Roland Van Campenhout


Roland Van Campenhout or in short Roland is a Flemish blues musician.
Roland grew up in the Rupel area. His father, a jazzmusician, drowned when he was 5. Roland left home at the age of 14. He did not get involved with music until the age of 20. He played in the skifflegroup, the William & Roland Skiffle Group, and the folk duo Miek en Roel.
In 1969 he changed to another genre: blues, while also still experimenting with other styles during his career such as country, worldmusic, folk and rock. Roland discovered this genre when he saw John Lee Hooker perform in café De Muze in Antwerpen. He broke through during Jazz Bilzen, where he established his reputation as a live artist.

The 1970s and '80s

During the 70's he joined Rory Gallagher's band and toured around the world, even to Singapore. He performed with Tim Hardin, Leo Kottke and Ian Anderson. Roland built a reputation as a roaming musician traveling from café to café. This became less after the birth of his daughter.
In 1985 he achieved commercial success with the record "76cm Per Second", including hits such as "Fish On The Hook" and "Cruising Down On Main Street".

The 1990s

He was very successful in working together with Arno Hintjens and with the "Charles et les Lulus" project.
In 1998 Roland got to interview his idol John Lee Hooker. A year later he was awarded the Lifetime achievement-award by the Zamu Music Awards.

Jaren 2000

Roland was very active in both blues and country during the 2000s.
On 5 februari 2015 he was inducted into the Radio 2 Hall of Fame for a life full of music.

Discography

Albums