Longshanks (band)

Longshanks no. 1

The first line-up of Longshanks consisted of (from left to right):

Encouraged by the favourable reactions all around, an attempt was made to convert the studio project into a real band, but due to differences in ambitions and musical skills Longshanks no.1 soon fell apart.

Longshanks no. 2

The founder of Longshanks (André Kamer) and multi-instrumentalist Jan van der Lugt decided to carry on with the studio band in the manner of 'The Alan Parsons Project': a core of two guys of whom one would come up with the lyrics, the concept and the basic musical track of the song (on guitar) and the other had the musical skills to add the right drums-, bass- and even synthesizer-parts. Just like 'The Alan Parsons Project' they had to rely on guest-musicians to fill in the final parts: the vocals and the solos.

The second line-up of Longshanks consisted of:

Between 1989 and 1993 several songs were recorded on 4-track in Jan van der Lugts home studio. Together with "Cycles and Circles" they were meant to be part of the concept demo "The Quest". This was the track list:

1. Nightmare
2. The Awakening
3. The Travelling-song, part 1
4. On The Run
5. Into the Dawn
6. Cycles and Circles
7. Dreams
8. Sunset
9. Marching towards the Battlefield
10. The Mourning After
11. The Travelling-song, part 2

"The Mourning After" turned out to be an unsurpassable problem for the singers and after the departure of lead-singer Alex van de Graaf (at the beginning of 1993) Longshanks no. 2 also fell apart.

Longshanks no. 3

In the spring of 1993 Jan and André recorded the song "Borderline" with vocalist Hans van Lint from the rock band 'Iceparty' (in which at that time both Jan van der Lugt and Jeroen Steenbeek played and for which André often was sound-engineer at their live-performances). Hans later became the lead singer of Dutch symphonic rock band 'For Absent Friends'.

Longshanks no. 4

In 1999 André Kamer moved from Delft to Amersfoort and Longshanks became a one-man-band and started writing instrumental only songs:

1. Prelude
2. Courante
3. Tango

Longshanks no. 5

With the return of singer Alex van de Graaf in February 2007 Longshanks entered yet a new chapter of its history. In February 2008, twenty years (to the day) after the release of their first song "Cycles and Circles" they released a new song called "The Web of Life". Two years later, on April 24, 2010, they crowned their reunion with the release of the CD: "The Return of Longshanks".

The line-up of Longshanks no.5:

"The Return of Longshanks" track list:

1. the Web of Life (4:28)
2. In Dreams (6:47)
3. the Wandering Merchant (1:57)
4. Leave Me Alone (5:46)
5. In the Desert (7:56)
6. the Bath Song (2:27)
7. All My Days (2:47)
8. I Love the Road (5:08)
9. the Travelling Song, prt.3 (3:28)

Bonus-tracks:

1. I Have A Dream (2008 version) (5:55)
2. the Wandering Merchant (streetorgan version) (1:54)