Pater Moeskroen is a Dutch

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

group. During the summer they tour the country to play at festivals and big parties; in the winter the band plays in theaters throughout the Netherlands. The band's music contains elements of folk,

klezmer Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

but also

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

influences. Therefore, the band have created their own music style and sound. The content of the

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

ranges from humorous to very serious.

Biography

In August 1985, three of its founding - members Martien van Oostrom, Adje Grooten and Wilbert van Duinhoven - were touring in France as street musicians. On their way back to the Netherlands, they decided to create a new type of beer and driving along the Belgian city of Moeskroen the idea of Pater Moeskroen (Father Moeskroen) was born. The beer idea was changed into the idea of starting a band with this name. Van Oostrom and Grooten asked their study friends Ton Smulders and Marcel Sophie to join and to complete the band they asked housemate Jan Evers to play the whistles. On January 26, 1986 the first gig was there, in Café van Zanten in

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

. They only had two rehearsals before this gig and their credo was "no rehearsals, just play!". In 1988, a cassette "Alle 7 tips" was released and all 1000 tapes were sold. At that time the band has a very good image as live performers. In 1989 their first CD is released which is a live recording of a show. This CD is also heard by Dutch producer

Peter Koelewijn Peter Koelewijn (born 29 December 1940) is a founding father of Dutch-language rock and roll. Koelewijn is also a successful producer and songwriter for other Dutch artists. His most famous song is "Kom van dat dak af". Biography Peter Koelewij ...

and he had big plans with the song "Roodkapje", a 1991 interpretation of the fairytale

Little Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" () is a fairy tale by Charles Perrault about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th-century European Fable, folk tales. It was later retold in the 19th-century by the Broth ...

. This song ended up high in the Dutch charts and the follow-up single "Hela Hola" was a small success as well. At that time, Koert Ligtermoet had joined the band as drummer. After some discussions around the way to go, the band and Peter Koelewijn decided to quit the cooperation. Pater Moeskroen released after this split another single named ''Werken is ongezond'' ("working is unhealthy"), a number which was boycotted from the Dutch radio due to the idea that this song would harm the laborers' morality. Their first award was the Gouden Notenkraker in 1993, which is an award for the best live performing bands. The band makes more CDs and keeps performing in the party circuit. This circuit doesn't give the band to bring more serious songs nor do they bring a modest song in party tents. The band decided to start up a theater tour in 1995 with the show "Psalmenstrand". They received a lot of criticism for this, a party band does not belong in theater. The band proved with a good show that they can handle theater. On the end of that tour, Drumplayer Koert Ligtermoet left the band and was replaced by Thomas Gerretsen. From that time on, the band plays in the party circuit in summer and in the theater circuit in winter. The following shows ''Wilde Liefde'' ("Wild Love"), ''Spanning en Spinazie'' ("Suspense and Spinach") and ''(on)gewenste Ultimiteiten'' ("(un)wanted Extremities") did well in the theaters. The Ultimiteitentour was also played in Belgium. This tour was also the last tour for the flute-player Jan Evers, who decided to do more cabaret instead of playing music. His successor, Jeroen Goossens, came from Flairck. From here on out the band cooperates with director Dick Hauser. The show got a concept model with a theme. "Diddelidee" was based on

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and became a bestseller with more than 70 performances. The follow-up was "Sprookjes" with the theme fairy-tales. This show was also recorded on DVD as a farewell gift to leaving members Ton Smulders and Wilbert van Duinhoven. Bart Swerts was the new member on bass guitar. Their show "ZEE" was also a success and was also recorded on DVD. In 2006, Jeroen Goossens left the band and was replaced by Vincent van Lent. In that year the band celebrated their 20th anniversary with a gig and the first part of their anniversary CDs : XX part 1. In July, the band will play an anniversary weekend in Nieuwveen and release XX part 2. They have already planned a new theater show called "Nu" which will be played in 38 theaters throughout The Netherlands.

Members

* Ton Smulders (vocals,

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

sousaphone The sousaphone ( ) is a brass musical instrument in the tuba family. Created around 1893 by J.W. Pepper & Son, J. W. Pepper at the direction of American bandleader John Philip Sousa (after whom the instrument was then named), it was design ...

and

charango The charango is a small Andes, Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, from the Quechua people, Quechua and Aymara people, Aymara populations in the territory of the Altiplano in post-Colonial times, after European stringed instruments we ...

) 1985–2004 * Adje Grooten (vocals,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

flutes The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

cittern The cittern or cithren ( Fr. ''cistre'', It. ''cetra'', Ger. ''Cister,'' Sp. ''cistro, cedra, cítola'') is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is d ...

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, N ...

) 1985–2012 * Marcel Sophie (vocals en

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

) 1985–now * Jan Evers (vocals,

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

, and

Tin whistle The tin whistle, also known as the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, a class of instrument which also includes the recorder and Native American flute. A tin whistle player is called a whistl ...

) 1985–2000 * Wilbert van Duinhoven (vocals,

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

Trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

and

) 1985–2004 * Martien van Oostrom (vocals,

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

and

) 1985–now * Koert Ligtermoet (drums) 1989–1996 * Thomas Gerretsen (vocals,

and

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch of a musical scale, whether pentatonic or heptatonic in the case of many African ...

) 1996–now * Jeroen Goossens (vocals,

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

pan flute A pan flute (also known as panpipes or syrinx) is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have been ...

Ocarina The ocarina (otherwise known as a potato flute) is a wind musical instrument; it is a type of vessel flute. Variations exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the bo ...

shakuhachi A is a Japanese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .

and other) 2000–2006 * Bart Swerts (vocals,

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

and

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

) 2004–now * Vincent van Lent (

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

en vocals) 2006–now

External links

WebsiteWebsite official fanclub
{{Authority control Dutch folk music groups 1985 establishments in the Netherlands Musical groups established in 1985