Baskery

Artist Information

Biography

Logging on to Baskery’s MySpace page, the band describes their sound as “high voltage”, “killbilly”, “banjopunk” and “blues-grass”. Albeit tongue and cheek descriptions, they exemplify the fact that this trio that hails from Stockholm, Sweden doesn’t play by anyone’s rules when it comes to creating a sound that is pure and unique and not bound to a specific genre.

The Bondesson sisters - Greta, Stella and Sunniva, evoke a rebellious attitude that is more punk in attitude than most of their contemporaries that play roots infused music. Their incendiary sound is ignited by Greta’s six string distorted slide banjo playing, all while providing beats with her feet on kick and snare, Sunniva’s emotive twangy vocals and frenetic rhythm guitar playing and Stella’s hard driving slap driven upright bass. All this is further highlighted by their tight vocal harmonies.

A combination of alternative country, blues and rock and roll, their emotive sound is reminiscent of a jam taking place in a dusty saloon in Tennessee between Johnny Cash, an acoustic blues Led Zeppelin with the Andrew sisters sweetening the pot with the melody on top.

Their debut album, “Fall Among Thieves”, released in 2008, is a collaborative effort with newly formed label, Veranda Independent Records, produced by Lasse Mårtén (Peter Bjorn and John, Lykke Li, Pink) at Decibel Studios in Stockholm. The album was recorded the same way albums used to be recorded in places like Sun Studios and Muscle Shoals, where getting the perfect live take in the studio was essential to capturing the emotional essence of a song. No overdubs were done- all playing is live and what you hear is what was recorded just like being there in the front row of one of the band’s truly electrifying performances.

Although Baskery’s hard driving honky tonk has people leaving shows amped and in a frenzy, their softer tracks give you something to think about. Such profound and beautifully melodic songs such as “The Wise” and “The Brave” (which incidentally are different versions of the same track that start and end the album), have lyrics that paint pictures of social consciousness and give the listener something to escape to while coming down from tracks such as “One Horse Down”, “Here to Pay My Dues” and “Haunt You”, which go straight for the jugular.

In essence, Baskery is all about putting on a killer show. The material on their debut album enables them to do that.

Baskery has traveled to 14 countries around the globe in support of, “Fall Among Thieves”. Mojo Magazine in the UK calls their debut, “Absurdly wonderful” and Q Magazine hits the nail right on the head saying that “Baskery has turned in a stunning debut album of mountain music laced with a self-proclaimed punk attitude”.

Watch out for Baskery kicking up dust on the road in 2010!

Instrumentation

Greta - six string distorted banjo, dobro, kick and snare, harmonica, vocals

Stella- Upright bass, vocals

Sunniva- acoustic guitar, vocals

Discography

One Horse Down extended single- released 2007 Veranda Records

"Fall Among Thieves" debut album released May 2008-
Veranda/Bonnier
Gliiterhouse (rest of Europe)

Links

• MySpace

Audio

• One Horse Down
  Listen  
• On A Day Like This
  Listen  
• Here To Pay My Dues
  Listen  
• Haunt You
  Listen  
• The Brave
  Listen  
• Spoken Word
  Listen  
• Oscar Junior Restaurant Bar
  Listen  
• Out Of Towner
  Listen  
• Harsh
  Listen  
• Hold On
  Listen  
• Why Don't Ya
  Listen  
• The Wise
  Listen  

Video

Baskery EPK © 2008 Veranda Independent Records

Photo Gallery

Press

• Q magazine- The Trade In Country [+ Show ]
  

  Baskery Fall Among Thieves 4 out of 5 stars The Trade In Country music between America and Swed...Baskery
  Fall Among Thieves
  4 out of 5 stars
  
  The Trade In Country music between America and Sweden has been largely one-way, but three Stockhom sisters are hoping to redress the deficit, Greta, Stella and Sunniva Bondesson turning in a stunning debut album of mountain music laced with a self-proclaimed punk attitude. They have a point, raising two fingers of sisterly solidarity to hopeless men and small town boredom amid furious banjo picking and sweet, tight harmonies. The steamy defiance of One Horse Down and Out of Towner is tempered with with likes of Hold On's softer, more traditional approach, but mostly this is the Bondesson's very own "killbilly".
  Cowpokes better be prepared to get in touch with their feminine side.
  Any Fyfe
  
  Top 50 Q pick download of the month!

• Mojo Magazine- Swedish Sisters turn Americana on its Head! [+ Show ]
  

  FALL AMONG THIEVES 4 out of 5 stars Stockholm sisters turn Americana on its head This is absu...FALL AMONG THIEVES
  4 out of 5 stars
  
  Stockholm sisters turn Americana on its head
  
  This is absurdly wonderful. Swedes Greta, Stella and Sunniva Bondesson don’t give a fig about geographical parameters – they’ve emerged from their former band Slaptones (featuring their dad on drums) to do their own thing with a glee which, coupled with no little virtuosity and runaway vivaciousness, is irresistible. Their own thing just happens to be a passionate and full-blooded – albeit mostly acoustic - reinvention of American roots. If the scorching bottleneck banjo riff exploding on One Horse Down doesn’t get you, the menacing blues of On A Day Like This, the thumping, slightly surreal Out-of Towner and the gentle offbeat whimsy of Oscar Jr Restaurant surely will. On a debut CD enhanced by a lovely, warm, live intimacy, breathlessly buoyant vocals, instinctive harmonies and wry lyrics, it’s less Abba meets Roxette than Dixie Chicks crossed with the Roches. Colin Irwin
  
  Mojo Magazine 2009

• Uncut Magazine- Sweden's Own Wildwood Flowers [+ Show ]
  

  BASKERY Fall Among Thieves GLITTERHOUSE 4/5 stars As The Slaptones, Stockholm’s Bondesson ...BASKERY
  
  Fall Among Thieves
  GLITTERHOUSE
  
  4/5 stars
  
  As The Slaptones, Stockholm’s Bondesson sisters released two albums on EMI and were packed off on US tours with Brian Setzer. They’ve now dropped their drummer Dad from the line-up, renamed themselves Baskery and thrown themselves into their bass-slapping, self-styled "killbilly". It’s a mighty effort too, slashing their sugar mountain harmonies with slide banjo chords and lots of pounding guitar. Fall Among Thieves was recorded live in the studio, giving things a splash of Sun Studio echo and the feel of a Wanda Jackson session with Johnny Burnette, but there’s soul and real poise about these girls too.
  
  
  
  

• Musikexpress- Germany [+ Show ]
  

  Baskery's "Fall Among Thieves" is an exciting full bodied recording. This band is a true original t...Baskery's "Fall Among Thieves" is an exciting full bodied recording. This band is a true original that have created their own genre.

• Sonic Reducer- Germany
  

  Cool, genuine, powerful: swedish country could not be more American.

• Kilkenny Rhythm and Roots Festival [+ Show ]
  

  Baskery at Kilkenny’s Rhythm and Roots Festival (excerpt from Maurice Hope Hope’s article for Ameri...Baskery at Kilkenny’s Rhythm and Roots Festival
  (excerpt from Maurice Hope Hope’s article for Americana OK)
  
  Swedish trio Baskery [three sisters] did them selves a power of good over the weekend too as they played three gigs, not least being due to their lunchtime slot at Cleeres [Sunday).
  
  Where, the accomplished musicians who between them play upright bass, guitar and slide and banjo stormed the place. Delivering music that was a combination of traditional folk blues merged with country blues, fuelled with a vibrant, fresh attitude that can rock saw the blonde, good looking [is there any other] Swedes win over a host of new fans.
  
  Plugging their debut album, Fall Among Thieves leader Greta Bondesson [banjo, resonator guitar, harp] joined by her sisters, Sunniva [upright bass] and Sunniva [guitar] drove hard throughout, thrilling the audience with the hard driving One Horse Down, Out-Of-Towner, the restless and extremely good mining song Here To Pay My Dues, where with slap bass and close harmonies to the fore the music all but exploded.
  

• Toronto Star- Greg Quill [+ Show ]
  

  ROOTS – Toronto Star/ Play country in another country to get respect in your home country That's...ROOTS – Toronto Star/
  Play country in another country to get respect in your home country
  
  That's the strategy for Swedish sisters Baskery, described as `the Dixie Chicks on steroids'
  
  July 24, 2008 04:30 AM
  BY GREG QUILL- ENTERTAINMENT COLUMNIST
  
  It's a little like bringing coals to Newcastle, but Swedish country rock-band Baskery – sisters Greta, Stella and Sunniva Bondesson, who honed their craft in the wilds outside Stockholm – figure the only way to earn street cred at home is to make a big noise in North America.
  After all, singer and guitarist Sunniva, at 25 the youngest Bondesson in the band, explained during a phone interview from the family home, Baskery's banjo-driven, bluesy acoustic punk hybrid has its roots in the American South.
  "Our father and mother listened to a lot of old American blues and country music," she said. "And although Sweden has its own folk music, we were more naturally drawn to American traditional music. There's definitely an audience in Europe for it, and a lot of copycats, people who are obsessed by American folk, blues and country music, and over-study it.
  "We're more careless. We don't play by the rules."
  And that makes them hard to place in the home market, added Bondesson, who's making her Canadian debut – along with Greta, 30, on electric six-string slide banjitar, kick drum and foot-activated snare, and Stella, 28, on slap bass – at The Dakota Tavern tonight, the first gig in an 18-date tour that takes the sisters across the country and into New York City briefly, before they resume a grueling round of festival appearances in Denmark, Norway and France.
  "People told us that if we want to be taken seriously, we have to make a mark in North America ... so that's our plan."
  Not exactly strangers to the U.S., the sisters learned a lot during their first American tour four years ago with their former band, The Slaptones, opening for retro-rocker Brian Setzer.
  "He wanted to sign us to his label, but it was too soon and we thought the contract was too demanding," Bondesson said.
  "When we started performing as a trio, it felt for the first time like a band with a real structure, and because we're sisters who've been playing together for our own enjoyment for more than 10 years, we have a common musical and lyrical language, the same references, the same kinds of expressions, and a style of our own.
  "We wanted to be involved in everything, from recording to management, so we signed to a small Swedish label (Veranda) and made our albums in a studio near Stockholm."
  Baskery is the sisters' code name for a village in rural Sweden that has a special meaning for the Bondesson family, Sunniva explained.
  "No one else knows where it is or what it means. Our people came from northern Sweden. They didn't move far from home. We have Finnish blood. There's lots of insanity, fear, fighting and alcoholism in our family, and many special characters who lost their minds."
  So far the sisters' invasion plan seems to be working. Propelled by a sweaty, sexy electronic press kit circulated on YouTube, featuring a video of their hometown hit "One Horse Down," Baskery – described by one critic as "the Dixie Chicks on steroids" – has garnered some serious attention among North American promoters and festival buyers.
  "They like our aggressive attitude in America," Bondesson said. "But in the end it comes down to the songs, and we take our songwriting very seriously.
  "Our biggest challenge is finding a way to step out of our sibling roles. I'm the youngest and the most stubborn, and I'm always struggling with my sisters to get my ideas across."
  ________________________________________
  Just the facts
  WHO: Baskery
  WHEN: Tonight, 10 p.m.
  WHERE: The Dakota Tavern, 249 Ossington Ave.
  TICKETS: $12 at ticketweb.ca and at the door
  

• Baskery Live at Akkurat [+ Show ]
  

  Baskery Live at Akkurat- by Nils Hansson- Dagens Nyheter January 29th, 2008 If the Baskery siste...Baskery Live at Akkurat- by Nils Hansson- Dagens Nyheter
  January 29th, 2008
  
  If the Baskery sisters can gather half of their live energy in a CD format (album debut due in March) it shouldn’t be long before we see a break through.
  The time is right for the Baskery sisters.
  
  As an encore following their set at Akkurat the three Baskery sisters sing a joyous song about not wanting to sleep with someone from their hometown, using pure harmonies, tough tempo and a frizzling electric banjo as the musical engine. Swedish Americana is not a rarity any longer, but rarely this stompy, direct and elegantly sophisticated. They’re calling it their “club hit” and imply it would be suitable at Spy Bar (popular trendy club in Stockholm) but are not daring enough to give this same introduction as at the previous gig in Falkenberg. Now they’re at home, in Stockholm, and people might be offended.
  
  They could be regarded as a completely new band. The debut album is still being mixed and is to be released on a small label. A single was released in May and since then a buzz is spreading about the band.
  On one hand the group is a prolonged version of Slaptones (EMI) formed 10 years back. The Bondesson sisters then played rockabilly with dad Janåke on the drums. It must be the years of experience from such a young age that enables the three to progress forward as a different group, playing completely different music with such confidence usually only to be found in the U.S.
  
  It’s about country, bluegrass, blues and a tidbit of singer/songwriter- folk - assertively, but with its own character. A lot of it is thanks to older sister Greta’s double –and triple work on slide guitar and fuzzed banjo, harmonica, and drumming with foot pedals. But also thanks to younger sister Sunniva’s full voice and the three sisters’ completely unbreakable harmonies.
  
  If they can manage to gather half of the energy of their live show onto an audio CD this band is sure to hit.
  Until then I wish somebody would book them as a warm up act to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss at Hovet – this way they’ll be measured with the very best.
  
  English translation by Åsa Ramlid for Comino Productions Inc.
  

• Baskery- Damn Good! [+ Show ]
  

  Damn good, Baskery! ON STAGE The Bondesson sisters left daddy Jan-Åke and country rock in Slapt...Damn good, Baskery!
  
  ON STAGE
  The Bondesson sisters left daddy Jan-Åke and country rock in Slaptones to step into the Americana/bluesrock world under the name Baskery.
  
  Greta, Stella and Sunniva have created a magnificent musical balance between the dusty American porch blues and the finer tunes of a softer sound. This gig truly showed how these three sisters were born to conduct their main instruments, allowing their voices to melt together in wonderful harmony. Baskery’s gig was just as good as the distance between Mississippi and Stockholm is far.
  
  There’s a fantastic hillbilly drive in songs like “Here To Pay My Dues”, “One Horse Down” and marvelous beauty in songs like “Oscar Junior Restaurant Bar” and “The Wise”. All songs comprise incredible arrangements reaching crazy heights thanks to Greta’s wonderful slide guitar and banjo topped with slight distortion. If there was a Swedish Masters award in simultaneous capability, Greta would probably win the gold medal! How about playing snare, tambourine and bass drum, along with banjo, harmonica and singing at the same time!
  
  So far, Baskery doesn’t have one bad song in their set list. A lot of the songs at the gig were samples from the debut album planned to be released in March, which should be selling like ice cream on a hot sunny day, provided the girls manage to get the recording to sound as fine as it does when performing live.
  
  Another factor making Baskery a superb live act is the lyrics. Fun lyrics about various bars, conflict in people’s souls and morbid subjects about being trapped and not finding a way out. If justice prevails when Baskery’s album is released, lots of opportunities should arise for these sisters. Nowadays, artists such as Seasick Steve and albums such as “Howl” by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club actually sell well. Me, I was surely “sold” (blown away) yesterday after Baskery’s hot show. So was the rest of the audience swinging their feet in the concert hall’s restaurant. When Baskery plays even the dust dances.
  
  Gävle konserthus, Monday
  Jimmy Jönsson
  
  
  English translation by Åsa Ramlid for Comino Productions Inc.
  

• Energetic Harmonies [+ Show ]
  

  Salmon Arm Observer Published: August 19, 2008 6:00 PM Updated: August 19, 2008 11:24 PM E...Salmon Arm Observer
  
  Published: August 19, 2008 6:00 PM
  Updated: August 19, 2008 11:24 PM
  
  Energetic harmonies – by James Murray
  
  One of the best shows at the Roots and Blues was in a mall parking lot.
  In the glaring, stifling heat of a Friday afternoon, three sisters are casually tearing up a small stage at Centenoka Park Mall.
  
  The young women of Baskery have come more than 6,000 kilometres to bring their punchy mix of country, snarly punk and acoustic harmony to the festival.
  
  Middle sister Stella Bondesson is percussive and rock-solid, smacking her upright bass as she stomps. Big sister Gretta bounces in time on her stool, banjo plucking and driving a kick drum and tambourine, shaggy blond locks shaking, stars drawn beneath her left eye.
  Little sister Sunniva’s fingers chop up chord changes at high speed. She and her acoustic guitar sway gently back and forth.
  
  Listening to Baskery is like catching a speeding train.
  One minute you are standing still, and the next rushing relentlessly across the country, with the wind in your hair and the sun on your face.
  
  After the last number, the sisters pause to chat with the audience. Baskery is playing again in a few hours on the main stage, and the afternoon is a sauna.
  A woman with glasses leans forward eagerly, and whispers a request. The sisters smile and laugh in assent from where they are clustered around the microphone, and their voices leap abruptly into swelling harmonies.
  The song is Swedish, and gorgeous. Three voices rise and fall in soft, mellow, choral tones.
  “We went to choir school together from four to eight years old,” said Stella later. She and her sisters have played together since they were young. Stella said they always have, and asks how could they not. “We share the same house.”
  The Bondessons were once in a band called the Slaptones, with their father Jan-Ake manning the drums.
  “He retired,” nods Stella. Gretta adds that they don’t need the heavy drums. With Stella already on an upright bass, and Sunniva switching to acoustic guitar, Baskery’s sound became more roomy.
  “The banjo took more and more space in the band,” Gretta asserts. Her banjo’s distorted twang rides high on the trio’s recent album Fall Among Thieves.
  The entire disc was recorded live off the floor, from a stage that was built inside a Stockholm studio. Gretta shrugs at the idea of recording track upon track to get the album produced.
  “We wanted to be as pure as possible, as honest as possible.”
  Stella says recording a song over and over several times wouldn’t make it any better. She agrees with keeping it honest, even to the subject of touring with siblings.
  “Sure it’s annoying sometimes,” she says of having to share the hotel room.
  “Tell the truth, now,” Sunniva pipes over her big sister’s shoulder. Stella admits they are best friends as well.
  Baskery headed off to play the festival Main Stage later that day. In front of a swelling audience and television cameras, the Bondessons joked, swore, and played their hearts out, a combination that had people both laughing, and dancing.
  
  
  

Setlist

One Horse Down
Here To Pay My Dues
Oscar Junior Restaurant Bar
Spoken Word
The Wise
The Brave
Haunt You
Why Don't Ya

...many other gems

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