Garmarna

Garmarna is a folk rock band originally from Sundsvall, Sweden and founded in 1990. Their songs are mainly old Scandinavian ballads, even medieval ones.

History

Its beginnings date back to 1990, when three teenagers from Sundsvall, Västernorrland named Gotte Ringqvist, Stefan Brisland-Ferner and Rickard Westman, decided to start a band after being impressed by the musicalization of a montage of Hamlet.

Two years later, they had achieved some local popularity and decided to try their luck at the Umeå folk music festival (where they would appear again several years later). They managed to attract the attention of a radio reporter who invited them to the Hultsfred festival.

On the occasion of their participation in this rock music festival, drummer Jens Höglin joined the group. On the August night of their performance, they managed to attract not only the attention of what would later become their vocalist Emma Härdelin, but also of Mats Hammerman, president of the record label Massproduktion, who offered them a contract. The same day.

Their first album was published in early 1993, and was titled "Garmarna". It received good reviews, so it was toured throughout the country. At the end of that same year she began working on a new album, which would be published on April 18, 1994 under the title & # 34; Vittad & # 34; . This album was a new success, which allowed them to continue their tour throughout Sweden and even Germany.

Drew Miller (American bassist of the group Boiled In Lean) obtained a copy of said album during the summer of 1994 and decided to publish it in his country, as well as in Canada. This album (whose English version was "Crumbling Away") marked the band's first trip to the United States in March 1995, and then continued with their tour of Finland, Germany and Norway.

The success of the band is such that the production company Massproduktion plans the publication of the album in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Benelux countries and some Asian states.

After its German tour, "Guds Spelemän" was published at the end of February 1996. It again received excellent reviews, and would later receive the Best Album Award of Folk Music. Its English version, "Fiddlers of God" would be published in several European countries, as well as Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

The following year, the band participated in the Melodifestivalen 1997 with a song composed by Mats Wester and Py Bäckman. Their participation was questioned, due to the commercial nature of this national festival, but the band knew how to present their song ("En gång ska han gråta") with their special touch.

The year 1998 was characterized by the development of a new album that, after its summer tour, would be delayed until March 5, 1999 under the name "Vedergällningen".

In 2001 they participated in an album with covers of the legendary punk-reggae group Rasta Junden with the song "Rastlös" and began working on their new work, "Hildegard von Bingen". Published at the end of April, it once again received praise from Swedish music critics and the rest of the continent.

The following year, they toured throughout Europe, the United States and Japan. In 2003, celebrating their tenth anniversary, they began working on a new musical work. At the same time, Emma, the group's soloist, strengthens her solo career with the publication of several works with her own group, more oriented towards traditional folk and with more presence of her voice. This group, whose first album was released in 2002, is called Triakel.

Members

• Stefan Brisland-Ferner - violin, ditch, sampler - in Garmarna (2003): harp, rape
• Emma Härdelin - voice, violin
• Jens Höglin - battery, percussion - in Garmarna (2003): death growl
• Gotte Ringqvist - guitar, violin, choirs - in Garmarna (2003): guitar lute, arp of mouth
• Rickard Westman - guitar, bass, e-bow - in Garmarna (2003): bouzouki, laúd guitar

Discography

Studio albums

• Garmarna (1993, EP)
• Vittrad (Withered) (1994)
• Guds spelemän (The fiddlers of God(1996)
• Vedergällningen (Vengeance) (1999)
• Hildegard von Bingen (2001)
• Garmarna (2003, re-release of the 1993 EP with 6 bonus tracks) [NorthSide, Minneapolis, 2001]
• 6 (2016)

Singles

• "Herr Holger" (1996)
• "En gång ska han gråta" (Some time he will cry) (1997)
• "Euchari" (1999)
• "Gamen" (The Vulture) (1999)
• "Över gränsen" (2015) (over the border)

Others

• "Rastlös" (Rasta Hunden) in compilation We're Only in It for the Money (1999)
• Nordic Woman (2012)