Rowwen Heze

Rowwen Hèze is a band from the small village of America in the south of the Netherlands . They are one of the biggest bands singing in a northern dialect of Limburgish . The band was founded in 1985. Rowwen Hèzes music is inspired by many different genres of music, including folk , fanfare and tex-mex . Rowwen Hèze draws a lot of inspiration from the songs of The Pogues . Lyrically the band is influenced by every day items like a hangover, the local Fanfare, fatherhood, walking with the dog or songs about a local figure. The band started with the search for a new lead singer for the band The Legendary Texas Four. Jack Poels , formerly singing in the band Bad Edge , was willing to fulfill this position, on the condition he was allowed to do one song in dialect. The other band members agreed and Rowwen Hèze was born. In early years they mostly played covers in English. A lot of bands from Limburg compose a song every Carnaval , which is a big cultural event in that region. Rowwen Heze became known in all of the Netherlands with the Carnaval song "Niks stront niks" (no crap nothing). After that they gradually sang more and more songs in dialect. Since 1991 the band consists of Jack Poels (vocals, guitar and harmonica), William "Tren" van Enckevort (accordion, piano, trombone and vocals), Jan Philipsen (bass guitar and Double bass ), Theo Joosten (guitar, mandolin, saxophone, tin whistle and percussion), Jack Haegens (trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone en percussion) and Martîn Rongen (drums and percussion). Rowwen Hèze have proved themselves in the Dutch music history, although their lyrics are difficult for people who do not understand dialects of Limburgish. They have also proved themselves internationally with a particular mix of Tex-Mex , Irish folk , American rock and brass band music.