Going to Bergen to mix our new album!

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 21:20:00 GMT

Meg og kammeraten min (me and my buddy) my buddy being Håkon Gebhardt are going back to Duper studio and having the brilliant Jørgen Træen mix our debut childrens album, Det e'kke bra før det er dårlig (It ain't good until it's bad). It's also my debut album singing in norwegian and will be our band, HGH's sixth release. The wiz kid Håkon Hoffart has once again delivered a great cover and if you go to this page you'll see 10 covers he has already done for me! Stay tuned!
Oh yeah, the Ford logo will be traded for a HGH logo...

New home page for HGH/Meg og kammeraten min

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 07:55:00 GMT

I'm on a school tour west of Trondheim-N, out in an area called Fosen. The first three days have been amazing, the scenery along the wild coastline is breathtaking, that's once you see past the rain, rain, rain, sleet and snow. I hear back home in Oslo spring has arrived. Anyhow, I'm on tour with Håkon Gebhardt and my old album cover wiz kid, Håkon Hoffart who once again steps up to the bat and is designing the cover for the new childrens album, Meg og kammeraten min. On tour he's the master of the overhead projector.
He took some pictures of me and Geb. Check out the new site I'm working on in my spare time, it's in Norwegian...

Children's album, the horn session

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:30:42 GMT

Erik Johannessen, Mathias Eick & Håkon Gebhardt (Zorro 1)

Håkon Gebhardt and I recorded the brilliant horn players, Erik Johannessen, Mathias Eick and Lars Horntveth at Lars' Pooka studio yesterday in Oslo. The players are all members of Jaga Jazzist besides having solo careers etc.
The album is coming along like a dream and we seem to be on track. Gebhardt wore the producers Zorro mask for most of the day while I ran around cracking lame jokes and try'n to convey what we wanted that was not on paper... speaking of, Erik will be writing down our music for a possible future song book for kids. Dots do come easy...

Erik Johannessen & Lars Horntveth (Zorro 2)

Live review

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:41:25 GMT

Fin anmeldelse i Adressa/ great review from our concert with Trondheimsolistene

On tour in Norway with my band

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:50:00 GMT

(from left to right, Lars, Erik, Susanne, Eirik, Me, Jørun and since Kenneth isn't in it
I'll add a picture of him and his buddy Stian I shot the other night on my dumb phone..)

(Kenneth Kapstad and Stian Westerhus, the bad boys of Monolithic
caught in a glorious moment of reunion by me on my dumb phone...)

I'm on tour this week with my band in Norway, they are all top notch players and all have their own solo careers. We become the big money orchestra on the last two gigs adding a twelve piece string section called Trondheimsolistene. The first four shows have been excellent playing the towns of Oslo, Tønsberg, Odda and Fredrikstad. On our Oslo gig we had three guests show up on stage, Susanne Sundfør helped out on the two songs she does on the I Like You album(Floating from a dream and Hanging on to Innocence) while ECM recording artist Mathias Eick helped out on Tattooed On My Eyes and Too Vain to Die. The brilliant Morten Qvenild also helped out with a synth solo on Too Vain To Die...

Check out these players!
Lars Horntveth my band leader, guitar, sax, piano, backing vocals(Jaga Jazzist, The National Bank, Susanne Sundfør)
Kenneth Kapstad; drums(Motorpsycho, Monolythic)
Jørun Bøgeberg; bass (aha-Junipher Green, Gone at Last)
Erik Johannessen; Trombone, piano, triangle!, backing vocals (Jaga Jazzist, Lord Kelvin) Erik has a new album out today!
Eirik Tovsrud Knutsen; Piano, organ, backing vocals (The Grand, Marit Larsen, Jim Stærk)

Martin Langlie, is stepping in on drums in Elverum, he's great, I haven't played with him since we both backed Erik Bye in Bergen in 2002

Hans Petter Heggli is doing sound and tweeking the space echo and phaser....

Italia January 2012

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:23:07 GMT

Hi

I've started out the year going on a solo tour of Italy. My musician friend Terje Nordgarden (soon to release a new album!) has booked the tour for me through his agency GDN. I'm hanging out with him and Sabrina in Aci Trezza near Catania on Sicilia and use their apt. as a base for my shows on the Island. I'll head up to Napoli soon, you can follow the tour here. Look here for some pictures taken on my semi crappy dumb phone..

I Like You Release

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:25:00 GMT

I Like You has been out now for a couple of weeks here in Norway and is also available on itunes.
The reviews have been great, and I've been busy with a bunch of different promotional activities.
Yesterday Saturday Oct 29th I played an in store concert at the great indie record store Big Dipper and signed a pile of Lp's and a few cd's.
Here's a link to one of the songs Company Oil recorded on Kai Mauseths camera, It's fun doing these orchestrated songs totally stripped.
Here's a link to the albums most densly orchestrated song Thick And Thin Skin recorded by a great kid Jonas who also recorded himself torwards the end of the song. Sweet!
I also visited NRK P2 Radio with Lars Horntveth, Eirik Tovsrud Knutsen and Erik Johannessen and had a long interview with Anne Bøler at Kulturhuset which was great, I got to talk for ages and we played three songs live. Last week I was at Lydverket NRK P3 radio and played a solo acoustic version of Not Now, nice interview, great people and an ok performance. I've also been by TV8 for an interview and a song Not Now, and Lars Horntveth and I got up at the middle of the night to do the breakfast show at TV2 and croak through Floating From A Dream and Not Now.

I Like You and me and him and her

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:25:00 GMT

Yippee, the album has finally been released and the first reviews are sweet! Lars Horntveth and I celebrated in Pooka Studio along with mixer Jørgen Træen, Susanne Sundfør and Øystein Moen. They had spent the day working on Susanne's brilliant upcoming instrumental synthesizer album A Night at Salle Pleyel and I stumbled in and helped everyone loose their train of thought.. We continued late into the night listening to I Like You, LIKING IT and slapping ourselves red on our thighs...I've been around doing some promo, an early morning TV show along with Lars Horntveth you can listen and watch us here. Some radio interviews, live radio at NRK Lydverket, local TV8 spot etc. Life is good. I Like it.

Myggen, The Mosquito song !

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:25:00 GMT

Today my first song in Norwegian was aired on Norwegian TV for kids!!! Yeah!
Watch this super cute video with a nice music production by Thomas Tofte. Click here for a link to the song Myggen.
Yesterday I caught Ida Jenshus and band at Rockefeller for their final show of the tour, they sounded great and I was thrilled to hear them play a bunch of new songs that we wrote together.

HGH session, in Trondheim again.

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 08:40:00 GMT

Yepp I'm up in Trondheim continuing work on our HGH album for kids. My solo album has finally been sent off to Germany for production and with that work wrapped up I made a spur of the moment decision to cruise from Oslo to Trondheim in my 1961 Volvo. I'll be here for a few days recording and then spending one day with Ida Jenshus collaborating on her new album. Speaking of Ida, she introduced me to Bjørn Hansen the local tweeter. Nice man.

Check out this mean home made banjo player.

7.22.11

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 20:45:00 GMT

This weekend I attended the funeral of a young 17 year old girl named Maria.
Maria was an early victim of the massacre at Utøya and an unfathomable loss for her family and friends.
Maria was the daughter of my first guitar player in Home Groan, Terje Johannesen.
Terje was responsible for introducing me to my producer and friend Lars Horntveth and the rest of the Jaga Jazzist family resulting in our 15 year + collaboration.

This sad summer is coming to an end and with heavy hearts once again the creaking wheels must turn.
I will play with HGH at a small festival at Ringnes Farm on the 19th & 20th of August. The festival's director is Talleiv Taro Manum who was responsible for the cover of my solo album Men And Flies and the last HGH album All The Men In Dresses.

My new solo album I Like You due to be released October 3rd will finally be heading into production this week with a cover designed by Kim Hiorthøy.

HGH recording an album for kids!

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 06:45:00 GMT

Hi!

Well my new album I Like You is finished and is due to be released at the end of September. In the meantime...

My long time HGH buddy Håkon Gebhardt and I have decided to record an album of original tunes for kids, so this week we started.
We're recording our first tracks at Gebhardt's Das Boot studio and it's a blast!! We've played schools for a few years now so we feel we know what the kids might get a kick out of.

Oranje Koffiehuis

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 20:40:00 GMT

The Oranje koffiehuis in Arnheim is a great little dive with no stage, no monitors but a small corner next to the toilets designated as the playing field... As Father Seb would say "perfect" I enjoyed myself playing through my mini amp that I carry with me if the venue can't provide an amplifier.

Seb & I, getting our shit together...

My Koffiehuis mini stack, I bring my glasses along to see it.

A New fan Richard Dreves just posted a Youtube flick of my solo version of Appetite

Here is the Oranje version of Country Chris

Nijmegen and playing with a fan at De Overkant in Wageningen

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 21:35:00 GMT

I had a good time in The Camelot in Nijmegen, nice town, good people and the last concert of the season for the gang of promoters. A couple of them Nick and Marta also run a small alternative concert promotion site called Red Shoe Sessions, that I plan on checking out some time. After the show the speakers were taken down and a pool table was put in place, what a team!

De Overkant in Wageningen was especially sweet with a great listening audience that inspired me to play for a couple of hours. I made a bunch of new friends, the arranger Sander had his shit together and Maaike and Michiel opened up their home to me down the street for a good nights sleep and to top things of, the local paper had my pretty face on the front page for good promotion. Looking for a place to eat in Wageningen? try Vreemde Streken.

Playing with a fan at De Overkant

Netherlands-June 2011

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:45:00 GMT

I'm in the middle of my tour of The Netherlands and had a gig in Nijmegen at The Camelot last night. Things are going well, traveling by train and meeting some great people.
I'm heading to Wageningen today which I find hard to say in Dutch, oh that place is the usual reaction to my pronunciation... On the first leg of the tour I commuted from my friend Sebastiano Varini's (Father Seb) house in Koog Ann Zaan which is just north of Amsterdam. I've also hung out with Betti and Neils who are a sweet couple, they are old Motorpsycho fans that named their adorable children after my touring companions Håkon Gebhardt and Marit Bjartnes. The kids, Mette Marit and Thor Håkon are taking english lessons from me ...tbc.

Links to pictures taken in The Netherlands

Betti, Neils & Me

Father Seb

Train windows

Gil Scott Heron Dies at 62-GSH Library

Mon, 30 May 2011 00:10:00 GMT

I was a big fan of Gil Scott Heron, I have most of his old LP's and have seen him live several times. I even worked with him once but for some reason I can't include him in weekyleaks as I can't find the tape...His whereabouts drifted out of my consciousness until about three years ago when I deliberately tried to find out what he was up to, I downloaded as many recent articles on him as possible which was pretty dismal reading and inspired by the reading sat down to write him a song, I wasn't happy with the song, I found it too weak for the subject matter so I threw it away. I liked the main theme though which is dedicating a library in his name, I mean all presidents get one, even the illiterate ones. The GSH Library.
I spent some time in NYC in late 2009 and managed to see him in concert along with Kari, I was writing material for my new album and we were both thrilled to find out he was actually performing again. He started the concert at the B.B. King Blues Club ( to quote my old friend the late great Rock Bottom; A Denny's with music) by saying, I bet you folks didn't think I'd show up! He was witty, entertaining and did some great songs but he was most definately just Pieces Of The Man he used to be.
I also got to see him last year at Rockefeller in Oslo and that was my last GSH concert after seeing him several times around Boston in the 80's, I think I saw him at Dinky Dawson's club, The Channel the first time. GSH always asked for The Fender Rhodes Suitcase model when performing. I love these pianos and I found one for my producer Lars Horntveth last year that he bought. Susanne Sundfør who sings on a couple of songs on my upcoming album also uses one, and yes it's all over my new album as well. Anyhow, enough digressions, Gil Scott Heron was at his best brilliant and has always been an inspiration. No one could get a political message across like he could and even the most grim satire could have you in stiches.

A flyer I kept from NYC.

Here's the song I scrapped, I meant well but it just got to mushy...

GSH

They threw a man in jail

For a handshake on the street

A promise he let slide

One he couldn't keep

Observe an older male

Belittled in his tracks

Explosive brilliance

Of political attack

Eloquent and sharp

He held his dagger straight

He'd force us to laugh

At tragedies at hand

They threw a man in jail

Pieces of his mind

Were scattered on the wall

Graffiti from the can

They threw a man in jail

For hiding in the dust

For such a petty crime

We let his genius rust

Every President

Even those who can not read

Receive a library in their name

With a pardon if they're shamed

What kind of abuse

Do we jail a smart ass for?

Substances of choice

Or substances of war?

Hereby I propose

To build a library

In Gil Scott Herons name

A poets sanctuary

Ida Jenshus-Blue Nails-Strmland-(Smalltown Supersound)

Sat, 21 May 2011 21:15:00 GMT

This has been a good week, I've spent time finalizing a deal with the record label Strømland that will release my new album "I Like You" in late September.
Strømland is a subsidiary of Smalltown Supersound and a joint venture run by Joakim Haugland & Hans Peter Lindstrøm.

I have also spent more time collaborating with Ida Jenshus on new songs for her next album due sometime next year.
We wrote a couple of great songs together last week up in Trondheim, one which she performed on Thursday at the annual Gramart summer concert.
Ida won a prize on Thursday and was all over the news. The prize is called Bendiksenprisen named after the Norwegian composer Arne Joachim Bendiksen.

Listening to new song ideas...

Blue nails on the Wurlitzer

Another Sunny day in Oslo

Ida has a couple of Norwegian Grammy's under her belt, I had the pleasure of collaborating with this great songwriter on her last effort No Guarantees as well.

Volvo 210 Spring cleaning getting ready for Halden May 21st

Thu, 19 May 2011 21:20:00 GMT

I made time this morning to screw the wall boards back in place after doing the annual anti rust treatment with chainsaw oil.
I need a clean space for backline as I plan on driving from Oslo down to Halden on Saturday with amps, guitars and my Wurlitzer piano.
The left wallboard I decorated about 10 years ago with old live posters from my bands Home Groan and HGH. The right wall board is decorated with old adds from Life Magazine from around 1940, mostly cars...

Professional comb player!

Tue, 17 May 2011 06:30:00 GMT

I just finished writing two songs for NRK Barnas Super Show (TV for kids) . I went by the producer Thomas Tofte at Propeller Recordings today to lay guide vocals on the songs. Jeg snakker kattespråk (I Speak Cat Language) & Myggen (The Mosquito). I laid three part comb harmonies on the last song alternating with "light metal" aluminum , plastic, and wax paper comb reeds.
It got to the point my lips went numb and I started to feel sympathy for real horn players. The songs will be broadcast as videos sometime this fall on NRK 1.

My Old Volvo

Mon, 16 May 2011 06:45:00 GMT

It's that time of the year, after spending Saturday on a pedal power demo, I decided to spend Sunday bringing my 1961 Volvo 210 out of winter hibernation.
She started purring in no time and the 45 km back to Oslo was pure bliss.
My gig in Halden on Saturday May 21 will our first call of duty this year.

Photos!