RITA BOLLAND / facebook / website
Rita Bolland is a Norwegian singer and songwriter making her European debut with the release of her new single
“Echo” on New Cut Music.
Rita has been singing for a long time, but turned professional just recently when she started to
write and sing her own music.
The alluring single “Echo” will be released throughout the world on the New Cut Music label.
She is currently working on a full album.
GOOD OL' BOYS / goodolboys.no
De har holdt på så lenge vi kan huske. Etterspurte og folkekjære i hele Skandinavia er de Suliskongen og Lofotsheriffen.
De er Good Ol' Boys - trygge, hardføre , ramsalte karer med dype røtter i et dramatisk landskap av fjell og jord, hav og strie strømmer.
Begge har enorm respekt for de nådeløse omgivelsene hvor kystfolk til alle tider klorte seg fast, trossa iskald storm, frådende regn og og illsinte bølger, ofte med livet eller håpet som innsats.
Begge bærer i seg bevisstheten om under- og overjordiske skapninger, født av trolske naturkrefter som vilkårlig fordelte angst, skyld og fortvilelse med usvikelig sjenerøsitet. Begge er oppvokst der mørketida gir liv til saftig bannskap og skrøner, udødelige myter og sviende lengsel. Begge har opplevd at det skimrende nordlyset våker ved drømmenes vogge og grav. Hver for seg har de sett forbi storhavet, ut i verden. Hver for seg har de reist til Nashville og skapt ny norsk historie i countrymusikkens hjemland. Hver for seg har de delt sang og scene med sine egne idoler, de fremste amerikanske artistene i sjangere fra tradisjonell western til outlaw country rock.
De har kryssa hverandres veier, gått et par av de samme stiene - men aldri samtidig. Ikke før nå. Sammen utgjør Arne Benoni og Ottar Big Hand Johansen et kraftsenter på vår musikalske arena.
Duetten "Good Ol' Boys" kommer som single og video allerede i starten av oktober.
Full CD med tittelsporet + helt nyskrevne låter, slippes 1. februar 2017.
Utgivelsen følges opp med landsomfattende kulturhus-turné i februar og mars. I tillegg gjester de festivaler og lokale markedsdager og arrangementer utover våren, sommeren og høsten 2017.
Arne Benoni er en av våre sterkeste tolkere av Jim Reeves' sanger. Til strålende kritikker turnerte han i 2014 med sin egen kabaret i forbindelse med 50-års-markeringen for Reeves' bortgang. Benoni har tidligere samarbeidet og opptrådt med verdensstjerner som Dottie West og Lynn Anderson. Han har til med stått på scenen i Nashville's legendariske Grand Ole Opry!
I 2015 feiret Ottar Big Hand 50 år som artist. Jubileet var på ingen måte et endelig mål, men en viktig og imponerende milepel i en lang karriere. Blant andre høydepunkter trekker Big Hand gjerne fram minnerike opptredener på Bluebird Café i Nashville, 2 Spellemannpriser og hederstitlene Æresslusk i Sulis og Ambassadør for Fauske kommune. Dessuten har den røslige nordlendingen gjort seg fortjent til Oslo kommunes kulturpris som han ble tildelt i 2014.
OTTAR 'BIG HAND' JOHANSEN
Spellemannprisen (equal to the US Grammy Awards)
1988 for the album "Game Of Hearts".
Spellemannprisen (equal to the US Grammy Awards)
1985 for the album "Oh Yeah!" (Claudia / Big Hand / Casino)
What do you do after you’ve racked up 50 years of hits, sold-out shows and major music awards? Well, if you’re Ottar “Big Hand” Johansen, you blast off toward even greater glories. And that’s what the internationally celebrated Norwegian star has done with his new album, "Big Hand - 50 Years On The Road".
The project pairs Johansen in duets with such old friends and fellow spotlighters as Joe Sun, Claudia Scott, Sugarfoot, Too Far Gone, Billy T Band, A-11, Bill Booth and Casino Steel. Co-produced with Bjorn Nilsen and Knut Hem (known for his work wih Respatexans, Oystein Sunde and others), the album will be released by New Cut Music May 29, 2015, and contain songs that should appeal to both Americana audiences and those who swear by more classic country. Digital and radio singles are scheduled for May and June, and a new music video is being readied for the rollout. Most of the songs are originals co-written by Johansen and a variety of Norwegian and American composers.
The winner of two Spellemannpriser (equal to the US Grammy Awards), one with
Claudia/Big Hand/Casino, the other for the solo album Game Of Hearts, Johansen has long been pivotal in the growth and popularity of Norway’s music industry, notably through festival and concert appearances with Big Hand Saloon and through his American tours with Joe Sun. In the process, he has shared the stage with such country music immortals as George Jones, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.
More recently, his prominence earned him a mentorship on the popular Stjernekamp series on NRK-TV and netted him the 2014 Kulturpris from the city of Oslo.
This year, Johansen is set to perform at the Nidaros Blues Festival (Trondheim), the Måne Festivalen (Fredrikstad), Kampen Dagen (Oslo), Mons Petter Festivalen (Sulitjelma), the Seljord Country Festival, Frank Brown’s International Song Festival and the Rockheim Pop & Rock Museum. In addition, there will be an array of television, print and social media appearances.
For Ottar “Big Hand” Johansen, the 50-year mark is a milestone, not a goal post.
Then:
Ottar Big Hand Johansen: The "Grand Ole Man" of Scandinavian country music. It is one hot summer afternoon at Nashville’s Fan Fair of 1984. Thousands of fans crowd beneath the stage in anticipation.
Country music legend George Jones does the introduction at the international show, "Ladies and gentlemen, all the way from Norway..." Fronting "Country Jamboree", named best European country band by CMA that very same year, OTTAR "BIG HAND" JOHANSEN starts off their opening number with just his voice and guitar; ..."Will the circle be unbroken..." Today that same song is still his signature - as well as his gentle persona, country soul and friendly smile.
Born and raised in northern Norway, he left as an 18-year old to pursue a professional career in the capitol of Oslo. It wasn’t long until he starred in his own television series, making successful records and going on the road with one of Norway’s most popular bands at the time; "Country Snakes".
With the 80´s came the Texas Outlaw movement and BIG HAND felt right at home. Adapting the more rock oriented style in the fashion of artists like Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, he formed "Country Jamboree" with former "rock star" Casino Steel and British/Norwegian singer Claudia Scott. They became an overnight success, toured both nationally and internationally, and recorded three albums (one of which earned them a Grammy) before they split up in 1986.
BIG HAND was also at that time, and still is today, very much involved in talent scouting and producing other artists. He worked as an A&R for RCA records, before he moved on to heading his own company, Big Hand Records in the mid 80´s.
Today, his companies New Cut Music and Big Hand Entertainment, deals in artist management, booking, publishing as well as recording.
1988 found BIG HAND once again heading for Nashville. This time to record a solo album with one of the top producers of the day, Steve Buckingham and Steve Gibson, and some of the finest musicians Music City could produce. The result could be nothing but perfect and "Game of hearts"(CBS) won him yet another Grammy that year. Now after four more albums (one compilation was released in Sweden and Denmark only) and several more performances (a second shot at Fan Fair, Wembley arena, Gilley´s Texas to name e few). He then released the compilation album "30 years on the road/Best of Big Hand" (New Cut Records). This musical testimony, contains 21 of his favorite songs (including two brand new ones) and spawns one of Europe’s country music’s most subtle and withstanding careers.
It is said to have been many Norwegian sailors, coming back home from across the Atlantic, bringing their brand new telecasters and Buck Owens records with them, who are mainly responsible for boosting the popularity of country music amongst the Norwegians back in the 60´s. One man is still carrying that torch.
TORE ANDERSEN
Spellemannprisen
(equal to the US Grammy
Awards) 2010 for the album
"Right Around The Corner".
A professional singer and
miscellaneous instrumentalist
since 1982, he is today one
of Norway´s most prominent
singer/songwriters.
Tore grew up in a musical
family with his mother's piano at the middle of the living room. She was classically trained, but Tore soon decided to switch from piano to his dad's old Hansson acoustic guitar. The familty moved from Oslo, hrough Halden and finally to Stjørdal, one hour north of Trondheim. Tore's spare time was soon to be dedicated to
music, band practises and non-stop guitar picking in front of the record player.
After 11 years on the road, Tore's first goal was achieved in 1993 by the release of The Hero in Me (BMG/Ariola).
Characterized by radio DJ Rune Halland as "Norway's first modern country album", it contained radio favourites like "Watching the Snow" and "Hearts, they fall in love". Recorded in Nashville with several of the city's best session musicians, among others Jerry Douglas and Brent Mason, the album contained only new and original songs. The critics were very positive.
Earlier the same year, during the recording of the TV series "Hillbilly Highway", Tore had met up with sibling duo Rita og Frank Eriksen. He was chosen as Rita's duet partner at the "Spellemannpris" show (the Norwegian "Grammy"), and he contributed as singer and composer on Eriksen's album "The water is wide". As a matter of fact, it is Tore singing the duet vocal on the title track, and not brother Frank. Tore also participated on Eriksen's tour at the same time as he promoted his own album and songs. Several other radio and TV appearances took place after this, and he recorded a video for "The fool I am". That was to become one of the very first European country videos to be aired on Country Music Television (CMT).
In 1994, Tore provided songs and duet vocals on his old friend Ottar "Big Hand" Johansen's album
"Passion & Trust", and in January 1995 he participated on the Elvis Presley tribute album "Elvis Tributter".
This was the beginning of a comprehensive activity as a session musician, and Tore has since this given
his talent to artists like Hjerterknekt, Casino Steel, Bjøro Håland, Guren Hagen og G. Thomas. Together with
Bill Booth, Henning Kvitnes and Hilde Heltberg, Tore was also a part of "The Quartet",
a touring singer/songwriter project.
After switching record company, Tore released Tore Andersen (New Cut Records) in the fall of 1998. Recorded at the Waterfall Studio in Oslo with Jørun Bøgeberg and Ottar Johansen as co-producers, this album presented a tougher and less polished side of Tore. The critics agreed that Tore had grown both as a songwriter and as an artist, and several of the major news papers ranked the album very high. The singles "Between two rivers" and "Hard water" received a lot of airplay. The album was followed with heavy touring covering most of Norway, and also concerts in USA, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
After the turn of the century Tore has been involved with several projects, mainly as a songwriter. However, Tore still loves to perform live, and among other gigs you can still hear him every year at the country festival Norsk Countrytreff in Breim on the western coast of Norway. He also enjoys performing with his old friend Ottar "Big Hand" Johansen and his band "Big Hand Saloon". Some of the side projects have distingushed themselves, especially Knut Hem's album/project "Hemisfair", which in 2007 released the album "Blue Blue Grass of Home". That album was even nominated for a "Spellemannspris" award.
During the last years, Tore has frequently visited Nashville to write songs with an increasing number of good friends. Some of the results from these visits are presented on his latest album Right Around The Corner (Wilma Records, 2009). Produced by Tore, assisted by Ernst Nikolaisen, and engineered by Kai Andersen in Athletic Sound, the new album demonstrates the musical span in Tore Andersen's musical universe.
NORVILLE
Ottar “Big Hand” Johansen, known as the Johnny Cash of Norway, has had his share of magical moments. A major star and national television host, Johansen has been recording and touring for three decades. He has received seven Norwegian Grammy nominations and two
Norwegian Grammy awards; plus a string of silver and gold sales status records, based on hits like “Song For Sulis,” “I’m Still Your Fool,” Prisoners Of The Blue,” and “Blue Norwegian Moon.”
Singer, songwriter and producer Joe Sun, a Nashville icon and legend originally from Minnesota, has spent 40 years at his trade; working both his US and international careers with success. Joe’s self-penned and co-written songs like “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You,” “Bombed, Boozed and Busted,” “Some Lucky Stardust,” and his faith-inspired “I Came on Business for the King” - cut by Johnny Cash on his last recordings – have endeared him to fans from Europe to the Bluebird Café in Nashville.
Tore Andersen is the Norwegian Grammy winner 2010 for best country music album of the year “Right Around The Corner.” He is a much-respected singer/songwriter in Scandinavia, as well as in the Nashville creative environment. Tore topped the Norwegian national radio NRK1 charts for several weeks with his hit song “Goodbye Blues.” He joined NorVille in 2009.
Brent Moyer, a native Wyoming singer/songwriter/guitarist living in Nashville, will be an associate member with NorVille; as will Karen Pendley, a folk singer and fiddle player living in Nashville. Karen specializes in Celtic and traditional Norwegian/Scandinavian folk music and American bluegrass music.