Santiano is a German band from the northern state of

Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schl ...

, whose songs combine

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

Irish folk Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there we ...

sea shanty A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ''shanty ...

, and

schlager music Schlager music (, " hit(s)") is a style of European popular music that is generally a catchy instrumental accompaniment to vocal pieces of pop music with simple, happy-go-lucky, and often sentimental lyrics. Typical Schlager tracks are eith ...

. The name Santiano is taken from the

Hugues Aufray Hugues Jean Marie Auffray (; born 18 August 1929), better known as Hugues Aufray, is a French singer-songwriter and guitarist. Aufray is known for French language covers of Bob Dylan's songs. Aufray knew Dylan and his work from his time in New ...

song of the same name. They topped the German album charts multiple times in the 2010s, also ranking high in Austrian and Swiss charts.

History

The idea for the band originated with German producer Hartmut Krech of

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

, who owns the Elephant Music label. On 3 February 2012, the band appeared at We Love Music, an event promoted by Universal Music and ProSiebenSat.1 Media. Their first album, titled ''Bis ans Ende der Welt'' ('To the end of the World'), was released in 2012. It reached #1 in the German charts. That same year, the group completed a European tour, including a performance at the

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music, rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and su ...

festival. A live CD/DVD of the event was released in November 2012. In 2013 and 2014, they received an

Echo award Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The first ECHO Awards ceremony was held in 1992, and it was set up to hono ...

for best Folk music. Santiano appeared as an opening act for

Helene Fischer Helene Fischer ( /heˈleːnə ˈfɪʃɚ/; German: eˈleːnə ˈfɪʃɐ born Jelena Petrovna Fischer, 5 August 1984) is a Russian-born German singer. Since her debut in 2005, she has won numerous awards, including 17 Echo awards, four "Die Kron ...

's 2013 summer tour, and toured Germany from November 2013 to April 2014. Their second studio album, ''Mit den Gezeiten'' ("With the tides"), was released in 2013 and reached #1 in the German charts. This album contains more rock elements than "Bis ans Ende der Welt" but still draws upon themes surrounding the sea and North German myths. In 2014, they participated in ''Unser Song für Dänemark'', the national selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European ...

with the songs ''Wir werden niemals untergehen'' and ''Fiddler on the Deck''. They were eliminated in Round 2 of the final. Their third studio album, ''Von Liebe, Tod und Freiheit'' ("On love, death and freedom") was released in May 2015 and provided the band with another #1 album in Germany. As its title suggests, deeper themes are addressed in the lyrics of this album but this is offset by a number of folk-based songs which promote the importance of camaraderie and togetherness when dealing with such themes. The band appeared for a fourth time at the Wacken Open Air festival in 2015 and continued to tour into 2016.

Discography

Albums

EPs

* 2021: ''Sea Shanties – Wellerman''

Music videos

* 2012: Frei wie der Wind * 2013: Gott muss ein Seemann sein * 2015: Lieder der Freiheit * 2015: Weh mir * 2017: Könnt ihr mich hören * 2017: Ich bring dich heim * 2018: Mädchen von Haithabu * 2021: Wellerman * 2021: Wenn die Kälte kommt * 2021: Was du liebst * 2022: Durch jeden Sturm

References

External links

*
"Santiano" – Seemanns-Pop frisch von der Förde
{{Authority control German folk music groups Schleswig-Holstein Irish folk musicians