BERWICK ADVERTISER (Berwick Upon Tweed UK) (October 18, 2001)

The Man with that Hoekstra something... by Michael Mee
 
Be prepared to have your horizons expanded at Barrels next Thursday, October 25, because Chicago-born, Nashville-resident singer-songwriter Doug Hoekstra, pictured right, is in town.  And having listened to his latest album "Around the Margins," it is sure to be one to remember.

As soon as you mention Nashville then everyone thinks:  'Ah a good ole boy,' but stow that thought because Doug Hoekstra has more in common with Lou Reed, Talking Heads, and Leonard Cohen than he does with Merle Haggard and Co.

So, who is Doug Hoekstra?  Really the question should be what is Doug Hoekstra?   He is one of those artists that when the penny drops his music is challenging and ultimately fulfilling; the album is full of intelligent insight.  In these days of ever-increasing blandness, Hoekstra is a rare shaft of light, an innovator and a stretcher, a throwback to a time when listening to music meant engaging your brain as well as your ears.

Just when you think you have him pegged with the haunting gospel of "Birmingham Jail", off he goes.  Hoekstra is a liquid performer able to seep into different styles and stamp his own quirkiness all over them.  With his almost sombre 'song speak' style and dark themes he does bear comparison to Cohen and Reed and with the near eight-minute cover of Dylan's "Isis", you know that he is not going to be singing simplistic love songs.

Perhaps the best way to define Hoekstra is to think of him as an 'urban' Tom Ovans, a writer of conscience and a singer of subtle yet ocean-deep feeling.  And the great thing is you never know what is round the corner.

Tickets are priced 5 pounds.

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