BIOGRAPHY

Origin
The band was formed as a four piece band in March 1994, through a common desire to play Irish inspired music. Since then they expanded, in 1998 they were eight, today it's a six-piece-band.. The musicians come from a variety of backgrounds, including rock, heavy rock, new wave, country/roots, pop and folk music .

The Music
The Tramps market themselves under the title "Irish folk music"; however their style has been inspired by Scottish as well as Irish traditional music. Over the last few years they have also let country & western music, played in their own special way, into their repertoire. Don't be surprised if you hear the old Johnny Cash classic "Folsom Prison Blues" played at a gig with The Tramps.They also combine the elements of rock and roll with the harmonies and rhythm of Celtic music. Apart from the obvious sources of inspiration such as
The Dubliners, The Waterboys and The Pogues they have also chosen songs from lesser known artists in order to complete their repertoire. Today they write most of their material on their own. Their upcoming album "Roadkill", is a very representing document of where The Tramps are today.

Experience
Since May 1994 the band has steadily been building up a reputation as an exciting live band. They have been invited to play at various locations in Norway during the past years. They have played as a support act for both The Dubliners and Shane McGowan And The Popes during their visits to Norway. The response from the press, the radio stations and the audiences has been very promising. In the beginning of June 1998 they played on one of Norway's greatest and most successfull rock-festivals, the Norwegian Wood festival in Oslo. They shared the stage with some of the most important names in rock and folk-music today, including
Van Morrison, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, 16 Horsepower, Lisa Loeb, Neil Finn.

Silver And Gold
On the 17th of November 1995 The Tramps released their debut CD "Silver & Gold". It was recorded at West Audio, Stavanger, Norway. It was produced by the band themselves, in cooperation with Torbjørn Solum. The CD contains 15 well known and lesser known folksongs and melodies played in a way that has made The Tramps known as one of the leading folk rock bands in Norway today. 'Silver And Gold' has been given very good reviews in various Norwegian newspapers and music magazines.

St.Patrick's Day
On Saturday, March 15th 1997, The Tramps hosted a concert at Sjøhusene in Stavanger. In front of a thousand people the band and various guest artists played for more than two hours. The whole show was recorded onto DAT, in other words direct to two track tape, thus leaving out any possibilities of overdubs or correcting mistakes. The band later pressed a CD of the event, and mailed a copy to every person who attended the concert that night, free of charge. This St. Patrick's Day celebration was repeated on the same location in March 1998, March 1999 and March 2000, March 2001 and March 2002.

Fireland
During May 1997 The Tramps recorded their second album in
PUK Recording Studios, Gjerlev, Denmark. It was recorded and produced by The Tramps in cooperation with Lars Nissen. The album was given the title "Fireland". It was a natural follow-up to "Silver And Gold", apart from the fact that it contained more songs written by the members of the band. In fact, half of the songs were The Tramps' own material. 'Fireland' was released on February 6th,1998.

Halfway to the moon
It was released on March the 13th in the year 2000. It contains 13 songs which is the bands own material only. "Halfway to the moon" was recorded in Hitsville Recording Studio, Oslo, and was produced by Eivind Skovdahl who has previously worked with artists like A-ha, Ace of Base and Seigmen. 

Roadkill
It was recorded on March 16, 2002 in front of a live audience at Sjøhusene, Stavanger. It was released on October the 7th, 2002. The recording represents The Tramps at it's best, giving the audience exactly what they want, rocking up-tempo reels and jigs mixed with emotional ballads and traditional irish folk. It also contains brilliant contributions from artists and musicians like Rita Eriksen, Ole Zweidorff, and Rune Helland.

Best of The Tramps
Released in May 2004, the title says it all, doesn't it?

Future plans
In the autumn and winter  of the year 2010 /2011 The Tramps will be playing at different locations in Norway, some new pubs and live venues and some of the places they've visited before (Check out the
Live-dates section to see when they're coming to a town near you).

The Band Members:

Rune Larsen: lead vocals
Stian Tønnesen: mandolin, banjo, backing vocals
Hans Wassvik: bass,didjeridoo
Frank Eriksen: guitars
Dag Sindre Vagle: bouzouki, flutes, vocals
Morten Jackman: drums, percussion
Andy McLarney played guitar, whistles and did backing vocals on Silver and Gold and Fireland. He left band in 1998. Pete Johansen played the fiddle on Silver and Gold, Fireland and Halfway to the Moon. He left the band in October 2000. Einar Hognestad did acoustic guitars on Silver and Gold, Fireland and Halfway to the moon. He left the band in August, 2000.