Blaudzun is the stage name of the Dutch singer-songwriter Johannes Sigmond who played for years in various bands and projects before pursuing a solo career in 2006. Named Blaudzun, named after a relatively unknown Danish cyclist from the 70s, he works in 2007 on a special collection of songs, originally intended to be a soundtrack for a midnight car drive. The first six songs came together as the self-released EP "Loveliesbleeding". He heads south to Barcelona to complete his self-titled debut that is released April 2008 on V2 Records Benelux. Blaudzun toured the Benelux countries in 2008 including Metropolis Festival and supported Norwegian singer Ane Brun and Mark Eitzel's American Music Club. In September 2009 he finished recording Seadrift Soundmachine during sessions with The City of Prague Orchestra, known for its filmscores. Blaudzun again wrote most of the songs in his beloved Barcelona and recorded in different studios in the Netherlands and Prague. His second LP Seadrift Soundmachine was released on 12 February 2010. Blaudzun made big impressions that year at the big summer festivals in Holland, including into The Great Wide Open and Lowlands. He ended the year with a sold out club tour. Blaudzun broke through in the Benelux and beyond with his third album Heavy Flowers which was released in The Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia and the US. This was followed by sold out club tours in both the Netherlands and Belgium, festivals in both Europe and the USA including Eurosonic/Noorderslag 2012, Dranouter, The Great Escape, Sziget, SXSW and Lowlands and winning awards such as the Dutch Public Broadcasting Award for Best Album of the Year 2012, an Edison for Best Male Artist at the Dutch Edison Awards and an award for Best Alternative Act at 3FM. The single "Flame on My Head" became an instant classic on Studio Brussel and hit both their Hotlist and the Afrekening Charts. The album Promises of No Man's Land was released by V2 Benelux and Glitterhouse Records on 7 March 2014. The album entered the Dutch Album top 100 at No. 1 and entered the charts at No. 6 in Belgium. Promises of No Man's Land is also the title of the first single from the album and is the closing anthem of the daily Olympic program 'NOS Studio Sportwinter' in Sotsji. The video was made by and directed by Mirka Duijn & Nina Spiering. In April 2014 Blaudzun once again received an award for Best Alternative Act at 3FM. During the summer of 2014 he toured Europe with his band playing on festivals like Lowlands, Pukkelpop in Belgium, Hurricane & Southside in Germany and Bråvalla in Sweden. In the spring of 2015 his new single , the official title song for Dutch movie , was released. Previously Blaudzun also composed the official anthem for this year's edition of the that will start in his hometown Utrecht this summer.
Awards
3voor12 Award – Heavy Flowers – Best Album of the Year 2012