Weeping Willows

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Ain't There Something Money Can't Buy

Album: Echoes EP

Released: Dec 6, 2010

Label: Tri-Sound

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Ain't There Something Money Can't Buy
4:28
370 plays
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The Burden
3:58
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Stairs
4:05
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The Moon Is My Witness
3:27
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Total Plays: 151,779 / Plays Today: 20See All Featured ►

General Info

Genre: Indie / Soul
Location Stockholm, SE
Profile Views: 167072
Last Login: 11/21/2010
Member Since 5/22/2006
Website http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd2VlcGluZ3dpbGxvd3MubnUv
Type of Label Unsigned
Bio
.. .......... ................................ .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ....WEEPING WILLOWS BIOGRAPHY.... .. In the summer of 1994 The Hillbilly Boys played att Kvarnen, a beer hall in Stockholm. It was a half decent country/rockabilly band. The singer Magnus Carlson and Thomas Sundgren, the tambourine player, both worked there as bartenders. Kvarnen was packed and the applause echoed against the wooden walls when sad song after sad song was played on badly tuned instruments. The band had been formed in june with a repertory of songs made famous by Elvis, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. The Hillbilly Boys was a band made out of The Clash fans romancing about the fifties and the sixties. They had bowling shirts with the band name embroidered on the backs. They did a few more gigs that year. In the audience at Kvarnen that night were some members of Apache. The backing band of Swedish singer Stefan Sundström. Stefan Axelsen (bass) and Mats Hedén (keyboards) went up to Magnus and Thomas after the gig and praised them for good singing and tambourine playing. During the following weeks Magnus and Thomas were exotic guest artists with Stefan Sundström & Apache at a couple of their gigs. Magnus, Thomas and Apache (Stefan Axelsen, Mats Hedén, drummer Anders Hernestam and guitarist Ola Nyström) felt like they wanted to play more often together so they added more cover songs to their repertoire. Roy Orbisons ”Only The Lonely”, Gene Pitneys ”Town Without Pity” and Walker Brothers ”Make It Easy On Yourself” for example were practised to perfection in the rehearsal studio in the Söder part of Stockholm. A couple of gigs were booked at Munken, a restaurant in Visby on the island of Gotland. Now they needed a band name. Since all the songs were about deep unhappiness, love problems and loneliness they decided on ”Weeping Willows”. A Weeping Willow is a tree that grows by the water (think: a dark cold river), has hanging branches (were you can take cover under when it rains or hide under) and has deep roots. The weeping willow is a romantic symbol of comfort often crooned about. Weeping Willows dressed in black suits and started to do more and more shows around Stockholm. They slowly built up a reputation as a myserious live band playing the saddest songs ever written in a totally serious way. Like a band from a David Lynch movie. Now Niko Röhlcke (pedal steel, guitars and keyboards) had been drafted to the band to complete the line up. The height of the groups ”cover band era” was when they did a gig at the former porno club Lido. ”Everybody was there”, record companies, journalists, other bands, trendies and people that had caught the rumour spread around town. The day after everything changed for the band. A praising review in the major morning paper DN on the culture pages is not the critical approval just any cover band in Sweden will get. Stefan and Magnus had started to write own material and it was mixed in with the cover songs. Anders started to write songs too and a demo was recorded and put together in their rehearsal studio. The cassette was passed around and a copy ended up at the music magazine Pop. They thought the demo was so exciting they decided to do a three page article about the band. Andres Lokko did the article and straight away every record label and publishing company in Sweden got in touch. The band signed a record deal for Virgin Records. They would get their own label (Grand Recordings) and the people there were whole heartedly into the music. The debut album was recorded at Atlantis with a huge string and horn section, Sixties style. During the summer of 1997 the band went out on a tour with two other bands they were friends with (bob hund and Whale). In september ”Broken Promise Land” was released with top reviews everywhere. The Weeping Willows sailed on an underground wave of success. Magnus quit his day job. Early on the band had a reputation of making grown men cry and it has followed them ever since. They were always sincere about the music and were never into the ”fame bit”. Integrity was always more important than being seen in the gutter press and crappy tv shows. Everyone in the group is contibuting by music and all members write for the theatre and movies as well. Magnus writes all the lyrics, though. They have always had a very mixed audience. Never fit into any specific style box. They doesn’t want to. They prefer variation and doesn’t want to get stuck in a corner. In 1997 they played at a big party at the Cannes Film Festival. They also released a Christmas EP (”December Songs”). A version of John Prine’s ”Christmas In Prison”. The first two years they were extremely busy with touring, releasing singles, doing tv shows and participating in Colin Nutleys Oscar nominated movie ”Under Solen”, where they played themselves. After the second album ”Endless Night” Thomas left the group. For that album they wrote loads of songs, each one trying to be more pompous and grander than the other. A video (”True To You” ) was shot in Mexico and everything went a bit too far. Constant touring and recording during 1998 and 1999 made the band want to slow down a bit in 2000. Magnus released a solo album in Swedish 2001 (”Allt är bara du, du, du”). In 2001 the band got together with producer Johan Forsman. Weeping Willows wanted to change the musical aim to a more ”modern sound”. The retro thing was stripped down and the melodies were backed with the aid of synthesizers instead of strings and horns. The band was very inspired and the third album (”Into The Light”) was their biggest success so far. The big hit was ”Touch Me”. It was one of the major hits in Sweden 2002. The band tried new ways and the windows were wide open. House-, Hip Hop-, Techno- and Big Beat-remixes were made and everything seemed possible. They had a Ska-band (The Tulos, which later turned into Club Killers). Magnus released a second solo album (”Ett Kungarike För En Kram”) in 2003. In 2003 they worked on the ”Presence” album together with Carl-Michael Herlöfsson. Influenced by british guitar rock and (as always) the sixties crooners. Another big hit (”Stairs”) paved the way for another successful Scandinavian tour. A gig in Helsinki was filmed and released on DVD. In 2005 the band put out a Singles Collection (”Singles Again”) with a limited edition double cd with all the b-sides and rare tracks. The single ”I’m Gonna Let Love Find Me” came out and they did a "Best of"-tour in December 2005. The Weeping Willows have played in cafés for a cup of coffee and they have headlined the biggest Scandinavian festivals. They have stayed the same but they have also changed a lot. They have spread their music further than they could have imagined yet they are still quite anonymous. Variation, just the way they like it. It’s all about the music... 2007... In the fall of 2005 we released an album that compiled our first ten years as a band. We had by then gone from a dramatic 60's sound via semi electronic anthems to grand guitar rock. During all these years we have occasionally also recorded stripped down acoustic songs. Sometimes the least arranged songs have become the most grand ones. Left more to the imagination of the listener. Sometimes less is more. We started working on our new songs last spring. Slowly but surely we understood that this album was going to be calmer, more naked and more romantic than "Presence". In many ways we have travelled further with the new material but at the same time we have returned to the kind of music we did at the time of "Broken Promise Land". Andy Bell from Oasis was brought in to produce and Sigge Krantz (winner of a couple of Swedish Folk music production Grammy Awards) was hand picked to engineer. Our recording sessions during the summer has been very pleasant and giving for us. We did whole takes of the songs and tried to keep away from too many overdubs. We wanted to have an organic live feel to this album. When we needed an extra musician we brought in Martin Hederos or Andy Bell. Patrik Andersson played on one of the tracks. Everything was kept within the family. When it was time to mix the songs we wanted to bring in someone from outside. Someone who hadn't been involved with the recordings to take the songs to another level. Mikael Herrström did this at Atlantis, the best studio in Sweden. Now it is finished at last. Our first album in three years. We are proud of every second of it. It's called "Fear & Love" and is released on Valentines Day, February 14, 2007. The first single is called "The Burden"/"The Moon Is My Witness" and was released on January 3. You can find lots more info on the band, pictures and links at www.weepingwillows.nu . .. .. ....Discography:.... .. ..Albums:.... 2007 : Fear & Love.. 2005 : Singles Again (2-CD Best Of Compilation).. 2004 : Presence.. 2002 : Into The Light.. 1999 : Endless Night.. 1997 : Broken Promise Land.. .. ..Singles:.... 2007 : Shiver In The Morning Light/We Are The Prey.. : The Burden / The Moon Is My Witness .. 2005 : I'm Gonna Let Love Find Me / Brighter Day .. : Lost Love / I Was The One.. : You Weren't Even Close / This Love Has died.. 2004 : Stairs / Call me anything (Acoustic Version).. 2002 : Falling (Radio Edit) / Falling (Masse Remix).. : Falling Remixes : Falling (Radio Edit) / Falling (Masse Remix) /.. Falling (Spatio Kass Old School Mix) /.. Falling (Spatio Kass Club Mix).. 2001 : Touch Me Remixes: Touch me / Touch me (Cajun House Mix) /.. Touch me (Filter Fokker Remix) /.. Touch me (Happy Daze Re-Touch).. 2001 : Touch Me / Somewhere .. : While I'm Still Strong / Endless Night.. : When You Are Asleep / Waiting For My Tears To Dry.. : By The River / I Close My Eyes.. 1999 : True to You Maxi: True To You / When Our Hearts Were Young /.. The Truth Is In Your Eyes / You're Everywhere.. 1999 : True to You / When Our Hearts Were Young .. 1998 : Blue and Alone / Louisa (live) / Runaway (live).. 1997 : Eternal Flames / Blue Velvet / Midnight Train.. 1997 : December Songs: Christmas In Prison / My Wish Came True /.. I'm Going Down.. 1997 : Broken Promise Land / Your Eyes / A Reminder .. .. ..DVD.... 2005 : Live In Helsinki .. .. ..Magnus Carlson (Solo Albums).... 2009 : Magnus Carlson & The Moon Ray Quintet.. 2003 : Ett kungarike för en kram .. 2001 : Allt är bara du, du, du ..
Members
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... ..Magnus Carlson.... (vocals),.. .. ..Stefan Axelsen.... (bass), .. .. ..Anders Hernestam.... (drums), .. .. ..Ola Nyström.... (guitar), .. .. ..Niko Röhlcke.... (pedal steel, guitar, keyboards),.. ..
Influences
Velvet Underground, Roy Orbison, The Walker Brothers, Topi Sorsakoski, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Zombies, Elvis Presley, Burt Bacharach, The Beatles, Woody Allen, The Smiths, Johnny Cash, Aki Kaurismäki.
Sounds Like
A mix of our influences and more.