BIO
A passionate singer with a great vocal range. An engaging and radiant stage presence.
Intriguing lyrics that reveal raw honesty.
All of this applies to Romy Ouwerkerk.
She is the singer and figurehead of prog rock band Golden Caves. They’re pursuing a predominantly international career with their albums ‘Collision’ and ‘Dysergy’.
Romy’s early endeavours as a musician were in the role as both lead singer and backing vocalist in the commercial pop circuit. Long story short: she won a TMF Award (the Dutch equivalent of a MTV award) and worked with many established Dutch names, such as Trijntje Oosterhuis, Alain Clark, Jacqueline Govaert, Xander de Buisonjé and Berget Lewis.
Her love for alternative music was put into practice for the first time as the singer of the innovative prog rock formation Birdbones from Luxembourg. They came out as the winner of the international EU Music Match band competition, which amongst others provided the group with an honourable performance on the main stage of the Food For Your Sense Festival (LU) their home country.
Romy’s current band Golden Caves originated at Codarts, the conservatory of Rotterdam (NL), where she majored as a Bachelor of Pop Music - Vocal Studies. The group’s debut album ‘Collision’ (2017) was made up of solely of the band’s own compositions. This release resulted in a nomination for the prestigious UK Progressive Music Awards’ Limelight Award (Biggest Talent). Furthermore Romy and her band played shows with The Gathering, Mostly Autumn and Focus. Golden Caves performed at festivals, such as ProgPower (NL), Prognosis (NL) and Summer’s End Festival (UK). Prominent UK magazine PROG about their show at Summer’s End:
“Golden Caves are a revelation (…) Prog’s future is certainly looking very exciting” -PROG Magazine (2018)”
Golden Caves - credits: Kelly Alexandre
“La part belle est surtout faite à la magnifique chanteuse Romy Ouwerkerk (…) Qu'elle est au centre de toutes les attentions, avec une voix magnifique et douce dont elle joue comme d'un véritable instrument et sait se révéler légèrement plus dure quand le rythme s'accélère, elle procure des frissons grâce au feeling et la chaleur qu'elle renvoie” –Prog Censor (2020)
“A great female singer with a strong and potent voice” –Progarchives (2020)
“La voz de Romy Ouwerkerk es dulce y maravillosa” –Made in Metal (2020)
“The vocal strength of Golden Caves is showcased again”
–AC Rock Reviews (2020)”
Progdreams Festival (NL) - credits: Arie van Duijn
Golden Caves’ latest achievement is the album ‘Dysergy’, which was released in 2020. Again, Romy is responsible for lyrics that express an uninhibited openness. The central theme is ‘internal conflict and experiencing a disconnection to the outer world’. Rave reviews from all corners of the world poured in. To illustrate this, the previously mentioned PROG magazine writes: “New Dutch masters weave exquisitely fervent tapestries (…) Solidifies their status as a passionate, and capable group”.
“Een ongelooflijk sterke frontvrouw (…) Horen we hier een concurrente van Anneke van Giersbergen en Sharon den Adel?”
–iO Pages (2020)
“Romy Ouwerkerk possesses great range, texture, and power from start to finish (…) From a performance and lyrical standpoint, she is commanding and versatile” –PROG Magazine (2020)
“Going from a soft, almost sleepy tone to a more energetic delivery and even a screamy/gritty edge, Romy Ouwerkerk really displays an impressive range” –The Metal Observer (2020)
“De emotionele, gedreven, dynamische zang van frontvrouw Romy Ouwerkerk is een grote troef” –Rock Tribune (2020)