BEN STENEKER 50 YEARS IN COUNTRY-MUSIC.

Ben Steneker was born in the north part of The Netherlands in the province Friesland in a small village called Heeg. The Steneker family was blessed with 13 children, Ben was the second youngest. Dad was a blacksmith-wagon maker and due to the poor economical situation the family moved to Vaassen near Apeldoorn in the center of the country. Through his marriage to Irene Eising Ben Steneker ended up in a country called Twente in the country's east in 1965. In Haaksbergen where they lived, Ben en Irene successfully ran a well known Country Club for over ten years. Introducing Country Music to the visitors of his club who came from all over The Netherlands and nearby neighbor Germany, as well as promoting the Dutch artists and Country-scene, he rightfully earned himself the title of "The Godfather of Dutch Country Music". A title given to him by his many fans as well as the Dutch press. Today the name Ben Steneker is as much a household name in Holland as Johnny Cash is in the USA.

Ben Steneker always enjoyed the life outdoors and has a lot of knowledge about nature. His hobbies are fishing, searching for kievitseggs (a famous tradition in the parts where Ben was born) and mainly protecting the nests. Now Ben really feels at home in the country surrounding the little village of Buurse near Haaksbergen where he and Irene have been living for quite some years now.

Ben Steneker's career evolved in the usual way winning several talent contests. This resulted in recording his first single "Send Me The Pillow" accompanied by Lydia and the Melody Strings in the 1950's. That first song made it to number 4 in the Dutch Hitparade of 1959. TV-networks such as TROS responded by featuring Ben in several of their major shows. For five years he was a member of a cabaret group along with clown Jan Schaftenaar in Apeldoorn. Ben was also a popular guest at many dances, shows and parties across the country. During the sixties Ben scored several Top 10 Hits with songs like Lonely River Rhine" (1962) his first solo-hit, followed by "From A Jack To A King" (1963) and "Judy" (1964). During that time Bens music was played a lot on the more popular Dutch radio shows, many times by request from the public.

Due to moving to another record company there weren't any new releases from Ben for a couple of years, in 1980 though he made a successfully comeback with his album "Hello Again". A Polish TV-Network responded to this by making a TV-special about the Dutch country singer. By popular demand of thousands of viewers, the show aired two more times later on.

In 1981 Ben is invited by Bob Everhart for the first time. He is going to perform during a big festival in Avoca (Iowa, USA) for an audience of over 40.000 country fans. The magazine "Texas Proud" honors him as "Best Foreign Artist of the Year", leading to a series of appearances on American Radio and TV-shows. Since the eighties, Ben has visited the USA more than 20 times, playing in Indianapolis, Carson City, Nashville and Florida among others. He also received twelve awards such as "Heritage Award", the "Hillbilly Heart Award" and the "Pioneer Award", sharing stages with the great American stars like Johnny Cash, Wanda Jackson, Billie Jo Spears, Lynn Anderson and Freddy Fender.

In 1994 Ben Steneker became the first European to be inducted in the "Mid America Hall Of Fame" in Walnut USA. November 1998 Ben was honored with the "Lifetime Achievement Award" by "World Music Events USA" for his efforts in Countrymusic as well as his longtime performances as country singer, during Gala-evening in Vienna, Austria. Ben keeps performing at major Country festivals in The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark and England. In his own country he is regularly seen in lots of prime-time TV-shows, in 1998 he and Sandra Vanreys are featured in two big German TV-shows as well.

In December 2000 Ben received the "International Country Music Texas Hall of Fame Award" and in Holland during the Dutch Country Gala in Veenendaal he was inducted as the first member of the "Dutch Country Hall of Fame". In 2000 his album "Route 65" came out which shot right to the 4-th place in the Dutch Country Album Top 10 and stayed there for more than 4 months. This CD also features Ben's daughter Carmen, Sandra Vanreys and Dick van Altena. Carmen wrote two songs for Route 65 ("Run Away" and "I Really Don't Know"). That same year Ben and Carmen performed in Avoca, U.S.A. and were invited for following performances in the United States in 2002, such as: Headliners at "The International Traditional Country Music Festival" 2002. This lead to Ben and Carmen performing more and more together as a duo where Ben sings the more traditional style and Carmen brings the modern Nashville sound. This resulting in some performances as a duo in Texas and Iowa.

During a surprise party in Haaksbergen's City Hall on November 14 2002 Mayor Loohuis of Haaksbergen presented Ben a Royal Honour. The Dutch Queen made Ben a Member of the Order of Orange-Nassau. Mayor Loohuis emphasized that Ben is the Godfather of Dutch Countrymusic and that he turned many Dutch people into Country lovers. That same month Ben had his 45th anniversary as an artist, which was celebrated with the release of the album "Songs About Love". He was interviewed on National Radio and lots of local and regional radio stations pronounced the CD their Album of the Month.

November 2004 the collection album "Ben Steneker - All Time Favorites" was put out by Telstar. The song "Nueva Rosita", written by Dick van Altena, made it to number 29 in the RTV-Oost Top 100 of 2004, a list made by the listeners of this major regional station. This was topped off in the RTV-Oost Starparade of January 2005,when "Nueva Rosita" received the much desired RTV-Oost Superstar. Today the song is still one of the most requested during performances and at many radio stations in Holland.

In August of 2005 a new step was taken in the career of Ben Steneker with the release of the first father/daughter album with daughter Carmen, appropriately called "Like Father, Like Daughter". The first album that is released not only on CD but also on DVD. Hard as it is to find duets suitable for a father/daughter-duo, Dick van Altena had his work cut out taking part in this album too. Dick wrote seven beautiful and original father/daughter songs, Justin Time and Carmen both wrote a song, "Baby Blue" by Hans Bouwens got a slight makeover and three less known covers made up a completed album. That same month Ben and Carmen also appeared on the main stage of the annual Floralia Country festival in Oosterhout (N-Br.), with its 15,000 visitors, Holland's most important Country event. The album release also triggered an increase in performances at singer/songwriter shows (sometimes combined with other artists like for instance Dick van Altena) and invitations Holland throughout Holland and other countries to major Country festivals and Linedance events.

Early 2006 the album "The Best of Ben Steneker" is released and Ben and daughter Carmen are back in the studio for their second album as a duo. The rest of the time their agenda is quite full after the success of "Like Father, Like Daughter" and a lot of new fans are added to a still growing group that follow Ben around the country.

During a big, sold out Country party on April 7, 2007 in Haaksbergen, the new Ben and Carmen Steneker album and DVD "Country Café" are presented to the fans and the press. Dick van Altena, who not only wrote 10 magnificent songs, but also is featured on the album in a beautiful duet with Carmen, handed out Ben and Carmen the first CD and DVD. Fans from all over the Netherlands attended the evening along with fans from Germany and even from Poland. The press also came in numbers from Holland and other countries as far as a radio anchor from Sweden. In Holland the title song "Country Café" was picked up by local TV as well as one of the major commercial networks even before the album was finished.

In late August 2007 Ben and Carmen are leaving for the USA mainly to perform at Bob Everhart's 7-day National Traditional Country Music Festival in Missouri Valley. For Ben it's the 21st visit to America, for Carmen it's the fourth time. Bobs festival draws about 40,000 Countrymusic lovers each year and Ben is very proud to have been asked to host the big International Show 2007.

On November 3 2007 Ben Steneker will celebrate his 50th anniversary on stage. This means a one of a kind party with lots of colleagues Ben has worked with during his long lasting career. A career he can look back to, filled with numerous special years and events. Rather than retiring Ben keeps performing and is often seen on the more important stages and festivals, with or without daughter Carmen who completes Ben's more traditional repertoire with the more modern New Country from Nashville.