The Wishing Tree is a music project by
Marillion
Marillion are a British rock music, rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becomin ...
guitarist
Steve Rothery
Steven Rothery (born 25 November 1959) is an English musician. He is the original guitarist and the longest continuous member of the British rock band Marillion. Outside Marillion, Rothery has recorded two albums as part of the duo the Wishing ...
and vocalist Hannah Stobart. Their debut album, ''
Carnival of Souls
''Carnival of Souls'' is a 1962 American independent horror film produced and directed by Herk Harvey and written by John Clifford from a story by Clifford and Harvey, and starring Candace Hilligoss. Its plot follows Mary Henry, a young wo ...
'', was released in 1996 and a second album, ''
Ostara'', was released 23 March 2009.
History
Rothery had been interested in starting an acoustic project with a female vocalist since 1985. Rothery's first consideration to be the vocalist was
Julianne Regan
Julie-Ann "Julianne" Regan (born 30 June 1962) is an English-Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. She achieved success in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the lead singer of the band All About Eve. AllMusic describes Regan as "certainly on ...
, the lead singer of the
gothic rock
Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...
group
All About Eve
''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does ...
. Later, an attempt to team up with the female singer of a band called The Escape Club (not
The Escape Club
The Escape Club are an English pop rock band that was formed in London in 1983. They are best known for their 1988 No. 1 US hit "Wild, Wild West (The Escape Club song), Wild, Wild West" and for their top-ten 1991 hit "I'll Be There (The Escape ...
), whose voice reminded Rothery of
Annie Haslam
Annie Haslam (born 8 June 1947) is an English vocalist, songwriter and painter. She is best known as the lead singer of progressive rock band Renaissance since 1971, and for her long and diverse solo singing career. She has a five-octave vocal r ...
's, failed as they couldn't get along on a personal level. When Marillion were recording
Brave at
Miles Copeland's Chateau Marouatte in
Dordogne
Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named af ...
in 1993, Copeland offered Rothery "a substantial sum" for recording an instrumental solo album on his label No Speak. Although Rothery didn't take the offer, it renewed his interest in a solo project.
During the Brave tour of 1994, Rothery was approached by Hannah Stobart, a student of French and Italian, who gave him her demo tape containing "
She Moved Through the Fair" and
Tori Amos
Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
's "
Me and a Gun
"Me and a Gun" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician Tori Amos. It was released as the first single from her debut studio album ''Little Earthquakes''. It was released on October 21, 1991 by Atlantic Records in North America and ...
". Rothery was delighted and began recording further demos with Stobart at his new home studio. After Marillion were dropped by
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
following the 1995 album ''
Afraid of Sunlight
''Afraid of Sunlight'' is Marillion's eighth studio album, released in 1995. It was their last for EMI (who would, however, continue to release back-catalogue material on compilations and re-issues, as well as distribute some later recordings).
...
'', several band members pursued solo projects before they began work on ''
This Strange Engine
''This Strange Engine'' is the ninth studio album by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in April 1997 by the Castle Communications imprint Raw Power. It was the first of the three recordings that Marillion made on a cont ...
'' (1997). During two weeks in early 1996, Rothery recorded acoustic material with Stobart on vocals,
Pete Trewavas
Peter Trewavas (born 15 January 1959) is an English musician, known as the bassist of Marillion. He joined in 1982, replacing Diz Minnitt, while acting occasionally as a backing vocalist and acoustic guitarist.
Trewavas was born in Middlesbroug ...
of Marillion on bass and Paul Craddick of
Enchant on drums and keyboards. All music was written by Rothery and Stobart ("additional vocal melodies"), while the lyrics were written by regular Marillion collaborator
John Helmer. Most songs were written right then, however, a handful had a longer history: "Nightwater" was considered for ''
Seasons End
''Seasons End'' is the fifth studio album by British neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in 1989. The album was the first to feature current lead vocalist Steve Hogarth, following the departure of former vocalist Fish in late 1988. ...
'' (1989), when
Steve Hogarth
Steve Hogarth (born Ronald Stephen Hoggarth, 14 May 1956 in Kendal, Westmorland) also known as "h", is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Since 1989 he has been the lead singer of the British rock band Marillion, for which ...
rejected Helmer's lyrics as "too gothic"; the chorus of "Midnight Snow" and "Evergreen" were written during the ''
Holidays in Eden
''Holidays in Eden'' is the sixth studio album by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in 1991. Recorded at Hook End Manor in Oxfordshire and Westside Studios in London, it was the band's second album with vocalist Steve ...
'' (1991) and ''
Clutching at Straws
''Clutching at Straws'' is the fourth studio album by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released on June 22, 1987. It was the last album with lead singer Fish, who left the band in 1988, and is a concept album.
Although ''Clutch ...
'' (1987) sessions, respectively.
The resulting album was called ''Carnival of Souls'', after the horror film of
the same title. The project's name was inspired by
Tengiz Abuladze
Tengiz Abuladze ( ka, თენგიზ აბულაძე; 31 January 1924 – 6 March 1994) was a Georgian film director, screenwriter, theatre teacher and People's Artist of the USSR. He is regarded as one of the best Soviet directors.
...
's film ''The Wishing Tree'' (aka ''The Tree of Desire''). There was no tour to support the album, however, the band did appear live on a concert for Marillion's Italian fan club. They also appeared on Italian television.
After the release of ''Carnival of Souls'', Rothery returned to his main job with Marillion, leaving The Wishing Tree on an indefinite hiatus. Stobart finished her university studies, married Paul Craddick and settled down in California as a journalist. In 1999,
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
expressed interest in another Wishing Tree album, so Rothery and Stobart/Craddick recorded some demos that Rothery described as "a cross between
Portishead and
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...
". However, Rothery hesitated to sign a major deal outside of Marillion and Sony finally lost interest. Still, Rothery and Stobart continued to work together. In 2002, the band played at a fan club convention ("Marillion Weekend").
The Wishing Tree's second album ''
Ostara'' was released on 23 March 2009 through marillion.com. The first 1000 copies were signed by Steve and Hannah. One of the tracks from the album, "Hollow Hills", was prereleased for download from their webpage, along with other clips from the album.
Hannah and Paul Craddick also started the project Rocket Moth, and released the album ''Mesolow'' in 2013.
Members
Official members
* Hannah Craddick – vocals
*
Steve Rothery
Steven Rothery (born 25 November 1959) is an English musician. He is the original guitarist and the longest continuous member of the British rock band Marillion. Outside Marillion, Rothery has recorded two albums as part of the duo the Wishing ...
– guitar, keyboards, bass
Contributors
*
Paul Craddick – drums, keyboards
*
Pete Trewavas
Peter Trewavas (born 15 January 1959) is an English musician, known as the bassist of Marillion. He joined in 1982, replacing Diz Minnitt, while acting occasionally as a backing vocalist and acoustic guitarist.
Trewavas was born in Middlesbroug ...
– bass
* Jo Rothery – backing vocals
* Mike Hunter – keyboards, percussion
Discography
* 1996 -
Carnival of Souls
''Carnival of Souls'' is a 1962 American independent horror film produced and directed by Herk Harvey and written by John Clifford from a story by Clifford and Harvey, and starring Candace Hilligoss. Its plot follows Mary Henry, a young wo ...
* 2009 -
Ostara
References
External links
Information about their second album ''Ostara''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wishing Tree
English folk musical groups
English rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1995