One of the most gorgeous voices also happens to be a beautiful person inside and out. I am talking about Anneke van Giersbergen.

I've known Anneke for such a long time. The first time we met in person was when Epica played at Noorderslag in 2006. Such a sweet and down to earth woman with a huge talent. I love her personality and above all her voice. 'Strange Machines' is an all time favorite song of mine. I even performed this song live at that 2009 edition of the Christmas Metal Symphony: Strange Machines

After our first meeting we have met a couple of times and exchanged the backstage stories that we have gathered over the years. I recently went to see her play with the Gentle Storm in Heerlen (my old home town). It was a lovely show and it was a pleasure to see her on stage. She isn't very tall (neither am I for Dutch standards), but she has a huge presence and charisma. She simply is unique. Love her!

She came to see us at EMF and we made some pictures with Tim for you guys!

Here are the first ones for you!

Simone