First Eva Cassidy Fan Club Meeting
Monday night, February 2nd, Theater De Vorstin in Hilversum remembered Eva Cassidy’s 52nd birthday. The well-attended gathering was organised by the Eva Cassidy Fan Club under the chairmanship of founder Anton van Dijken. Eva wasn’t present; she died of skin cancer in 1996 at the age of 33. Although the weather forecast wasn’t very hopeful and railway station Utrecht was closed for the larger part of the day, people arrived in large amounts an hour before the show started.
Humberto Tan
Humberto Tan, honorary member of the fan club, addressed the meeting from a screen. Because of his Late Night show the popular TV-host wasn’t able to make a real presence.
Harry Knipschild
Historian Harry Knipschild, who worked in the music industry for many years, explained why February 2nd was a special day for another reason: on that day in 1959 Buddy Holly performed for the very last time. Knipschild pointed at the similarities between these two artists who both became famous after their death. Eva Cassidy covered Buddy Holly’s song ‘It Doesn’t Matter Anymore.’
Jerney Kate
The main part of the evening Jerney Kate performed with her Eva Cassidy tribute band. Although the singer thought it a challenge to perform for so many Eva Cassidy fans, she really impressed her audience. Jerney Kate is capable of performing both a modest guitar ballad like A Bold Young Farmer and the exuberant Rhythm and Blues classic Take Me To The River convincingly.
Johan Bakker
Biographer Johan Bakker tried to answer the question: ‘Who was Eva Cassidy?’ using the lyrics that she chose to sing. ‘Would Eva have liked us to found a fan club? Probably not, but we like it,’ Bakker concluded. Thanks to the media attention for the fan club the cd The Best of Eva Cassidy entered the Dutch album charts again.
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