Jan Akkerman in a live setting is a beautiful thing to behold, and on his new record, ‘My Focus – Live Under the Rainbow,’ you can absorb his technical mastery and tone, where it was born to live – on stage. The live album will be released on 12 December via Artone/Music Theories Recordings and will be available on blue transparent vinyl, CD, and digitally. To whet your appetite, listen to the first cut taken from the album with “Answers Questions – Questions Answers.“
Live music needs to offer you something that you cannot get on a studio recording. It’s the sense of freedom and intimacy, wondering how the songs will be played and what the reaction will be. Live concerts give you the tingle where the hair stands up on the back of your neck. “Live audiences give you the tension and responsibility to be creative, for me that’s the challenge I like,” says the iconic Dutch guitarist. After all of these years, you ponder what keeps Jan going out there, night after night. “It’s my love to play for people all around the world,” he smiles.
The supremely gifted guitarist is equalled by very few, and his legendary ability makes him impossible to pigeonhole. His position as Dutch royalty has been cemented; he received the Golden Harp Award in early 2005, Holland’s most prestigious music prize, and in 2012, he was appointed Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau. This royal honour recognised his contributions to Dutch music and his influence on musicians worldwide.
Akkerman was a founding member of Focus from 1969 to 1976, where he recorded several breakout albums, including ‘Focus II/Moving Waves’ (1971). The album spawned the mega-hit ‘Hocus Pocus’ which reached #9 on the US Billboard Chart, #12 in The Netherlands and #20 in the UK singles chart and the song has gone on to appear on numerous TV shows such as; Top Gear, Skins, Supernatural, Vinyl, My Name is Earl and Shameless as well as the 2007 film Hot Fuzz, 2014 remake of Robocop and 2017s Baby Driver. The song has been covered by several other artists, including Iron Maiden, Marillion, Helloween, Gary Hoey, The Vandals and Vanessa-Mae. ‘Focus 3’ (1972) featured another hit single, ‘Sylvia’, which reached #4 in the UK singles chart and led to appearances on The Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops. That year, Melody Maker declared him the ‘Best guitarist in the world’, above Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.
My Focus – Live Under The Rainbow was recorded across Akkerman’s 2025 February tour, with his band,Marijn van den Berg (Drums), David de Marez Oyens (Bass) and Coen Molenaar (Keys)as they played Bush Hall (London), The Fire Station (Sunderland), Philharmonic Hall (Liverpool), Oran Mor (Glasgow), The Met (Bury), The Stables (Wavendon), and The Apex (Bury St. Edmunds).
The album journeys through his timeless work with Focus – from the first song released from this release, “Answers Questions – Questions Answers”, through to the mega-hits, “Hocus Pocus,” “Sylvia”, “Focus I” and “Focus II” – songs that are still close to his heart. “I play these songs because my soul and heart are in there. It’s a God given talent I have, which makes me feel proud of myself!” he says.
His incredible solo work stands tall amongst these giants, with “Piétons,” taken from 1983’s ‘Can’t Stand Noise,’ along with outings from his 2019 solo album, ‘Close Beauty,’ in “Tommy’s Anniversary” and the opening of the recording, “Spiritual Privacy.”
Track Listing
- Spiritual Privacy
- Answers Questions – Questions Answers
- Focus 2
- Focus 1
- Palace of the King
- Anonymous
- Big Sur.
- Tommy’s Anniversary
- Piétons
- Hocus Pocus
- Sylvia
Longtime fans of Akkerman concerts might recognise moments such as “Palace of the King” and “Big Sur” from his live repertoire. “I made a totally different concept of the song from the old Focus days, but it still has that 3/4 feel, which I happen to like,” he explains. “Big Sur came from a novel I bought byJack Kerouac. Big Sur is devastatingly honest, painful, and yet beautifully written. He was sharing his pain and suffering with the reader in the same way Dostoyevsky did, with the idea of salvation through suffering.”
He has collaborated with a number of musicians including Alan Price (The Animals), Jack Bruce and Ice T and counts fans in Brian May who said Akkerman was “totally a hero of mine, there are some people in life that no matter how old you are, you feel nervous if you meet someone, he’s one of those, he’s a real role model”. The late-great B.B. King has also talked highly of him, saying, “How can you forget a guy like Jan. Usually with people that are as great as he is, you know of them, but you don’t always get to know them or their music, but you know their reputation. The nights that we played together were great, I wish I could play the things that he did.” Whilst Yes guitarist Peter Banks has also lauded him, calling him “an almost perfectly formed musician, his classical playing was tremendous. His improvising was second to none.”
There is something about instrumental music that can connect with people worldwide. “A friend of mine made a remark in a song that says, ‘Words are made to lie!'” he ponders with a wry smile.
Put on My Focus – Live Under The Rainbow and soak up the atmosphere of one of the world’s most gifted guitarists.
Tour Dates:
Tickets are available from here: http://www.janakkerman.com
08 Nov – Cultureel Centrum, Deurne – Netherlands
19 Dec – Poppodium Gebouw, Bergen op Zoom – Netherlands
20 Dec – Heyhoef Backstage, Tilburg – Netherlands
24 Dec – Podium Laurentz, Heemskerk – Netherlands
26 Jun – Parkbiografen, Skien – Norway
27 Jun – Cosmopolite Scene, Oslo – Norway
28 Jun -Bblå Grotte, fredrikstad – Norway
Jan Akkerman Online:
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Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 