A semi-acoustic soundscape, exquisite harmony vocals, sparse and timeless arrangements, and thoughtful, grown-up lyrics. An American west-coast tradition combined with a Nordic feel.

12 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Americana, COUNTRY: Alt-Country

Show all album songs: Up the Road Songs


Details:
UP THE ROAD A semi-acoustic soundscape, exquisite harmony vocals, sparse and timeless arrangements, and thoughtful, grown-up lyrics. An American west-coast tradition combined with a Nordic feel. All of the above can be expected from Up The Road, a Swedish duo consisting of two renowned Swedish musicians, Roger Rönning and Ted Steerling
Both Roger and Ted first made music together as key members of Flex, an early 70âs band whose music marked their first venture into singer-songwriter/west coast territory. â Our influences were bands like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and The Mamas & The Papas, Roger recalls. After Flex had split up, the pair continued making music, both separately and together. In 1994, they decided to record some of the material they had co-written over the years. Forming the band Broken Arrow together with Mats Randér, they soon landed an album deal with Alpha Records. However, the company ceased to exist soon after that, and the project ground to a halt. Roger went back to making solo albums, but couldnât get rid of the recussing feeling that the Broken Arrow material was too strong to remain unreleased. ­ I donât want to look back and regret the things I DIDNâT do, Roger says. I was quite certain that we had accumulated some strong songs. I also felt that Ted was a major talent, in possession of a unique voice, and that it would be a waste not to use it. Both members have strong musical personalities that complement each other. If both singers have their own characteristics as lead vocalists, the two-part harmonies are even stronger. Tedâs soul-influenced voice blends perfectly with Rogerâs soft-but-gruff melancholy. A lot of work has been put into the harmony vocals, resulting in Tedâs more sharp-edged vocals taking the higher notes, while Roger usually provides the rich and sonorous lower ranges. Writing in English came naturally, especially since most bands work internationally anyway. However, up The Road have no need to pretend that theyâre an American band. The music has an unmistakable Scandinavian melancholy. Even when the music is sunny, it evokes elusive sun of the Swedish spring, rather than palm trees and oranges. Neither is the music too sweet. For every Tequila Sunrise, thereâs some Swedish schnapps â and the north winds that have always been part of Rogerâs song writing. After having agreed on a serious commitment the two of them started trying out their material at more informal gigs and parties, where they mixed the best songs of the past with newly written material. The timeless quality of the songs and the homogenous sound made it virtually impossible to hear which were old and which were new. The lack of pretension, combined with professional performances, worked well, with people often coming up to them to ask where recorded versions of the songs could be found.