BROEDER DIELEMAN, grandson of Jan Bakker and last blacksmith of Spui, makes a quirky kind of gospel in the Zeeuws Flemish dialect.
For years he had been delighting living rooms and venues in Zeeland with songs full of sin and salvation, with the Zeeland landscape always in the background, as a place full of mysticism. In 2012 he debuted with “Alles Is IJdelheid”, which also introduced him as a special musician outside of Zeeland. In the meantime he toured the whole country, even to our southern neighbours, and his oeuvre was extended to four albums, an EP, several soundtracks and special projects and a split 7 inch EP with American folk hero Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billie, on which they translated and covered each other’s songs after a joint tour.
In addition to the Zeeland dialect, especially Zeeland itself is very decisive for the music of Broeder Dieleman; the alter ego of Tonnie, a tall man with open arms from Middelburg. There is space and air in both his lyrics and in his music. It takes as long as it lasts, but ultimately every song arrives at its destination.