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Dutch

IF YOU GO

The IntVeld Family

WHEN: 5:10 p.m. Saturday, 10:30 a.m. Sunday

WHERE: Saturday at the Townsend Spring Festival, at the Townsend Visitors Center, 7906 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway; Sunday at The Church of the Cove, which meets at Townsend Elementary School, 140 Tiger Drive

HOW MUCH: Free

CALL: 448-1161

ON THE WEB: www.intveldfamily.com/index-eng.php

By Steve Wildsmith

of The Daily Times Staff

It was purely an accident the first time the IntVeld family stumbled into the bluegrass concert at last year's Townsend Spring Festival.
This year, however, they'll purposefully make their way back to Blount County, invited back on the strength of their impromptu performance last year and their unabashed love of an art form that, a few years ago, was as foreign to them as the music of their native Netherlands would be to East Tennesseans.
First, a bit about the background of the IntVeld Family, according to fiddler Mattanja IntVeld: ``We all played an instrument as kids, and there were eight kids in the family,'' he said, speaking by phone from Holland on Wednesday. ``We all learned how to play a classical instrument. Myself, I was taught classical violin, and then in 1985, I happened to be in the U.S. accidentally, and I had never, ever heard in my life bluegrass music before.
``All of the sudden, I ended up in Michigan at a bluegrass festival, and I saw a bluegrass fiddler, and that's what I liked immediately. I'd pretty much quit playing violin at that time, but I liked it so much, after the concert was over, I walked over to that guy and said, `I want to learn to play fiddle like you do.'''
Shortly thereafter, IntVeld was on his way back to The Netherlands with two albums -- ``Will the Circle Be Unbroken,'' by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and ``Country Fiddlers.'' Back home, he recorded the albums onto cassette, so he could play them slow enough to learn the songs on his violin. Soon, he was encouraging his brother, Gideon, to learn the banjo, and the IntVeld Family bluegrass band was born.
``We had three little sisters, and we all traded our classical instruments for bluegrass instruments,'' he said. ``It's been so much fun, and what we found is that a lot of the Dutch people just love it. I think it's the purity of the music -- there's no amplifying and no electricity, so it's pure; just natural instruments and natural sound. It's becoming quite popular over here.''
Over the years, those records, and more he would continue to purchase, taught IntVeld bluegrass classics taken for granted by anyone born in this area: ``Devil's Dream,'' ``Down Yonder'' and ``Turkey in the Straw,'' to name a few. The guys listened to Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, and the girls learned to harmonize to Alison Krauss and the Cox Family, he said.
``We didn't have a dishwasher at the time, and since they did dishes together so many times, while doing the dishes, they sang,'' he said. ``That's why they probably have that close and nice harmony together.''
And just how did they wind up in Townsend last year? Glad you asked, because IntVeld gets excited just talking about it. They were performing at a festival in Indiana, when a fan approached them about performing on a local radio show. The group's schedule dictated that they decline, but the fan offered use of his home in Gatlinburg once he found out the IntVelds were headed to Nashville.
A cancellation in Nashville led to a last-minute decision to take the fellow up on his offer, and the next day, the IntVelds were staying in Gatlinburg.
``We were driving to get some groceries, and we got lost in the mountains, just driving 45 minutes and not seeing any telephone poles anymore, when we ended up on a main road at a gas station,'' IntVeld said. ``The lady told us that Pigeon Forge was the other way, but then we saw all these cars along the road, and we saw all these guys playing these instruments like we do.''
They'd made their way to Townsend, smack dab in the middle of the Spring Festival. And they hadn't known anything about it.
``We were there by mistake, and we were squeezing each other, asking, `Is this real, or are we dreaming?''' he said. ``We grabbed our instruments and started jamming with them, and at the very end, on Saturday night, they put us on the main stage and let us close the concert. We had a standing ovation, and one of the guys after the concert said, `Hey, come back next year.'''

And this time, he added, they know the way.

The Mountain Press, TN; 2004-05-06

To Pigeon Forge via Townsend - and the Netherlands

By:J.J. KINDRED, Staff Writer May 06, 2004

Photo by J.J. Kindred


The IntVeld Family, a bluegrass band from the Netherlands, performs on stage at Dollywood Monday afternoon. The family has toured and performed all over the world.

For the IntVeld Family, getting lost was probably the best thing that could have happened to them.

Approximately one year ago, the IntVelds, a bluegrass music band who originate from the Netherlands, were vacationing near Townsend and were driving around, looking for a place to eat. They wound up getting lost, and as fate would have it, they ended up running into a bluegrass music festival, which are frequent in Townsend.

Ironically, the IntVelds happened to have their instruments with them in their vehicle. "We saw that they were playing the same kind of music we did," said Mattanja IntVeld, after he and his family got through playing at Dollywood Monday afternoon. "We got out our instruments and started playing right there."
As they were playing, officials at the festival started to take notice. "We were told to go perform on the main stage," IntVeld continued, "and we were put on at the end of the festival. It was amazing."

IntVeld and his family members, which consist of a brother and brother-in-law, Gideon and Jan, and three sisters, Ruchama, Naomi and Channah, began playing music at a young age. After starting in classical music, they decided to go the bluegrass route. "I heard someone play the fiddle one time and I really liked the sound," said IntVeld.

"We were trained in classical music, and I played the piano," said Gideon IntVeld. "My sisters played the flute, and we traded in those instruments for different ones." Those instruments include the banjo, mandolin, fiddle, double-bass, guitar and the dobro.

The IntVelds perform once a month back home in the Netherlands, but have also toured previously in the United States, as well as Ireland, Great Britain, Germany and the Ukraine. They have recorded one CD, and are in the process of releasing another.

Not long after fate had them get lost at the Townsend bluegrass festival, the IntVelds got another big break - Dollywood, where they have been performing all week. Dave Anderson, Dollywood special events manager, was told about the IntVelds and decided to have them perform. "We didn't know what to expect. We were intimidated," said Mattanja IntVeld. "The people were so responding and very friendly. The feelings are hard to express." "Everyone has made us feel welcome," said Ruchama IntVeld. "It is much different than in our country."

Despite their success in America, bluegrass music has not been growing in the Netherlands, they said, seldom hearing of it. However, Mattanja IntVeld thinks there is still room for improvement as far as their music is concerned. "We think we're not that good, but people don't think that," said IntVeld. "The music has a different beat to it. You have to be born (in the South) to have that sound. We're still learning the craft."

Being in Townsend was a "set-up," according to Mattanja IntVeld. "It shows how our Heavenly Father guides us," he said. "It was not a coincidence."

After having played at Dollywood this week, the IntVelds are off to Franklin, N.C., before returning home to the Netherlands, where they hold regular jobs. The sisters are all teachers, while Mattanja is a computer software developer, Gideon a realtor and Jan is a "jack of all trades."

"We hope to come back to the states again," said Mattanja IntVeld. "The way people made us feel welcome, we have to come back, especially to the South. But we still have much to learn about music."