Roine Stolt
“Some guitarists try to play 300 notes a second to impress, but some don’t need to, as they can say so much with just a handful of notes - I’m looking at you especially, Messrs Hackett, Latimer and Gilmour.
“Another guitarist in this vein is Swedish prog legend Roine Stolt. Roine has this innate ability to portray emotions through his playing, combined with a jazzy approach that can only be the result of significant exposure to the works of Frank Zappa in his formative years and a folky aspect informed by the Scandinavian folk tradition. He balances these influences in such a way that you’re never really sure which way he might
turn – especially in a live environment. But one thing you always get is feeling.
“Roine first took to the stage in the late 60s, before bursting onto the prog stage with the debut album by Swedish band Kaipa in 1975, at the tender age of 17. During the 80s and early 90s he was an in-demand session musician, ultimately returning to his first love of prog with the release of his seminal album The Flower King in 1994 and then establishing The Flower Kings as a vehicle to continue bringing this symphonic music to the world.
“With his later work with the bands Transatlantic, Agents Of Mercy and The Sea Within, as well as working with Steve Hackett and Jon Anderson, he has established himself as one of progressive rock’s finest musicians and composers. I have been enamoured with Roine’s playing for more than 20 years, and he has given me more of those hair-standing-on-end moments than anyone else I can recall.
“I have been lucky enough to follow the band on tour a couple of times, and even with the same set list each night we never knew what we would get from one venue to the next. At one gig, part of a particular track would morph until it almost sounded like Led Zeppelin, but the next night that same middle section would become an improvised ambient dub reggae exploration. Every night was something equally disparate.
“I’ve been transported by Roine’s playing and music to new, strange universes and watched through wet eyes, so strong were the emotions he wrung out of that guitar. To quote Roine’s lyrics: ‘We believe in the light, we believe in love, every precious little thing / We believe you can still surrender, you can serve the Flower King.’”