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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZTILDERS, Dutch(b Mattheus Frederikus Wilhelmus Tilders, b 29 August 1941, Netherlands; d of cancer 23 April 2011, Melbourne) Blues guitarist, singer and songwriter; Australia’s most influential bluesman. The family had emigrated to Australia in 1955; he sang in a school choir until his voice broke, and at another school he fooled a choirmaster by singing falsetto. He bought his first guitar in 1959, and sang in coffee houses making up his own songs. At first he just wanted to sing, but the same albums by American bluesmen that were influencing a whole generation in Britain were available in Australia; when he heard that music, he knew what he had to do. Tilders avoided the subsequent rock explosion; his work is drenched in blues values, but he doesn’t sing about things outside his experience, such as picking cotton. Tilders made his first recordings in 1972. He toured with John Mayall, Taj Mahal, and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee; Brownie became a close friend, while B.B. King first met Tilders at Geelong in 1977, and allegedly thought he was black when he first heard him. In 1988 Tilders formed the band Blues Club, and toured with Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown ’88, Lonnie Brooks ’90, Lonnie Mack ’91 and Little Ed and the Blues Imperials in 2002. Tilders has won 14 Australian blues awards since 1990, including Best Album and Best Male Vocalist in 2006. His albums and appearances in artist anthologies included Dutch Tilders '72 on Bootleg/Fable; Australian Jazz Singers - The Blues Singers '74 on Jazznote/Larrikin; Break '75, Working Man '76, Dutch Direct '79 and The Blues Had A Baby '80, all on Eureka, the last two combined on a CD 2004 with bonus tracks, from www.blackmarketmusic.com.au. Further albums: The Blues Is My Life '89, Eureka Files 1975-1980 '92, Live at the Station Hotel '93, all on Blues Club/Empire; I'm a Bluesman '98 on Empire; One More Time - Live at St Andrews 2001 on Rob Harwood Archives/ MBAS/Standrooze; Highlights of Bob Barnard's Jazz Party 2003 on Nif Nuf Jazz, Blue Ink – Live at The Inkerman Hotel 2003 on Cadillac; and the solo Mine & Some I Adopted 2005 from blackmarketmusic.com. In his later career Tilders mostly performed solo, though in the past he had played with various bands, and teamed with guitarist and singer-songwriter Geoff Achison in a duo. He also liked to join forces with Kenny Hatton and Rob O’Toole, sometimes augmented with Peter Beulke. Hatton began playing Chicago-style blues in the late 1960s and supported many local, national, and international bands on electric and acoustic guitar, as well as mandolin and Dobro slide guitar. Drummer O’Toole had played around the Melbourne scene since the early 1970s. Peter Beulke was initially self-taught on guitar and bass, playing double bass since the 1970s, influenced by Willie Dixon. He’s played all kinds of music including dixieland jazz and classical, having spent four years at the Melba Conservatorium. He recorded with actor Russell Crowe, among others, and toured England and Europe. |