CT grows up in a musical home in Friesland in the rural north of Holland. Playing music is an integral part of family life: every member plays the piano and her father can coax a tune out of any instrument. CT and her older sister both play the guitar and sing two-part harmonies.
“I wanted to sing like Aretha Franklin, write like Carole King and then get Jimi Hendrix to play the guitar. In the first band I joined I was a back-up singer. That is where I learned to understand vocal colours and harmonies.”
She moves to Groningen and joins a range of local bands for the next four years. She takes a vocal training course at the Music Academy in Leeuwarden. While on tour with her band in Tokyo she meets Ipso Facto, a band from the US who have just signed with Epic Records. CT packs her bags, moves to “Prince Town” Minneapolis and subsequently tours the USA with Ipso Facto for a year. Working with an American band and playing back-to-back shows across the Mid-West provide her with a wealth of knowledge and experience that wouldn’t have been available to her back home.
“In Minneapolis I learned about groove and what music is really about for me.”
When she returns home, CT brings the soul and gospel back with her and sets out to write songs with husband Klaas Boon in their private studio. They form a band called Homebase, but, after the passing of Klaas, songwriting becomes a new quest all over again. Klaas’ trademark guitar influences begin to fade away and CT develops her own a style.
“The soul and gospel influences are vital to my music. With gospel it’s not so much the religion thing but the conviction and the passion of the singing, the raw emotion of it all.”
“To me, music is rhythm and colour. Together with my story I use that to build songs. My songs express my own feelings; they’re personal stories, but expressed in a way that leaves room for personal interpretation to any listener. I am inspired by everything I experience, see, hear or read. I don’t have any preconceived ideas or subjects. Whatever concerns me at a particular time, that’s what I sing about.”
Meanwhile, CT keeps playing in several bands, notably Superfly and B-Stick. She joins a Flower Power theatre show, travels and performs across the globe (America, Oman, Syria and Brunei) and is a guest vocalist for Jammah Tammah.
Currently, she appears in a number of line-ups:
– As a singer-songwriter
– As a Trio with Digmon Roovers, guitar & vocals, Ruud Vleij, contrabass & vocals
– In TCQ (The Caml Quartet), a pop/soul quartet with Liesbeth Tieland, Adelbert van der Meer and Mervy Gerds: four voices, two guitars, one bass, one piano and one cajon.
– With Dr. Remko’s Hoodoo Voodoo Experience, a ten-piece New Orleans funk/soul band.
– With Electric Fiesta, a funk/soul/rock collective from Groningen.