From the opening bars of Soul on Fire you could be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a new Ry Cooder album at last but you would be wrong by a windmill or two. Influenced by the likes of Leadbelly and Big Bill Broonzy, Dutch guitarist Hans Theessink (pronounced "tay-sink") successfully moves across musical borders with ease on his 15th album. Lifeline is just the right mixture of deftly played acoustic blues, gospel and soul channelled into a union that highlights the diversity and durability of roots music at it's best with guests like Charles Brown and The Holmes Brothers. There are 11 excellent original tracks to soak up, as well as covers of Rev Gary Davis, Blind Willie Johnson, and the Neville Brothers. A rare treat!

In Wishing Well Hans Theessink digs deep into the treasure of American homespun music, and comes up with some wonderful new interpretations of traditional songs, together with strong original compositions and personal favorites by Bob Dylan, Brownie McGhee and Townes van Zandt. He is a master when it comes to making songs his own: even the familiar classics end up sounding like typical Theessink-music. With his warm baritone and exquisite work on a variety of stringed instruments, Hans creates a laid back hypnotic groove and draws his audience into a rare and intimate listening experience.

Less a summit meeting of two bluesmen from different continents than a cozy, loose musical conversation between friends who share similar interests, Visions is a low-key but poignant album whose charms grow stronger as it progresses. American soul/roots singer/songwriter Terry Evans is probably better known through his background singing for Ry Cooder and a few Cooder produced releases with fellow vocalist Bobby King than his impressive solo recordings. Hans Theessink, who is also a singing, songwriting guitarist (he blows harp here as well), hails from the Netherlands and is well known in Europe for a bulging collection of solo discs dating back to 1970. Both push the boundaries of soul, blues, gospel, and roots music and have worked extensively together in the past…

Bridges is a formidable piece of work, recorded in a great sounding old church in Tuscany. Theessink is joined by three very accomplished sidemen on drums, bass and keyboards and a terrific trio of Zimbabwean singers. Hans crosses borders, steps between genres and builds 'Bridges' between them for us all to enjoy. There's some Afro feel in there, and plenty of delta drenched sounds with hints of Gospel too and then just plain old simple good song writing. Wow! That's one potent cocktail!

Even a die-hard Big Bill Broonzy fan such as Theessink realizes the blues can't stay stagnant. That understanding helps makes his reverent combination of Delta blues, New Orleans R&B, and especially gospel so riveting. The Dutch guitarist/vocalist, besides being a talented singer and musician, is an accomplished songwriter. He uses the elements of his eclectic influences to create blues based tunes that pay tribute to their American roots without being hamstrung by them. He shifts from the J.J. Cale swamp shuffle of the title track and "Rolling Stone" (not the Muddy Waters tune) to the rousing deep Mississippi acoustic blues of "Train" and the folksy closing ballad "Man with a Broken Heart." Theessink's burnished, mellifluous vocals wrap around the material like a smoky haze, further reinforcing his obvious connection to blues and gospel…

They call him the Eurobluesman, and he's one of the few Europeans to make a very convincing fist of the blues. At it for many years, he's recorded an excellent catalog of material, and this is no exception. There's plenty of space here, which is something that suits his very relaxed style, so laid-back that at times it seems as if he couldn't be more at home. But when you consider that one of his inspirations must be J.J. Cale, that's perhaps not too surprising. A deft instrumentalist, playing guitar, mandolin, harmonica, banjo, and mandoguitar, he uses the instruments sparingly and well, allowing his lovely, warm voice to dominate…

1989 Hans Theessink ("The Euro-Bluesman") recorded this album of originals, covers of prewar country blues (Son House's "Grinning in Your Face," Garfield Akers' "Dough Roller Blues"), even an arrangement of Jimmy Cliff's "Living in Limbo." He is ably accompanied by a 10-piece band, including horn section, saxes, tablas and more.

B.B.King said “The blues are a mystery“, and Willie Dixon stated: „The Blues are the true facts of life.“ When Hans Theessink and Big Daddy Wilson sing Blind Willie Johnson‘s classic “Everybody Ought To Treat A Stranger Right” – first recorded in 1930, the song has lost none of its relevance in the present day. Theessink’s own “Virus Blues”, is a haunting reflection of our own time and age right now: “Makes no difference if you’re rich or poor, if you’re yellow, black or white.” And remember, “You gonna reap what you sow” – one day “PAY DAY” is gonna come.

Taking his cues from the '70s output of Ry Cooder, there is nothing in the sound of the Dutch-born and raised Hans Theessink that would indicate he learned his craft from albums and not from being raised in the swamps of Mississippi. His dusky baritone, greasy slide licks, and soulful male backup singers (led by Cooder vet Terry Evans who turns in a stunning performance throughout) plant him firmly into the deep South. The gospel feel of the title track, along with its subtle shuffle beat and rousing yet mellifluous supporting vocalists, sounds as natural as if he spent his entire life soaking up the spirits of the bluesmen he obviously adores. When he and the elegant singers harmonize on "Set Me Free," with pedal steel crying and longtime cohort John Sass' tuba counterpointing the bass, you can almost feel the flies buzzing around your head as you sit beside the banks of the mighty Mississippi…

The Dutch recording artist, which not only in Germany but also far successfully inspires his audience about the European boundaries, surprises and power now with his first best-of. For the title of Homecooking, Hans Theessink has himself selected the songs and thematically distributed on 3 CDs: Blues cooking and song cooking his best blues find interpretations as well as a selection of his most beautiful songs. Live cooking includes many tracks of the 2004 DVD "A Blues & roots Revue" for the first time on CD released!