line up

• Carin Blom (glasses, vocals, cowbells, accordion,flute)
• Catharina Backman (glasses, vocals, cowbells, accordion)

• country:
  Sweden
• region or city:
  Scandinavia
• style(s):
  Vaudeville Alternative
• label:
  Ragadang Records
• gender:
  female
• instrumentation:
  instrumental, vocal
• artist submitted by:
  Ragadang Records

After years on the vaudeville stage, the 'visual music' by Gretli & Heidi has reached its sounding perfection. Their voices blend perfectly together with glass bells and bottles. Their fingertips produce ravishing sounds from the 27 tuned crystal glasses in the glass harp. Sometimes they pick up their accordions and play along to happy songs with a scent of Central European ländler and beer house. Gretli & Heidi mix poetry and humour in an irrepressible clutter.
Gretli & Heidi, otherwise known as composers Catharina Backman and Carin Blom, started their collaboration as musical vaudeville artists, touring around Sweden in a circus tent with Variété Vauduvill. Their acts took place in a fantasy world studded with edelweiss embroided dresses, lace blouses and men in lederhosen, to the sound of cow bells, yodel, percussive everyday objects and step dance.
Gretli & Heidi constructed their first glass harp in 2001 and ever since have explored and incorporated different glass sounds into their musical universe. They have also collaborated with some of Sweden's most well-renowned young improvisation musicians, poets and actors. In 2005, they appeared on national TV when performing the theme of Beethoven's Symphony no 5 with the Swedish Radio Orchestra, using cowbells and an egg timer!

Press clippings:
"It is a peculiar form of international music, which could come from Mongolia, South America
or central Africa as well as from the Tyrol or Stockholm. Simple percussive patterns
female vocal harmonies over ... Subtle humor, yes. Blatant irony, no. A girl's own "glass harp" ...
emerges here as a cosmic sound machine and it all sounds great ...


"Soon, a serene lullaby taken over with bells and wordless angelic choirs, only to be relieved
an experimental accordion tune worthy Lars Hollmer. "

Links

• myspace