Blues and rock!

Dinant Kistemaker - guitar

Versatile in music taste and guitar, and with great apetite. Loves playing classical pieces from Bach, 80's and 90's (alternative) rock, and blues. Greatly in awe of (way too) many guitar players like John Frusciante, Tommy Emmanuel, John Mayer, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. With Fortify it is time to rock: the amp goes up, and the pedals down...

 Esther Geerling - vocals

As the story goes, she was born singing and from the time she was a little girl she liked to stand behind the microphone at any occasion possible. After one such event, she was spontaneously asked to join a pop-rock band that she played in since 2004. While being a lover of almost any sort of music, she came home to the blues and in 2012 she started as the lead singer in the blues band ‘Stone Def’, where she met Hans Duijn. With a soulful blues voice, and a good layer of rock varnish, she is the shiny middle point of Fortify!

Marcel Lee - drums

Enthusiastic, zealous and highly experienced. Climbed behind the drum kit at the age of 11 and never left. Was privileged to play in a couple of well known professional bands, and still plays in 'Drukwerk', famous for Dutch number 1 hit  'Je Loog Tegen Mij', perhaps being the ultimate Dutch blues song. Broad musical orientation from rock, blues, pop and soul to prog, fusion, folk and funk. Furthermore, had the opportunity to do gigs with famous Dutch artists like George Baker, Margriet Eshuijs, The Lau and Jan Smit, and even with international stars like Joe Cocker and Tina Turner.

Hans Duijn - blues harp

Back in the good ol' days, Hans  roadied for John Mayall on his European tours. Being greatly inspired by this legendary bluesmaster, Hans clearly has his feet deep down in the blues. He played in several blues bands like the 'Boules Blues Band' and performes regularly with his other band 'Double Dutch Blues Project'. As a stage animal he has played on many stages throughout The Netherlands and toured with Double Dutch  and pop-formation 'Xcusa' across Europe.

Kai Bergin - bass

 Kai was born in South Africa, raised in Australia and now happily playing bass in the Netherlands. Started as a kid playing African music, he moved on to rock, blues, funk, jazz, punk you name it. Kai's been playing in the alternative rock scene in Holland for the last 15 years and has played in most of Holland at one time or another. The steady groove of blues never really left his system, with Fortify he's returning to the roots of the groove. Kai's a fan of modern blues players like Gary Clark Jr, Eric Gales and Ben Harper. For Kai Fortify is about playing bass and having a good time: he play's the bass and you have a good time.

About Us

In 2015 we formed a new enthusiastic bluesrock band. For our fun, and yours!