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Founded by Anneke van Giersbergen (formerly of The Gathering), Agua de Annique made a perfect start in the fall of 2007. The band sequentially released its debut album Air in ten countries, which was acknowledged with fantastic reviews from around the world. Due to the initial success, an endless series of gigs followed, both in The Netherlands and abroad. With the fabulous voice of the 36-year-old Van Giersbergen in a leading roll, the mysterious, atmospheric guitar pop was received very well on several acclaimed Dutch festivals and also as a support act for The Smashing Pumpkins.
For thirteen years she fronted rock band The Gathering, which played a pioneering role of combining heavy guitars with crystal-clear female vocals. In June of 2007 she parted ways with the legendary band to focus more on her family and her own projects. In addition to fans of her former band, she also welcomes many new fans from all genres.
In 2008, Anneke established herself as a solo performer. Her duet ‘Als je ooit nog eens terug kan’ with Racoon-singer Bart van der Weide and Artists for Tibet, made it to 1 on the Dutch charts. Together with C-mon & Kypski she accomplished a memorable performance during the 'Fifty Years of Dutch Pop Music Quiz' for Dutch television. Anneke also did an overwhelming rendition of Alanis Morissette’s ‘Ironic’ during 3FM’s ‘90’s Request Week’ on national radio. Due to these new projects and endeavors, Anneke has successfully established herself as a scene-transcending singer.
Her version of ‘Ironic’ can be found on her second album Pure Air, which was released in the beginning of 2009. Anneke’s sophomore solo effort became an acoustic record with stripped down versions of some of the best songs from Air, rounded out by some remarkable covers. Never before sounding so direct, Anneke explains: “It seems that these last few years a whole new audience has begun to notice me, as well. That’s why I wanted to re-introduce myself as pure as possible and perform the songs totally stripped down. People are touched even more by a ‘small’ song, or so it seems.”
Pure Air contains much unique collaboration with several internationally acclaimed artists. Over the years, Anneke has been asked to do many guest appearances with a wide range of artists, both live and on studio recordings. This time around she wanted to be the one to invite some of her favorites. Pure Air hosted performances from Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation), Danny Cavanagh (Anathema), singer-songwriter Marike Jager, John Wetton (King Crimson / Asia), Niels Geusebroek (Silkstone), Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon) and trumpet player, Kyteman.
The first single off of Pure Air is a cover of Damien Rice’s ‘The Blower’s Daughter’, which also features the magnificent (and aforementioned) Danny Cavanagh.
In the months following the release of both solo albums, the constant pleas from foreign fans resulted in a Greek tour in February 2009, followed by a Latin-American tour that took her to Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico.
Anneke van Giersbergen & her band Agua de Annique, will release their new album ‘In Your Room,’ on October 30 2009.
Management:
Jammm
Email: joyce@jammm.nl
(This is not Anneke's personal email)
Pic by Joost Reijnders
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