Their official biography from their record company Universal Music says that the band was founded on a winter evening in 1999, when Peder Ernerot (aka “Pedda P”) and Johan Forsberg were listening to Johnny Cash in a local pub. They noticed that no-one had done a good Swedish country album, and decided to make a good one themselves. When Peder’s brother Markus said that he already had some song ideas and Gustave Lund (aka “Gurra G”) came in, starting up a band became reality.

It was Johan who came up with the name Sverige. All the band members immediately thought that it was a great name, but then they became unsure. What if the name is misunderstood as a nationalistic statement? Peder, however, said that the fear of misunderstanding leads to great art, so the band decided to keep the name.

Later, bassist Thomas Lindberg, drummist Stefan Carlsson and keyboard player Joakim Uddling joined the band. After some practicing and purchasing a banjo, the band had a great premiere on stage in Tantogården. Johan Norberg told the band that he was interested in producing their album. Sverige’s debut album “Som Landet Ligger” was released in April this year.

In Swedish newspapers the album has got rather good ratings, but according to the papers, the album is “missing catchy songs.”