2008-02-08Staff Report 2 "By Carlos Kambaekwa WINDHOEK The Namibian Music Industry has been dealt a major blow with the passing away of talented guitarist Timothy ""Koenoes"" van den Heever, who was tragically killed after he was run over by an oncoming car two weeks ago. Van den Heever, affectionately known as Tim in music circles, died in the Katutura State Hospital on January 31, where he spent six days in the Intensive Care Unit after being hit from behind by a vehicle driven by foreign national. The incident happened when the guitarist was pushing his car that had broken down off a road in Narraville on a Saturday morning. His death came just after the release of his first recording with the Weekend Band in which he is featured in four of the 10 tracks on the Tula Tula CD. Tim had very few equals on the domestic scene when it came to tickling and twisting a six-string guitar. His sudden departure has left a huge vacuum in the music industry especially now that local musicians have started to make serious inroads into the international music arena. Born 49 years ago in Matjieskloof, Namakwaland, South Africa, Tim started fiddling with makeshift nylon strings attached to an empty 1-gallon oil container at a tender age and by the age of 16, he was a fully-fledged member of the then popular Khomasdal-based pop ensemble, Purple Haze. He was a founding member of the popular Walvis Bay Fusion band, Hot Ones, consisting of lead vocalist Solly ""Bones"" Gudheart of Weekend-fame, the late Tom Oliphant on second lead guitar, bassist Nazeem Lackey, Chris Ruiters on the ivories and Dennis Smith stirring the skins. The band spent two years in Cape Town playing house music at various nightclubs around the Mother City before it was dissolved in the late seventies. Upon his return, Tim teamed up with vocalist Bones and joined the seven-piece Weekend Band in Windhoek. Tim leaves behind his wife, four daughters and a son. The late musician will be buried at the Narraville Cemetery near Walvis Bay tomorrow morning at 07h00. " 2008-02-08Staff Report 2
