Dutch singer and guitarist Eric van Dijsseldonk has a very good ear for melody, which comes in handy for his fluid style of playing. On his Half-Time album the huge influence of the Beatles and Badfinger is fairly obvious, but there are quite a few nods to the sound of late 60s Laurel Canyon crowd and early 70s American singer-songwriters as well.
He is never in a rush, going for mid-tempo most of the time, and when he decides to go a little faster like he does in the rockers Do You Feel and Blackberry he is still very much in control. Van Dijsseldonk is an old school songsmith who gives as much care to his words as his music, fully aware that the sum is greater than its parts when it is done right. Exhibit A: Charlie's Coming Home, an on point tribute to Charlie Watts, "who was always in time" and "let others steal the show".
