Jakebrake

How Jakebrake came to be

After years of hard work, band members that came and went, and then made a comeback, there finally seems to be solid ground for Nick Oosterhuis, Dennis Doddema, Niels Ramaer and Sander Lamein.

In the beginning…

With Nick and Sander being friends and band mates since the beginning of times. They formed Blue Crowd in early 2011 after a meeting during a talent show in which they both participated. Blue Crowd focused themselves on the blues, in the beginning the new blues artists such as John Mayer, but as time progressed added the classic blues from B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan as well. Blue Crowd never managed to get a solid lineup until suddenly 2015 came along…

Building the foundations

In 2015 everything changed for Blue Crowd with the addition of Niels Ramaer and Dennis Doddema, with Dennis being a veteran in the music industry and Niels being a newcomer, they got the best of both worlds. Their addition proved fruitful with Dennis forming the engine of the band, while Sander added the fuel. This left plenty of room for Nick to lay down his exciting solo guitar playing and Niels being able to give his vocal chords a good run for their money!

Life is just a party…

Blue Crowd were making a name for them themselves in the local band circuit with regular performances in Veendam and Winschoten while also performing in places such as Assen and recording in a studio in Leeuwarden. Suddenly, with no fault of his own, Niels had to leave the band. Leaving the remaining members devastated. Nick, Dennis and Sander were determent to keep the train rolling and found several new singers, but none of them had the voice and charisma of Niels. The band kept playing and improving however but without the right singer it was all in vain. Then, just when Blue Crowd seemed to be fading away…

Comeback kid

In late 2018 Niels suddenly knocks on Blue Crowd’s door. He has been travelling on his boat all around the world and feels like he’s reborn and ready to front the band again. Nick, Dennis and Sander welcome him back into the band and from the minute they rehearse together everything clicks again, like they never were apart. The band agrees that it’s time for a new era and sound and drops the name Blue Crowd. Niels is, besides a singer and sailor, also a truck driver and suggested using the name ‘Jakebrake’ (which is an engine braking mechanism). Besides a name change the band now focuses more on a country and southern rock oriented sound.

The future is now

No one knows what the future has in store, but Jakebrake are determent to make 2019 a good rocking year. We feel a good one comin’ on!

See you on the road!