Molly Bán is Alexzandra and Ulrika collaborating with different talented swedish musicians.
Alexzandra is writing songs from her heart and taking in all that she experiences daily as a way to get good or bad things off her chest, or, into!
Since she's brought up on a farm, in the manor house's possess, far from nearest city and close to the sea, she has a strong connection to the nature.
She got both a guitar and a piano at the age of 5 and learned the first notes on piano with help from her mom, and started strumming some chords with her dad. Born into a family where her dad played banjo and her mom mandolin she had all the possibilities to get to learn more about the beautiful music that brings so much joy and comfort to so many people worldwide!
The Bluegrass and Country music filled the house day, and, night! And what could be better than listening to Emmylou or Dolly filling the air with their soft voices. It didn't take long before she sang along!
Also Ulrika took her first steps on green grass, in Karlstad and spent lots of time dancing in the wellknowned "Gundega Ballet". Her family shares her big interest for music, and she started taking singing lessons at the early age of 12. Ulrika is brought up with all our swedish folksongs, and in someways our traditional music is much alike bluegrass and country. This is music that makes you wanna dance and it's a get-together-music as well as being-alone-music, thinking things through, getting to know yourself.
The mix of old time music and their own nature based backgrounds brings something strong and true.
The duo was formed in 2008, but the strong friendship got started much earlier, back in 2001.
They both wanted to see the big city, they wanted to be heard, to meet people with the same yearn for being a part of something big, being a part of music.
So at the age of 15 two young ladies from different parts of Sweden prepared their journey to the big city to study music at the Stockholm Music Conservatory.
They had so much to talk about from the very first second they met!
They started playing together with a band and soon they got the chance to play on the bigger scenes in Stockholm.
When school was over they went separate ways, still keeping their contact.
Learning about life, trying their wings on different music and dancing schools and on different part-time jobs. This fall Alexzandra starts her studies at the Royal School of Music in Stockholm and Ulrika works as a musicalartist in Stockholm and Gothenburg. Molly Bán have just finished their debut album, Adventures!
"The name Molly Bán is a variation of the old irish Ballad “Molly Brown”
And at least 88 oral and printed variants and 19 fragments of “Molly Brown” have been collected around the English-speaking world.
An examination of 88 variants reveals that in its most complete form, the "Molly Bawn" plot contains the following elements:
"As the sun is setting, Molly Ban Lavery makes her way home from her uncle's when a sudden shower of rain comes on. A green bush is her only shelter, and huddling beneath it, Molly covers herself with her white apron. Meanwhile her lover, the squire James Reynolds, has been hunting all day with his dog. Upon returning home with his gun in hand, he is attracted to a patch of whiteness showing among the green leaves of a bush. In the falling darkness he supposes this must be the whiteness of a swan's feathers, or the light colour of a fawn's breast. Jimmy raises his gun and shoots; despite the dimness his aim is true. He runs to claim his quarry when to his horror and great grief he finds only his sweetheart lying dead under the bush."
RECENSION COUNTRYWOOD.SE:
Molly Ban består av den talangfulla Alexzandra Wickman som skrivit samtliga låtar och texter, samt Ulrika Liljeroth. Bägge damerna delar på sången och låter sig kompas av en uppsjö herrar, som även de tillhör bandet Molly Bán. Soundet är modernt och lite för popigt för sitt eget bästa, åtminstone enligt min smak, men här finns tveklöst en värmande ärlighet och goda framtidsutsikter. Kanske har tjejerna tagit sig lite vatten över huvudet när de försöker göra musik som innehåller såväl ”bluegrass, country, folk och pop”, som de själva beskriver musiken i cd-häftet. Personligen tror jag att det vore smart att satsa helhjärtat på countryn och skippa de övriga delarna, men det är förstås min egen övertygelse och smak som styr den åsikten. I vilket fall som helst finns här en del riktigt fina låtar, medan andra skulle må bra av starkare refränger. Framförallt tror jag att Molly Ban skulle vinna på att se bakåt istället för mot dagens Nashville, men tjejerna är unga så det är förståeligt att de vuxit upp med den stilen. I vilket fall som helst är detta ett debutalbum och ett mycket lovande sådant, så när Molly Ban hittar sin stil kan det mycket väl leda till storverk. Tjejerna sjunger bra och kompet med banjo, steel, dobro, fiddle etc. är smakfullt arrangerat. Det ska bli spännande att se vad uppföljaren bjuder på och hur det här låtskrivandet kommer att utvecklas. Robert Ryttman
For more information about the variations and signification of this song please visit:
The Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1986)
http://cjtm.icaap.org/content/14/v14art3.html
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