Brother Dieleman, grandson of Jan Bakker and the last smith of Spui, creates an idiosyncratic kind of gospel in the Zealand dialect.

For many years, he has delighted Zealand living rooms and stages alike with songs filled with sin and soul, always with Zealand in the background as a mystical haven. His 2012 debut was the song ‘Alles Is IJdelheid’ (Everything is Vanity), which earned him recognition as an outstanding musician outside of the Zealand borders. By now, he has been touring through the whole country, as well as visiting our neighbours in the south, and his oeuvre has expanded to three albums, an EP, multiple soundtracks and projects and even a split 7″ with American folk legend Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billie, in which they each translated the others’ song and covered it on a joint tour.
Along with the dialect, Zealand itself plays a lead part in the music of brother Dieleman (a persona that is the alter ego of Tonnie, a welcoming man from Middelburg, who is as tall as a tree). Space and air can be found in his lyrics as well as his music. The length of his songs vary, but in the end, each of his works reaches its destination.

This spring, brother Dieleman will present a long-awaited, brand new album called ‘Komma’. ‘Komma’ is a double album and a photo book in one, and it tells the story of the bay area near the Land of Axel. The work forms a tribute to the mysterious bays of Dutch Flanders, a land full of waterfronts.