Biography
A towering presence in Swedish rock annals, guitarist, vocalist, and composer Roine Stolt guided two of the nation’s premier progressive ensembles: Kaipa throughout the 1970s and, beginning in the 1990s, the Flower Kings. His singular six-string approach fused the urbane midtempo phrasing of David Gilmour, the incisive angularity of Steve Howe, and the technical brilliance of Frank Zappa. An optimistic outlook envisioning a world shaped by aesthetic grace—echoing the sensibility of Yes vocalist Jon Anderson, with whom Stolt has worked—imbued his compositions with a resonance that resonated deeply among progressive listeners.
Uppsala native Roine Stolt entered the world on 5 September 1956. Late in the 1960s he began on bass within regional cover outfits, soon gravitating toward the rising British progressive wave; by summer 1974, at seventeen, he had taken up electric guitar as lead player for the established prog group Kaipa. That ensemble issued three Decca albums—later reissued on CD by Musea—and remains widely regarded as Scandinavia’s foremost 1970s progressive act.
Stolt departed Kaipa in 1979 to launch Fantasia, which produced two albums before dissolving in 1983 following a more pop-oriented Warner release. He subsequently concentrated on session work and production, moving away from symphonic textures—an evolution audible on his 1985 solo effort Behind the Walls (his debut as lead vocalist), styled in the vein of Hall & Oates, and on the 1989 album The Lonely Heartbeat issued under the Stolt moniker.
With the progressive resurgence of the 1990s, a scene partly seeded in Sweden by Landberk and Anglagard, Stolt returned to earlier passions. Recruiting drummer Jaime Salazar, formerly of Jonas Hellborg’s band, and percussionist Hans Bruniusson, ex-Samla Mammas Manna, he issued The Flower King in August 1994. Encouraged by enthusiastic reception, he added brother Michael Stolt on bass and vocals plus longtime associate Tomas Bodin on keyboards, thereby establishing the Flower Kings as his central vehicle. Fronting that group, Stolt attained worldwide recognition; alongside Spock’s Beard the band ranked among the decade’s top-selling progressive acts. Six studio albums—two of them double-disc sets—appeared within the first six years, while Stolt also completed the solo recordings Flower King and the instrumental symphonic-prog set Hydrophonia and participated in the supergroup Transatlantic, whose debut SMPT:e surfaced alongside a 2000 tour. Those commitments dominated the ensuing decade and a half, though he managed the additional solo album Wall Street Voodoo in 2005.
In 2014, InsideOut Music’s Thomas Waber introduced Stolt to former Yes singer Jon Anderson; the pair were invited to craft extended suite-like pieces recalling Tales from Topographic Oceans and Anderson’s Olias of Sunhillow, updated with contemporary progressive sensibilities. After months of exchanging material online, full-band sessions commenced in March 2015, augmented by backing vocalists chosen by Stolt. The resulting four-track album Invention of Knowledge, credited to Anderson/Stolt, appeared on Inside Out in June 2016 and received worldwide praise.
Later that year Stolt proposed to Waber the formation of “a new band moving in a fresh direction with new collaborations.” He assembled Flower Kings bassist Jonas Reingold, keyboardist Tom Brislin (Yes, Renaissance, Camel), drummer Marco Minnemann (Aristocrats), and vocalist/guitarist Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain of Salvation). Operating as the Sea Within, the ensemble delivered its self-titled Inside Out album in early 2018. Later the same year Stolt’s Facebook page announced the forthcoming Manifesto of an Alchemist by Roine Stolt’s the Flower King. Although presented as a solo project, the November 2018 Inside Out release featured an extensive roster of guests including bandmates Reingold and Minnemann together with Hans Froberg, Michael Stolt, Max Lorentz, Zach Kamins, Rob Townsend, and Nad Sylvan.
Uppsala native Roine Stolt entered the world on 5 September 1956. Late in the 1960s he began on bass within regional cover outfits, soon gravitating toward the rising British progressive wave; by summer 1974, at seventeen, he had taken up electric guitar as lead player for the established prog group Kaipa. That ensemble issued three Decca albums—later reissued on CD by Musea—and remains widely regarded as Scandinavia’s foremost 1970s progressive act.
Stolt departed Kaipa in 1979 to launch Fantasia, which produced two albums before dissolving in 1983 following a more pop-oriented Warner release. He subsequently concentrated on session work and production, moving away from symphonic textures—an evolution audible on his 1985 solo effort Behind the Walls (his debut as lead vocalist), styled in the vein of Hall & Oates, and on the 1989 album The Lonely Heartbeat issued under the Stolt moniker.
With the progressive resurgence of the 1990s, a scene partly seeded in Sweden by Landberk and Anglagard, Stolt returned to earlier passions. Recruiting drummer Jaime Salazar, formerly of Jonas Hellborg’s band, and percussionist Hans Bruniusson, ex-Samla Mammas Manna, he issued The Flower King in August 1994. Encouraged by enthusiastic reception, he added brother Michael Stolt on bass and vocals plus longtime associate Tomas Bodin on keyboards, thereby establishing the Flower Kings as his central vehicle. Fronting that group, Stolt attained worldwide recognition; alongside Spock’s Beard the band ranked among the decade’s top-selling progressive acts. Six studio albums—two of them double-disc sets—appeared within the first six years, while Stolt also completed the solo recordings Flower King and the instrumental symphonic-prog set Hydrophonia and participated in the supergroup Transatlantic, whose debut SMPT:e surfaced alongside a 2000 tour. Those commitments dominated the ensuing decade and a half, though he managed the additional solo album Wall Street Voodoo in 2005.
In 2014, InsideOut Music’s Thomas Waber introduced Stolt to former Yes singer Jon Anderson; the pair were invited to craft extended suite-like pieces recalling Tales from Topographic Oceans and Anderson’s Olias of Sunhillow, updated with contemporary progressive sensibilities. After months of exchanging material online, full-band sessions commenced in March 2015, augmented by backing vocalists chosen by Stolt. The resulting four-track album Invention of Knowledge, credited to Anderson/Stolt, appeared on Inside Out in June 2016 and received worldwide praise.
Later that year Stolt proposed to Waber the formation of “a new band moving in a fresh direction with new collaborations.” He assembled Flower Kings bassist Jonas Reingold, keyboardist Tom Brislin (Yes, Renaissance, Camel), drummer Marco Minnemann (Aristocrats), and vocalist/guitarist Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain of Salvation). Operating as the Sea Within, the ensemble delivered its self-titled Inside Out album in early 2018. Later the same year Stolt’s Facebook page announced the forthcoming Manifesto of an Alchemist by Roine Stolt’s the Flower King. Although presented as a solo project, the November 2018 Inside Out release featured an extensive roster of guests including bandmates Reingold and Minnemann together with Hans Froberg, Michael Stolt, Max Lorentz, Zach Kamins, Rob Townsend, and Nad Sylvan.
Albums
