Tom Van Laere (born 1975), better known by his stage name Admiral Freebee, is a Belgian singer-songwriter. He took his stage name from the

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian anc ...

novel '' On the Road''. ''Admiral Freebee'' is also the name of a ship that sank in San Francisco Bay and was subsequently used as a buoy. Tom Van Laere is the brother of Tim Van Laere, founder of Tim Van Laere Gallery. The gallery represents

Adrian Ghenie Adrian Ghenie (; born 13 August 1977 in Baia Mare) is a contemporary Romanian painter, who lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Early life and education The son of a dentist, he studied fine arts at the Arts and Crafts School in Baia Mare be ...

Kati Heck Kati Heck (born 1979, Düsseldorf, Germany) is a German artist based in Antwerp. Though her work spans sculptural installation, short film, and photography, she is best known for her large-scale paintings. Heck has shown work internationally in ...

, Rinus Van de Velde, Jonathan Meese, Ben Sledsens and Franz West among others.

History

Van Laere was born in Brasschaat, near Antwerp. He participated in

Humo's Rock Rally Humo's Rock Rally is a Belgian contest for rock bands, organized every second year since 1978. It is organized by the Belgian magazine HUMO. Every band that has not yet released an official recording, may enter the Rock Rally, by submitting a d ...

, one of the biggest rock competitions in the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. Backed by a bass guitarist and a drummer he was awarded the silver medal and won the audience's vote. His first album, '' Admiral Freebee'', appeared soon after the competition on

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

, as did his second, ''Songs''. His third album, '' Wild Dreams of New Beginnings'', has been released to positive critical acclaim in November 2006 and reached the top 40 on the Belgium charts. Allmusic bio/ref> Recently one of Belgium's most influential rock formations,

dEUS ''Deus'' (, ) is the Latin word for "god" or " deity". Latin ''deus'' and ''dīvus'' ("divine") are in turn descended from Proto-Indo-European *'' deiwos'', "celestial" or "shining", from the same root as '' *Dyēus'', the reconstructed chief ...

, asked Admiral Freebee to be the supporting act on their European tour. In June 2009 Admiral Freebee was the support act for

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fu ...

on several European tour dates.

Discography

The Admiral Freebee Freighter

According to Jack Kerouac in '' On the Road'', Admiral Freebee is also the name of a ship that sank in San Francisco Bay and was subsequently used as a buoy.

"There was an old rusty freighter that was out in the bay that was used as a buoy." Jack Kerouac – On The Road – Part I – Chapter 11 – Page 73 – Penguin Books – 1976. "And I never spent the night on the old ghost ship- the ''Admiral Freebee'' it was called..." Jack Kerouac – On The Road – Part I – Chapter 12 – Page 80 – Penguin Books – 1976.

References

External links

Admiral Freebee Info Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freebee, Admiral 1974 births Living people Belgian rock singers Belgian male guitarists Belgian rock guitarists Belgian male singer-songwriters People from Brasschaat English-language singers from Belgium 21st-century Belgian male singers 21st-century guitarists