Nyke van wyk bio

Two weeks before Musikfest, in July 2009, veteran Valley blues-rocker Craig Thatcher and his band were getting ready to take the stage at an outdoor summer bash at Widows Tavern & Grille in Stockertown, to celebrate in the tavern’s first anniversary.

A duo featuring singer/guitarist Scott McKenna and violinist Nyke van Wyk was just finishing its set when something struck a chord with Thatcher.

“I remember hearing the violin and going, like wow, that guy is really good,” Thatcher says.

“I immediately thought of all the cool music we could play if we had a violin.” Van Wyk was at the time a relatively unknown performer in a program which listed McKenna, The Craig Thatcher Band, The Lou Franco Project and the classic rock group Redz Vision.

“After that set our drummer, Don Plowman, walks over to me, looks at me, and says, ‘We should ask him to play with us.’ I said ‘Don, I’m thinking the same thing,'” Thatcher says