TRISTE MAGAZINE (England) - April, 2002

Doug Hoekstra - The Witchwood, Ashton-upon-Lyme

Only a dozen, curious, souls ventured out on a sharp autumn evening to see Chicago-born songwriter Doug Hoekstra touring the UK in support of his latest album. Clustered around the stage, sitting at candle-lit tables, with an empty space the size of a tennis court between themselves and the bar, it would have been easy for the audience to have fallen into the uncomfortable gap between close personal communication with the artist and the anonymous freedom of being another face in a crowd. But that would have been to underestimate the performing skills of Mr Hoekstra. On first glance he doesn’t look your typical seasoned road warrior, but over the next couple of hours he charmed the audience with a series of tall tales, finely-crafted songs and a quirky line of banter with his backing vocalist and fellow songwriter Kat Parsons.

The set opened with a powerful rendition of "Sam Cooke Sang The Gospel" which was greeted with enthusiastic applause. 'You’re intimate, but loud!' quipped Hoekstra and then continued with a varied selection of songs ranging from the up-tempo harshness of "Atticus", through the heavy-handed pillorying of the archetypal "Laminate Man", to the poignant observations and recalled memories of "Giving Up Smoking". Hoekstra’s voice is not the strongest - sounding like the unacknowledged offspring of Lou Reed (circa Coney Island Baby) and mid-era Jonathan Richman - but is the perfect vehicle for his wry, melancholic reflections on the smaller, universal things in life, while on the bluesier numbers Parsons’ voice provided the soul and grit needed.

At the end of his set the audience went away thoroughly delighted with what they had seen and heard… but only a dozen, curious and fortunate souls. (SW)

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