Michael De Jong
Michael De Jong (January 22, 1945 – March 10, 2018) was a Dutch–American blues guitarist and singer songwriter. In the early days when he played with the Michael De Jong Band there were more influences in his music by Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Jimmy Reed, ... relying on 1950s blues and rockabilly. Nowadays he plays (mostly solo) sober intimate songs using just a guitar and his hoarse worn out voice. He writes about his struggle with life, about women ("Gods masterpiece"), love and the decay of society. Biography De Jong's father, Gerben "Gep" De Jong (1919 – 1994) was a Dutchman who fled the Netherlands during World War II. In France his father married a French Basque woman, that time De Jong was born. After the War, they lived in The Netherlands until the family emigrated to the United States in 1950. (Which is why Michael has no less than three different passports.) At the age of five De Jong grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he ended up as the foreign outsider. When he was six years old he joined the church choir, he never stopped singing again. His first performance was at this age: he