Silas J. Dirge is the moniker adopted by Netherlands-based alt-country songwriter Jan Kooiker. With mostly character-driven and story-based lyrics he explores subjects like death, religion and (lost) love while accompanying himself on a beat-up acoustic guitar.
His writing style can be described as traditional old-school country - sometimes with as little as two chords per song - lyrically leaning towards darker themes. He uses a minimalistic approach when writing, carefully selecting instruments and narrowing down arrangements to a bare minimum. Arrangements consisting of dissonant vocal harmonies, distorted electric guitars drenched in reverb, an old saloon piano playing sparse, slightly off-key notes or an even older squeaky harmonium. And sometimes it's just him singing and accompanying himself on his trusty, old acoustic guitar.
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