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Up close: Jan Benschop, 54, lived in Blairsville until recently, when he and wife Linda decided to travel around the Southeast in a camper.
Origins: He was born in the former Dutch East Indies island of Sumatra, now part of Indonesia. His family came to the United States in 1962.
Following his muse: Benschop is a singer-songwriter who performs at coffeehouses and folk festivals. He also writes poetry and is currently working on a novel. - Debbie Gilbert, Gainesville Times, 2004 Gainesville, GA
Discography
Released LP CD, "Different Places, Different Spaces" to CD Baby in 2000 (samples available for listening at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/benschop )
Released LP CD, "Nine Years Down the Road" May of 2009, limited edition. All tracks of the first album received airplay in College Station, TX, Taos, NM and Santa Cruz, CA in 2005.
Photos
Bio
Jan is a seasoned solo performer who spearheaded a group in the eighties opening for Peter, Paul and Mary, John Denver, and Barry Manilow a few times. He's been writing songs and performing for venues ranging from a small room to 2000 people since 1968.
He cut his musical teeth on fifties, sixties and early seventies folk music like the Weavers, Ian and Sylvia, PP&M, and the Kingston Trio. He was a youngster in Curacao, which is where he gets his Caribbean and bossa nova influences. Later years brought in blues, Americana, bluegrass, and performers like James Taylor and John Denver, Doc Watson, and Leo Kottke. Jan tells stories around and in his songs, sometimes with a cerebral slant, sometimes with an airy tune. His instrumentals run the gamut.
Jan, with wife to keep him company, toured the USA extensively in 2005. While in Santa Cruz, playing for a small crowd, he was invited to play just before David Lee Roth at the Catalyst. He had never heard of the place and asked the promoter, "Is that a nightclub?" A bystander tapped him on the shoulder and exclaimed, "Dude, that is not A club, it's THE club. You just bagged the whale!"
All present at the club that Saturday raved over his performance.
When asked what inspired his butt-kickin' performance, Jan said, "I dunno, I guess it was the ghost of Janis Joplin."
...You just never know.
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