The story of Hion Martell started back in '92. It was not exactly deep down in Louisiana among the evergreens. It was a small town called Ljusdal, in the middle of Sweden, among the pines. Guitar player, singer and song writer Ch Nilsson got some friends together and recorded a few tracks.


Influenced by artists and bands like JJ Cale, the Rolling Stones and Lynnard Skynnard the music was very basic rock. Two of the tracks, Dirty and Queen of Cheap Thrills, were eventually released on the band's second CD. The name - Hion Martell, is to be pronounced high on Martell and is of course a tip of the hat to the world famous cognac.

A number of people have played in the band over the years. Ch's brother, multi instrumentalist Hawkan Nilsson has been beating tambourines, banging drums and pumping bass on more than a few Hion-tracks. Guitar player Ulf Hagberg has played with the band since the first release; ...for your exquisite delight (1993). He writes great songs as well, especially when his heart is broken. Another person who co-writes songs with Ch is Kenneth Forssell. He also plays the guitar on and off with the band. He can be heard on the second CD; Hit Ambition At The Canadian Club 1999) and on most releases after that.

With the 2000 release Top Of The Vision a new, more permanent line up emerged. Drummer STYXX and bass player Babbaen entered the stage.They had a background in glam and really heavy metal. Keyboard wizzard and prog head Ulf Pettersson also joined the band.

Even though female background vocalists was always an important part of the Hion Martell sound, this was the first time that there were any girls in the line up. Actually at a point there were four of them! By the time PEACE! was released in 2002 only two of them were left;Sofia Klingefors and Tanja Hedlund.

After the release of PEACE! the band started writing on a concept album: Music From The Swing Dynasty - IRON MOTEL BY HION MARTELL. Quite a few of the tracks featured in the rock opera were co-written by STYXX, who never the less left the band to be replaced by drummer Ronnie Persson. The album was released and available only on the internet in 2005.

Hion Martells's most recent release is the 4 track CD Water (2006). The disc features re-recorded versions of four of the tracks from the Iron Motel. Half way through the recordings Ulf Pettersson and Tanja Hedlund decided to leave. The majority of the keyboards on the CD are therefore handled by Kristofer Eng, another prog crazed disgustingly skilled player.

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