The Freewheelers

In March, of 2007 Ilene McHolland and Bas Vossen started the Freewheelers after Bas suggested that the cello would be a great instrument in a blues setting. They introduced the concept at a festival in Hoogkarspel, the Netherlands, to a well received audience of about 150 people. They continued with the idea and started playing local jam sessions to develop this new sound Bas had envisioned.

In May 2008.they decided to take the concept on the road, and ended up in Alicante, Spain,where they were able to develop this idea of having a cello in a blues setting There they played with Jaime Norambuena,(Jaime Norambuena Rock Band), Oscar Soler(Supersonics), Jose Manuel Rives (Funksynation) on guitar, and Nelson DeLeon playing drums.
Back in the Netherlands, Ilene and Bas played with various drummers and guitar players. Their favorite line-up included Willem van der Schoof on keyboard. After doing a couple of festival gigs, the musical duo went to the US where they made some waves on the West Coast, and were asked to sit in with some pretty nice blues machines.

The combination of Ilene’s sultry vocals, and electric cello blues makes the FREEWHEELERS CELLO Band the most unique blues band in the world.

This is our most common line-up:
Ilene McHolland-cello, vocals, guitar, keyboards
Bas Vossen-bass, background vocals
Zane Toberer-drums