Helmond, Theater Het Speelhuis

Thank God I’m a country boy

Jimmy Duchateau proves that John Denver is more than ‘Annie’s Song’ and ‘Leaving on a Jetplane’ in the new show Thank God I’m A Country Boy!

After four years of touring with the successful show Country Roads, the band is back with a brand new show! Jimmy and his band take you on a journey through the life of one of the world’s greatest country singers. Let yourself be carried away by the beautiful stories and dream away to the nostalgic music that John Denver made so immortal.

Jimmy: “I don’t want to imitate John Denver, although my voice does sound like his.” So no blonde wig and cowboy hat. But with a guitar and – yes – a western shirt to stay in the mood. And the legendary music of course, because that is what this performance is all about. From small intimate songs to large arrangements where Jimmy and his band bring the show to an unprecedented high.

Jimmy breathes new life into hits such as ‘Perhaps Love’, ‘Calypso’ and ‘Thank God I’m a Country Boy’, but also pays attention to lesser-known work. “You cannot imitate the emotion of music, it can only come from within yourself.” Yet he remains faithful to the handwritten scores he received from Denver’s own arranger Lee Holdridge.

Even 25 years after his death, John Denver’s music still lives on. Although Jimmy is not of Denver’s generation, he understands his music like no other. Thank God I’m A Country Boy! is a grand show with an intimate atmosphere in which the life lessons in Denver’s lyrics gain even more meaning and the legendary music gets the attention it deserves.