Back home

Well, when I returned from my Europe journey I somehow got lost. It was very difficult for me to adapt, but I really tried. I started an education to be a teacher and somehow I got three years later again a diploma.

At that time I studied in Groningen, a nice town in the north of Holland. During my studies I played with some different musicians and one of the bands was called "Stillus". Actually I had a great time with these musicians because we went that summer to France and Italy to play in the streets. We didn't make any money, but we had a lot of fun. We played covers from all kind of stars from the sixties.

Another band I played in was called "Speling'. This was more interesting because here we played our own songs. Paul played the guitar and Margriet the flute. Now how did I meet all these musicians from Groningen ? We didn't have internet at that time. We had the library. On a wall in the library you could write an advertisment that you were looking for other musicians.

With my friends I played some songs like "Venus", and some songs of a French singer called Michel Fugain. One day we won the first price of streetmucisians in Groningen !

Annette,Ria,Ellen in the Herestraat in Groningen

This was also the tim I discovered the music of Sandy Denny. I never listened to music so much. People always told me I sang like Joan Baez, but I never heard of her. One day a Canadese girl took me to a concert of Joan in Lyon (France) when I was travelling. It was nice to hear this lady sing and I even met her after her show. But anyways, when I discovered Sandy Denny I liked her singing the best. So later on I tried to sing some of the songs she did. You can watch me singing some of her songs on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN63iwN7jq8