WALTER DEBUCK

Well-known folk artist from Ghent.

His fame is perhaps based more on his activities as organizer of the incredible "Gentse fieste" (10 days of music, theater, performance, wine and dine in the historic city centre of Ghent) than to his music, but this is how he got known in the sixties and seventies.

He started these festivities (or revived them, because they were a tradition up 'till the 19th century) in 1970 around Sint-Jacobs. Over the years, they have grown from a modest popular party to a massive and commercial manifestation that sets all of Ghent alive.

De Buck is a very versatile artist : drawings, painting, sculpture, music, playwright... he does it all.

His interest in music was raised after a few trips to India in the sixties. His inspiration came from old working class folk songs, and from the works of Karel Waeri (1842-1898, a folk singer talking about the fate of the weavers in the 19th century). He has recorded several albums with adaptations of the songs of Waeri (de Volkszanger, 1976 - Karel Waeri , 1986).

On the left you find "Het vliegerke" (the little kite), a good example of the music he plays : folk-based, traditional and folklorist, with original instruments and in the local dialect of Ghent. His songs & works are often anti-authoritarian.

In 1999 folk-b(e)ard Walter De Buck more or less retired from his own "Gentse Fieste", but became very active on the release-side of things : only half a year after "Den Doender" he presented a cd "Te Land en Te Water" in February 2000.
This last cd is an initiative of the Port of Ghent, who want to bring the company in a different light than the usual record-breaking cargo-load. Captain De Wilde, Director-general of the port-company GAB, asked Walter De Buck to look for old folksongs about the port, but the artist didn't only found those, he also wrote new songs about the sea, sailors, the lonesome wives, the fishermen. Apart from his usual backing group Clee Van Herzeele (see also Clee's Five) and Oswin Catteeuw, he got assistance from Jeroen Van Herzeele, Hendrik Braekman, Christof Steenhaut and Hans Van Oost in the Home Studio of Philippe de Chaffoy.

Buy CD's of this band at

Albums :
- 'k ben al zo lang op weg geweest (Philips, 1970)
- 'k zou zo gere wille leve (1972)
- Het nieuwe paradijs (1975)
- De realiteit (1975)
- De Volkszanger (1976)
- Portret (2LP, 1979)
- De Nieuwe Zondvloed (1984)
- Karel Waeri "Den Gentschen Béranger" (1986)
- Den Doender (Parsifal, 1999)
- Te land en te Water - The Friendly Port - De Haven van Gent (Parsifal, 2000)
Compilations :
- Bokkesprongen (1991)

Websites :
- an interview with Walter de Buck in 2000
- Parsifal, the current record company of the man.

Forum :
- Read the messages/questions about Walter Debuck
- Add your message, question, cd- or concertreview ... about Walter Debuck