Loverman

• Main Stage
  Friday 19•July•2024
  18:30•19:30

'Nice to meet you, I’m James but you can call me Loverman,’ were the first words that James de Graef spoke as Loverman on a stage in 2021. The occasion? Gent Jazz! After his stunning live début at our festival (**** in Focus Knack), it is now high time to invite the talented singer-songwriter back to the garden of De Bijloke. The twenty-something previously gained fame among insiders as the front-man of the elusive post-everything rock group Shht and the experimental pop duo Partners, he played as a musician with Tamino and Sam De Nef, among others but, as Loverman, he has touched the heartstrings of a huge range of people in recent months.

And on the subject of the last few months… It all began in 2022 with the début single 'Into The Night’. With his deep voice and poetic lyrics, the beautiful plucking of strings and the subtle but accurate string arrangements, the domestic and foreign press made comparisons with stars such as Bill Callahan and Nick Cave. When his début track, the stunning 'Lovesongs’ was released a year later, Lee Hazlewood, Tindersticks and Scott Walker had been added. The album focuses on simplicity and serenity. And, above all, love. The project emerged from the pain of a break-up but evolved into an ode to love, in all its facets. After the pain, comes the understanding. Loverman draws everyone into his mysterious world where dark folk is as menacing as it is melancholy, as otherworldly as it is timeless. And he works his magic even more effortlessly live than on record. Just give in to it.