I'm celebrating today, so I'm going to pick one of my favorite bands to feature on a special day — Norway's top country rock band, Hellbillies.
I may have become one of their first fans in the USA when a Norwegian friend introduced me to their music in the mid-1990s. And while I have all their albums I have — alas — never had the opportunity to see them live in concert. [sigh...]
A number of Norwegian folk artists that I know also like the band. A lot. And it's no surprise.
Hellbillies are truly a "country music" band in the most precise use of the term. Not just in the sense of what we assume when we think of country music – and I know a bit about that. I spent my youth growing up at Ground Zero for country music during the George Jones / Tammy Wynette era. Even met Roy Acuff and spent about an hour talking to him.
I did not like country music at that time. My father's side of the family, on the other hand, had grown up listening to WLS and their "National Barn Dance" program.
My opinion changed primarily because of two things. First, American country music started changing and becoming similar to the folk rolk I used to listen to in the 1960s and 1970s. Second, I became enamored with traditional Nowegian folk music and I began to see the relationship between folk traditions and country music.
So what is different about Hellbillies? First and foremost, they are first rate musicians. No question about that. There are clear influences from Norwegian traditional music in their songs. They come from the heartland of Hallingdal, a rural area. Some of their members are also respected folk musicians. And their songs are all sung in the Hallingdal dialect — not the "citified" Dano-Norwegian of places like Oslo.
Hellbillies are:
- Aslag Haugen. vocal & guitar
- Lars Håvard Haugen, guitars & vocal
- Arne Moslåtten, accordion & flute
- Bjørn Gunnar Sando, drums
- Arne Sandum, bass
- Lars Christian Nærum, hired gun & keyboard player extraordinary!
Take a look at their MySpace page. Hellbillies have recently released a video of their song "Mørkemann" from their most recent album, Spissrotgang. It always takes me some time to translate the songs once I get the lyrics. Hallingdal dialect isn't the easiest for me to figure out. The basic message is that the singer — a "man of the (dark) night" (mørkemann) — who prefers to be out making music and partying with his friends to having a job that would make him get up at 7 a.m.
Mørkemann
Folk e enten A ell B
Når det gjeld me vil det passe med C
Det dei kalle gull, det smaka meir som ull
hvis du e full tå rock'n roll så eru avlyst fyri tolv
Å ha gull i munn e berre skjire tullE e ein festglad mørkemann som lyse grihuge i bann
e kan kji forstå at du set vekkjinge på
Då e dyna morgovarm og e vil sova på min arm
når hanin gæl søv e godt kan du tru
for e harkje tenkt me te stå upp klukka sjudet va ein sein og fuktig fest
der trivs e aller aller best
om dei are gå så sit e atte ei stund
e e visst vakjin frisk og fin
og full to god adrenalin
når e hånle visa fingern te jon blundE e ein festglad mørkemann som lyse grihuge i bann
e kan kji forstå at du set vekkjinge på
Då e dyna morgovarm og e vil sova på min arm
når hanin gæl søv e godt kan du tru
for e harkje tenkt me te stå upp klukka sjue ligg i koma på magen
når dei are jobbe om dagen
e skulle kanskji prøvd å endre stil
men støtt så blir det berre med tanken
det e so sikkert som banken
som oftast går e te seng når sole rennE e ein festglad mørkemann som lyse grihuge i bann
e kan kji forstå at du set vekkjinge på
Då e dyna morgovarm og e vil sova på min arm
når hanin gæl søv e godt kan du tru
for e harkje tenkt me te stå upp klukka sjuDå e dyna morgovarm og e vil sova på min arm
når hanin gæl søv e godt kan du tru
for e harkje tenkt me te stå upp klukka sjunei e harkje tenkt me te stå upp klukka sju
This is one of the few high-quality videos available of the group on YouTube so far. I hope we'll see more.
And if anyone in Norway can point me towards a Hellbillies concert the next time I visit, I'd be forever grateful!
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