and there’s nobody to learn from anymore. You’re the person that people are looking to learn from.”
In that spirit, Veelenturf, who balance his performing with teaching, is establishing the first bluegrass camp in the Netherlands this summer.
However, Cox pointed out, “if you want to develop your skill set and be stronger in the genre, you don’t have a choice but to come over here and learn from the best. If you want to be a professional bluegrass musician, the US is where you need to be.” She pointed out that she has become a better songwriter, singer, and musician in her ten years immersed in the music and the genre.
“Tijmen’s the busiest fiddle player in Europe because he’s the best in the genre, but he’s the kind of guy that wants to improve and get better. He’s like a sponge.” In fact, Cox added, “He won’t say so because he’s humble, but he’s the best fiddle player I’ve seen in Europe. There may be better but I haven’t met them.”
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