This first solo album of modern, Afrikaans folk/blues songs happened on the instigation of Eckard Potgieter, the owner of Wildebeest Records. He suggested an album of slow, soft and relevant Afrikaans songs. After four months of production at the Sunset Studios in Stellenbosch, under the guiding hand of Jurgen von Wechmar, 'Suitcase Vol Winter' was released. Although many of Stellenbosch's finest musicians helped with the album, it was mostly Piet Botha's labour of love and was very different to his previous work with Raven and Jackhammer. The 12 songs on this album are acoustic-based, laid back and emotional. Botha wrote all the songs (with the exception of Valiant Swart's 'In Die Transvaal' and the Koos Kombuis written-and-sung 'Gipsey In Jou Oe') and delivered the finest vocal performance of his career with ballads like the beautiful and sad 'Van Tonder' and the reflective title track. Along with Swart, Kombuis and Koos du Plessis, Piet Botha was responsible for establishing Afrikaans as a competitive rock music 'taal' again. These sensitive and narrative songs cover all those SA subjects that had affected Piet Botha as a South African growing up in the apartheid-era. From the Anglo-Boer and Border wars ('Goeienag Generaal'), life, death and politics to wives, film stars and 'the road', Botha covers all these relevant topics with strong lyrics, steady and sympathetic backing and a wide range of feelings that leaves this album up there with the best from Koos Kombuis and Valiant Swart. The other artists appearing on this album are Jorik Pienaar (drums), Jason Phillips (bass), Johnathan Martin (guitars, cellos and vocals) as well as Koos Kombuis, Valiant Swart and Brenda Pieterse. While it must be mentioned that Piet is the son of the long-serving Nationalist Party Foreign Affairs minister, Pik, it should also be said that Piet Botha's alternative career certainly puts paid to that old Afrikaans cliché, 'Die appel val nie ver van die boom af nie'. A great SA artist and album. -- Stephen Segerman, 1997