About
Owen Schinkel is a bluegrass musician from the Netherlands, a friend of his father introduced him to bluegrass music and he never let go of it after that. Short after the exposure to bluegrass music he decided to pick up an instrument, his weapon of choice became the squareneck resonator guitar. This is instrument is also known as the Dobro. After a few years of practice and running into the boundaries of the bluegrass scene in the Netherlands Owen decided to move to the United States to pursue a study in bluegrass, old time & county music studies at the East Tennessee State University in Johnson City. East Tennessee is an area which is known for its high concentration of bluegrass music and musicians. In 2016 Owen became a recipient of the so called Creative Arts scholarship from the East Tennessee State University which made it possible to study in the United States.
In 2022 Owen has moved back to the Netherlands and is playing bluegrass music across Europe with two bluegrass groups. He plays with the Long Way Home Bluegrass which is a band with members from the Netherlands and Germany. And Owen is also a band member of the bluegrass band King Springs Road which has performed all across Europe in the last few years. Find out more about both bands by visiting their own pages. See links below.
Long Way Home Bluegrass Band – 2025
King Springs Road – 2026
The following video is a small documentary about Owen and his discovery of Bluegrass music. Owen was rewarded the Creative Arts scholarship with submission of this video. The video also tells his story why he wanted to move to East Tennessee in the first place. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERnpjdtvZx0
Musi Gear
Instrument:
Koch Resonator Guitar – Full Khaya Mahagoni
Strap:
Martin Gross Custom Dobro-Strap with Strap-lock
Slide:
E.G. Bluegrass Bar (Stainless Steel)
Finger Picks:
ProPik M
Thumb Pick:
BlueChip Reso
Capo:
Charlie’s Slide Pro Capo
Tuner:
Peterson Strobe Tuner
Strings:
Looking for a string endorser
Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNM2JbTS3hUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve-Y8qjD12o&feature=youtu.be
https://youtu.be/F_MpT0IK8ashttps://youtu.be/mrwfgtafxoY
https://youtu.be/QYJOAdhdbr0https://youtu.be/ohmx3xo0xXU
https://youtu.be/y1C9ZDY4Oeohttps://youtu.be/MohEU8wm43c?si=QisSt_yuD_Qggi3Z
Gallery
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Past news
22/01/2026 – Bluegrass Beyond Borders: King Springs Road, from Germany, Netherlands, and the US
29/01/2020 – Long Way Home (NL/USA) launched in Ireland! (Bluegrass Ireland Blog – IE)
12/12/2019 – Owen Schinkel ‘The Sliding Dutchman’ In Het Blauwe Gras (Music Maker – NL)
20/06/2019 – Folk veur Volk viert 25-jarig bestaan op grootse wijze (Coevorder Courant – NL)
27/11/2019 – The Sliding Dutchman Owen Schinkel (Acousticult – USA)
22/06/2019 – Broke & Dusty Artist Bio (Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival – NL)
01/12/2018 – Voor de muziek naar Tennessee (Dagblad Van Het Noorden – NL)
23/06/2018 – 2018 Grey Fox Scholarships (Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival – USA)
14/07/2017 – Owen Schinkel accepts 2017 Pearl and Floyd Franks Scholarship (Bluegrass Today – USA)
03/01/2017 – Unieke internationale kans Owen Schinkel (Zweeloo Digitaal – NL)
