16 Horsepower is a four-man band from Denver that plays a mixture of folk, country, blues, cajun and punk without sounding outmoded for a single moment. Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist David Eugene Edwards sings as if the devil is close on his heels, and perhaps he is. The three albums the band has made so far are evidence of a high intensity and great musicality. David is the charismatic pivot the band swivels around. A man with a mission.

"Already as a child I was fascinated by stories from the Wild West. I had a cowboy-hat, cowboy-boots and a toy pistol, I wore all the time. I wanted to become a cowboy and regularly went to rodeos and stock shows. I was the ultimate Walmart-cowboy."

I'm interviewing David in the kitchen of his house, on the edge of downtown-Denver. Outside the first snow of winter has fallen and the newsstory of the day is John Denver's death in a plane crash. When I enter Bob Dylan's Time Out Of Mind is being played, and I'm introduced to David's wife Leah, his children Asher and Elijah, his mother Carol and (step)father Melvin. After the death of his natural father his mother remarried. "My family is half Scottish, half Cherokee. I had a grandfather who was a shepherd and who had a bear he taught tricks. One of the tricks he taught the bear was to herd sheep. My parents are from Arkansas and North Carolina. My uncle Campbell came from Texas. His picture - with rooster - is on the inside-cover (European release)/ cover (American release) of Sackcloth 'N' Ashes."

David spends a significant part of his youth with his grandparents. His grandfather is a preacher in the Nazarene church, a rigidly orthodox Protestant church. Both his grandfather's hell and damnation sermons, as well as the sombre hymns deeply impress young David. Popmusic however, is a taboo.

"I was not allowed to listen to rock & roll. There wasn't a radio or a recordplayer in the house. But forbidden things of course hold a great attraction for a child. I was acquainted with the music of bands like Led Zeppelin and AC/DC and I wanted to become a drummer. At some stage I did get a drum set and I was bashing away on it the whole day until it drove my parents crazy."

He learns to play the violin too, without taking music lessons, and after hearing a Bob Dylan record he takes up the guitar.

Carol: "David has a gift for music, he only has to pick up an instrument and he can play it."
David: "If you want it bad enough, you'll bring it off."

"Ditch Digger was on the American pressing of Low Estate - instead of Coal Black Horses. It is a song about Leah, about our relationship, about matters that keep coming between us, like selfishness. The Partisan is a World War II song I only know from Cohen. It is sung by Bertrand (Cantat), Noir Desir's singer. Fire Spirit is one of my favourite Gun Club songs. I've always been a big fan of The Gun Club."

"I don't like it when we're called neo-folkies, sometimes we're labelled that way. We don't want to go back in time. For us it is all about the spirit of that old music, a timeless sprit. As if the voice of God addresses you directly. Yes, the Lord works in mysterious ways."

"The Carter Family sang traditional songs that most people already knew, but they wanted to hear them performed by the Carters. Songs about the lives of poor people, whose only hope was their faith in a better life after death. How wonderful that hope was!"

"In the old days people made music for their own pleasure. At night and during the weekends they often sat on the porch together making music. People danced. It had nothing to do with money. The thought just never occurred to them you could make money with music. Those days are gone. Meanwhile the 'moneymonster' has become so big tat you can't turn the clock back. Nevertheless still there are some places in the country where people make music just for themselves, without concerning themselves about the music-industry. Those people are not waiting for you, but that is where you have to be if you want to hear real, good American music, like cajun music in rural Louisiana or the blues in the small towns of Mississippi."

"I make money making music. Both my feet are firmly planted in this age. You have to keep up with the times, whether you want to or not. I can't go back. I can't just make music for my own pleasure. My music has a goal: I have a message to propagate. That's my holy duty. And that's why it's good that I'm signed to a major label that can help me to spread my music among as many people as possible."

"I think the message is accepted very well. I don't have to force it down people's throats. I don't have to hide it either. People know what I'm talking about. I derive a lot of inspiration from my faith in God. My music isn't boring because there's a lot of conflict in it. The struggle with the evil in myself. It's in everyone. People are often very selfish. Constantly putting themselves and their interests first. My music gives me a purpose in life. I have to make a lot of sacrifices, but anyway, I have to carry on. That's why we play live so much. I usually write on tour. The next album is already more than halfwritten."

"I know that certain tv-reverends give religion a bad name, because all they seem to be after is to get rich, but it is hard for me to judge them. They're not all dishonest. A lot of people are ruled by fear. The religion I was brought up with also tried to fill people with fear. Constantly afraid of wearing the wrong clothes, that sort of thing. But in my opinion fear is an indication of a lack of faith."

In America 16 Horsepower is by no means as famous as in Europe. Recently the band toured the States as the support act of Rat Dog, the new band of Bob Weir (formerly of the Grateful Dead). I assure David that Weir ought to thank God on his bare knees if his band should be chosen as 16 Horsepower's opening act in The Netherlands. A broad grin appears on his face.