Armand

Herman George van Loenhout, known as Armand, born in Eindhoven in 1946 and died there in 2015, championed a Dutch protest song from the mid-1960s shaped by folk, pop and hippie imagery. After stints with the groups Shannon Boys and Les Gilets and then a solo career, Armand broke through in 1967 with "Ben ik te min" and followed later that year with "Blommenkinders" — two tracks that defined his direct, socially minded and often confrontational writing. His music relies on spare arrangements centered on voice, acoustic guitar and harmonica, with lyrics marked by social criticism, anti-militarism, individual freedom and the defense of cannabis. After the albums Armand (1967) and Blommenkinders (1968), he pursued a more independent path with Rue de la Paix (1972), Een beetje vriendelijkheid (1974), Terug naar de aarde (1976) and Nachtbraken (1981), remaining active on the Dutch alternative scenes well beyond the sixties. In the 1990s and 2000s Armand continued to record and perform, before returning to the fore in 2015 with Armand & The Kik, recorded with the group The Kik.