The melodies on Honesty of the Hopeful are catchy, supporting the song themes, sometimes energetic, sometimes sad and compelling. Grooving American uptempo folk rhythms are alternated with slow Tom Waits-like ballads and soulful folk songs. All made with authenticity, honesty and the hope of the musicians that things will be better in the end.

After years of being an attic room project, the Dieter van der Westen Band took the spotlight in 2018 with their well received debut album Me and You. On October 14th the new album Honesty of the Hopeful will be released and on the 16th the band will present it during a live concert in Paradiso Amsterdam. Together with his brother Eric van der Westen, Dieter took advantage of the quiet Covid period to arrange these new songs and to search for the right sounds and instrumentation. Honesty of the Hopeful is an ode to everyone who makes the most out of life in an honest way, looks ahead in a positive way and does not give up.

Inspired by the music and artists his older brothers used to listen to like Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Mark Knopfler and Tom Waits, Dieter started to write his own songs on an acoustic guitar in his hometown of Tilburg at an early age. Meanwhile he also got inspired by Worldmusic artists like Khaled, Habib Koite, Idir and Manu Chao. Music he got to know through his Moroccan friends in the neighbourhood he grew up in. At the age of 16 he first started to perform as a guitar player in North African music. Some years later he would play all over the world with his Dutch / Moroccan band Kasba and collaborated with well known Dutch artists such as the Grammy Award winning Metropole orchestra.

As a side project Dieter van der Westen had always been recording his own Folk and Americana songs. It was only in 2017 that bookingsagent Jerome Williams got hold of his album Old Oak Tree, where Dieter had compiled some of these songs. He asked Dieter to perform the songs with a full band. And so it happened that after a few phone calls the Dieter van der Westen Band was born with some Dutch top musicians in the ranks. They started to play festivals and theatres in The Netherlands with their shared love for Folk and Americana.

The band members show an intriguing track record; Dieter's brother Eric van der Westen worked as bassplayer with the Turkish pop legend Sezen Aksu, Dutch Jazz composer Martin Fondse and the Brazilian top artist Lenine. Guitarist Aron Raams played with jazzcollective Gare du Nord and with Candy Dulfer, drummer Gijs Anders van Straalen can also be found in Wouter Hamel's band and with classical artist Iris Hond. Joost Abbel writes his own Americana songs under the pseudonym Johnny, plays banjo and dobro and is also a member of Zorita and Juan Juan. Violinist Mirte de Graaff plays with Folkgroup Last Thursday and folk singer songwriter Jasper Schalks.