Rosemary's Sons

Rosemary's Sons is a Dutch band which makes music described as mainstream pop/rock and rootsrock. Influences like Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, Gin Blossoms, Aerosmith, CSNY, Matchbox 20, and John Hiatt are sometimes apparent but they aren't in the way of the band's own sound. The band formed in 1998. They recorded a demo album under the title Misery Loves Company which gained them attention of several music labels. With their official debut album on Warner Music, All In Hand (2002) they scored a minor hit with the single Shine which featured Dutch country/pop singer Ilse deLange. In 2005, they released their follow-up St. Eleanor's Park on V2 Music. Currently they are recording their 3rd official album, with the working title The Others.

Members

• Martijn Hagens - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Piano (original member)
• Ad van Halteren - Bass (original member)
• Bart Herber - Drums, Percussion (original member)
• Thomas Lina - Keys, Tambourine, Backing Vocals (joined in 1999)
• Maarten van Damme - Guitar, Lap Steel Guitar, Mandolin, Banjo, Harmonica, Backing Vocals (joined in 2001 - formerly in Abel)

Biography

Rosemary's Sons was founded in the fall of 1998 by a group of teenage friends. The band released an independent CD, Misery Loves Company, and it got immediate attention from record label Warner Music. In 2001 Warner Music offered the band, that had become quite popular in the Breda-area, a record deal. Led by producer Oscar Holleman (Krezip, Heideroosjes), they released their debut album All In Hand. The album features guest appearances by Ilse deLange & Ren van Barneveld (former Urban Dance Squad). All In Hand was well received and quickly entered the Album Top 100. The first single, "Fall From Grace", is released in August 2001 and became a modest hit. The next single, "Shine" (featuring Ilse deLange), was played often on national radio and TV, made it to the top position in the Cyber Top 50 charts for 2 consecutive weeks and got to no.34 in the Mega Top 100. Halfway in June the third single was released, "Up All Night".

Rosemary's Sons found fresh energy in guitarist Maarten van Damme (former Abel) in 2002, while they were establishing an impressive live reputation. The band played big summer festivals like Paaspop, Bospop, Dauwpop and Lowlands. And also they were support for The Cranberries (Heineken Music Hall), Bush, De Dijk and Krezip and toured in most Dutch music clubs. All the hard work earned them an Essent Award and an Edison nomination for best new band of 2002.

In 2003 Rosemary's Sons played 16 venues as support for Ilse deLange. This is where the band showed its strength as a semi-acoustic act. Martijn Hagens (lead vocalist) left an astonishing impression in venues like De Nieuwe Luxor and Carré. In the meantime, the band started writing songs for the second album, when in March 2004, Warner Music announced that they had to terminate the record deals with local artists/bands (also Ilse deLange, Krezip and Novastar). That caused a delay in the recording process. In the summer of 2004 the Sons and producer Oscar Holleman started the recording process, and got the attention of V2 Music. This indie label released Rosemary's Sons' second album in April 2005.

The result, St. Eleanor's Park, is a tight and solid album on which Rosemary's Sons express a very professional sound. Rootsy roadsongs appear on the album, along with solid rock songs and sometimes the band is flirts with jazz and glamrock. As support for Bryan Adams in Ahoy' (September 2004) they had already played some of the new songs.

With a bunch of new songs in the can and a new musical partner, the band could not wait to get on the road again. The band kicked off with the CD release party on April 13 in Melkweg in Amsterdam. In the meantime, Rosemary's Sons also opened for Ezio, Bon Jovi, and Poco, as well as playing on live television in the Barend & Van Dorp talkshow, and numerous radio shows on 3FM, Radio 2, Radio 538, and BNN.

After releasing the singles "Wrong Way Around", "Queen of Hearts", and "St. Eleanor's Park" from the album and extensive touring all through the Netherlands, Rosemary's Sons is currently working on their next studio album, which will most likely be released through V2 Music again. The album has the working title of The Others and two Try-Out shows are planned in June 2007, in the Para in Breda.

Discography

Albums

Singles

• "Fall From Grace" (2001)
• "Shine" (2002)
• "Up All Night" (2002)
• "Wrong Way Around" (2005)
• "Queen Of Hearts" (2005)
• "St. Eleanor's Park" (2005)

External links

• Official Website
• Semi-Official Fansite
• Semi-Official Myspace
• Semi-Official PureVolume