Lieven Tavernier

Musician who kept a very low profile for many years, until he finally decided to step forward in 1995.

Born and raised in Ghent, he first was noticed by Flemish audiences when his good friend Jan De Wilde recorded three of his songs on the 1990 CD "Hé Hé". Because "De eerste sneeuw" (the first snow) and especially the moving "De fanfare van honger en dorst" (a song about a group of comrades slowly growing apart) did very well on the radio, the interest in the author of these little gems also grew.

In the book "de complete Kleinkunstgeschiedenis", Lieven told "The consolation of writing is that you can go back in time, à la recherche du temps perdu, to fix things. This comes in handy because I am - using an understatement - rather unsocial. I easily clam up. And I had this feeling I had done some people injustice in the past. I wanted to tell them - in a song - that I actually loved them. "De fanfare van honger en dorst" was written during a heavy post-universitary depression I had - although that was not an unpleasant feeling. The old gang was swarming out, while I was left behind thinking : that was not our plan, was it ??"
Jan De Wilde, another of those very shy men, took Lieven with him on his tour (in his backing group, and then as an opener). Because of this, Lieven Tavernier finally got the chance to record his own material on a CD.

"Doe het licht" (Do the light, an excerpt from the same song with the lyrics "Vanavond blijf ik thuis, Je ziet er zo verrukkelijk uit, Doe het licht, doe de radio, doe je kleren uit" - Tonight I'm staying in, you look really delightful, put out the light, the radio, and your clothes), ended up in the stores in 1995. On it were 12 pieces of Flemish country of his own writing, and 1 piece of country by the hand of Dolly Parton ("Coat of Many Colours" became "De gouden schaar"). This last song also tells the story of how he came to the point of picking up his guitar again.

And how I hated that store where I had to go
where you never could find a coat that was modern, contemporary
The only thing my mamma wanted was a good fabric
a combination of something solid yet not to expensive
My mama didn't see my tears when the salesman said
"This coat is indestructible, the best quality around"
I was so ashamed, shy, I didn't dare to wear it out on the streets
afraid everyone would go "look, a coat from "The golden scissors"

I had forgotten all about this coat, until last week
when I had a party with friends, looked in my cupboard
and in between loads of old junk, there was this old coat
that I didn't want to wear for years, that I had forgotten all about
And the miracle it happened, because in that long period
the coat suddenly had the cut of that new retro-fashion
I was the attraction of the evening, all women were looking at
that coat from past days, that coat from "The golden scissors"

And the lesson that I learnt from that, a truth as big as a house
is if you leave something lying round, it will grow into new use
old girlfriends, old letters, even your old belief in God
a piece of wood can catch fire long after it had been smothered
And the most beautiful thing of it all was my old folkguitar
that I had laid to rest for many years, I had forgotten where
but I have it with me tonight, together with my old repertoire
I'm not afraid as I used to be, not afraid of "The Golden Scissors"

For the album, he assembled quite a nice backing group : in there among others guitarplayer Bruno Deneckere (singer/guitarist of The Pink Flowers and nowadays singer-songrwriting under his own name "Bruno"), bass-player Armand Bourgoignie (known from  Milk The Bishop, Mad Dog Loose ...), accordion-player Jan De Smet (of De Nieuwe Snaar) and multi-talent Patrick Riguelle (for years with Kadril, but also with Spelers en Drinkers, Dirk Blanchart, Brendan Croker & The Serious Offenders, Riguelle en Hautekiet ...). This last person was also responsible for the production.

After that, not a lot was heard from him again. He is still making his music though, occasionally surfacing during the biggest festival in Ghent "De Gentse Fieste".

Buy CD's of this band at

Albums :
- Doe Het Licht (Dino Music, 1995)
Singles :
- Johnny & Alice (Dino Music, 1995)
- Fanny / Mooiste Ogen (Dino, 1995)

Websites :
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