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 from several music labels. With their official debut album on Warner Music, All in Hand in 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.
Members
Martijn Hagens – lead vocals, guitar, piano
Ad van Halteren – bass
Bart Herber – drums, percussion
Thomas Lina – keys, tambourine, backing vocals
Maarten van Damme – guitar, lap steel guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica, backing vocals
Biography
Rosemary's Sons was founded in late 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 offered the band, which had become quite popular in the Breda-area, a record deal. Led by producer Oscar Holleman, they released their debut album All in Hand. The album features guest appearances by Ilse deLange and Ren van Barneveld. All in Hand was well received and quickly entered the Album Top 100. The first single, "Fall from Grace", was released in August 2001 and became a modest hit. The next single, "Shine", was played often on national radio and TV, made it to the top position in the Cyber Top 50 charts for two consecutive weeks and reached no.34 in the Mega Top 100. Halfway in June, a third single, "Up All Night", was released. In 2002, guitarist Maarten van Damme joined the band, while they were establishing an impressive live reputation. The band played big summer festivals like Paaspop, Bospop, Dauwpop, and Lowlands. They supported The Cranberries, Bush, De Dijk and Krezip, and toured in most Dutch music clubs. 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 of Ilse deLange. In the meantime, the band started writing songs for their second album, when Warner Music announced that they had to terminate the record deals with local artists/bands in March 2004. A few months later, the band along with producer Oscar Holleman started the recording process and got the attention of V2 Music. The indie label released Rosemary's Sons' second album in April 2005. The resulting effort, St. Eleanor's Park, contains rootsy roadsongs, some rock songs and a flirtation with jazz and glamrock. They had played some of the songs at Ahoy supporting Bryan Adams. The band began with the CD release party on13 April 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. The release followed with the singles "Wrong Way Around", "Queen of Hearts", and "St. Eleanor's Park", and extensive touring throughout the Netherlands.
