"Big Chief" Michael van Merwyk
Michael has become famous as one of only a few lap steel guitar players in the blues business. His musical instrument with its weeping sound is typically played in the country music while placed on the player's lap. He not only looked up to his blues idols for inspiration; his songs, now and then, also reflect other forms of music.
Michael performs and entertains fans at large festivals and also smaller clubs throughout Europe, either together in an acoustic duo with a blues harp player and singer Gerd Gorge as Delta Boys or his own band called Bluesoul.
He developed his artistic skills in a house band in one of the most famous Blues clubs in Germany in Rheda-Wiedenbrück called the ROADHOUSE. In the past, the Roadhouse hosted a plethora of various music legends such as Jimmy Rogers, Lazy Lester, Joe Louis Walker, Larry Garner, Jimmy Johnson, etc. During their European tours, these great artists performed at the Roadhouse and equipped this young talented rookie musician with the music wisdom, tutored him, often asked him to perform in jam sessions on the stage, and hired him as a part of the band (Michael can be heard on Larry Garner's live CD "Embarrassment to the Blues" released by the RUF-Records and performs as a guitar player for Big Daddy Wilson).
