News

December 15th - 2011 - It was just made official that "Blindsides" has been nominated for the Norwegian Grammy Awards in the category country. This is our second album, and our second nomination, so we are stoked and yet again honored. We're really greatful to have an opportunity to celebrate the record, the hard work, the good times, and an amazing year for the band. The awards will be held the 14th of January in Oslo, and aired on NRK, our national TV-channel.

We haven't been updating our news section lately, but we haven't been lying around doing nothing. On the contrary, it's been very busy. Olav, Hans Martin and Erlend have been touring on each their part with other bands. Still, we managed to play in Copenhagen, at the Copenhagen Bluegrass Night - and met alot of great people and musicians down there.

Some may already know that Blindsides was supposed to be a double album. We have alot of tunes waiting to be played, and we're working on newer material. We have a few concerts scheduled for 2012 already, and are also working on getting more dates cleared.
Updates will be posted at our Schedule page, as soon as we have them confirmed.

September 13th - 2011 - In the occasion of Bill Monroe's 100th birthday, Hans Martin has posted a banjo tab of the Monroe tune "Pike County Breakdown" in the learning section of our site. It's a PDF, and completely free. Happy birthday Bill!

September 4th - 2011 - We've been asked to play support for Amund Maarud at Rockefeller Music Hall, the 21st of September in Oslo. That's just a perfect honor! Currently our only booking in Norway this fall, so be there!

Olav will be leaving for Canada and the U.S. to play with his band "Geitungen" in a week. They'll be on tour for a month.

Hans Martin contributed to the Norwegian cinema movie "Happy Happy" which recently was pointed out to be the Norwegian Oscar-candidate. It premieres the 16th of September in the U.S. and has achieved critical acclaim, screening all over the world, and winning awards in several countries. Most notably the main prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Hans' contribution, along with three other excellent singers in the quartet "Lucky Four", is southern gospel and bluegrass tunes that show up every once in a while to comment the synopsis.
The motion picture music was released on iTunes Music Store entitled "Sykt Lykkelig" in Norwegian. The music should also be available on iTunes as "Happy Happy" in the rest of the world.

August 18th - 2011 - We've just confirmed a booking the 25th of November, to play at the danish bluegrass music societies concert series in Copehagen. It's going to be a blast! Click for more about bluegrass Denmark.

August 15th - 2011 - We've just completed our last concert for our summer release tour. Lastly visiting Troms, way up north in Norway - amazing scenery and hospitality.
This summer has been busy, we've met so many great people, played a variety of concerts indoor and outside in several countries.
Now we are working on a few bookings for this fall, and we are also thinking about next year.
When me made our last record we had to leave a number of tunes behind - and have made more tunes along the road. So we guess that touring doesn't really slow the creativity down at all.
Thank you!

July 18th - 2011 - We got back from the 10th annual Risør Bluegrassfestival, and the Kjørrefjordfestival this weekend. Magic! Hope to have some photos ready soon, although we didn't have time to do much else then play, jam, talk and hide from the gloomy rain.
We have to applaud the musicians in Black Jack for a great jam session Thursday evening! And offcourse, all the other bands and people we met and jammed with; Brokeland Bullets, Paradise Mountain Boys, Lucky Lips, Hemisfair, the list goes on and on.

This Wednesday, we are to be on at the traditional national radio show "Reiseradioen" at NRK P1. Probably around 10 am - Audun and Hans Martin will be playing a cover of a norwegian summer hit. It'll be a secret 'till it's aired.

July 3rd - 2011 - We made it back from the Hove 2011 festival, after almost soaking away in the rain. We applaud our two terriffic stand-ins, Sondre Meisfjord and Håkon Askeland - shading new light to our tunes, and contributing to some excellent jamming on our cabin porch.
Also many thank yous to Jostein, Niklas, Erik, Katja and Kari for guiding us through the jungle of people! And thank you to all the great people in the audiences during our three days stay. Especially the great Rosendal gang who lended us their party-tent. Thank you!

And Langesund Bluegrassfestival was nothing less than great. We played two gigs, got to meet up with alot of good friends, and jammed through the night, all in good weather. The festivals first year - we really hope this was the start of a long tradition. Banjo to the people!

June 14th - 2011 - So we got back from what we can't call anything less than a breathtaking stay in Finland. We were picked up at the airport, and got a day of spotless weather in Helsinki before playing a splitgig with the Blue Velvet Band. Shortly afterwards we were driven to our appartment for the Roots'n'Pyhtaa festival, and got a good nights sleep. Three days, three concerts, several jams, sauna and bathings later, we had to leave for home - and left a big piece of ourselves behind. (Including all the cd's we brought with us.) We truly had an amazing time, and would like to recommend this festival to anyone who likes roots music. The atmosphere was unique.


From our club concert at Rootsinpyhtaa @ Ruotsinpyhtää, Finland. Photo by Ville Verkkonen


The breathtaking festival scenery. Photo by Ville Verkkonen

June 6th - 2011 - We just got back from our first jojoing down through Europe, and came back with another second place honor from the EWOB band competition. We spent our first night in Malmø, swung by to play three short sets in Copenhagen, before we did a marathon drive to Voorthuizen and EWOB. The weather was good, and we had a great time. Played three cafe concerts in the Netherlands, and sadly lost quite a few good shows due to all the playing and jamming. Met up with some old and made some new friends.

Congratulations to Lucky Lips for their title of #1 European Bluegrass Band 2011. And congrats to Ila Auto, who was voted audience favourites 2011. Just the variety of the sound and appearance of the Norwegian bands shows that there are alot of bright and independent musical minds up here. Julie and the New Favourites and Moving Day are no exeptions. And most of us are going to play at the Risør Bluegrassfestival for it's 10th aniversary this summer. It will be the place to be, for sure!

Next stop will be Helsinki on thursday. We will be playing a splitgig with the locals in the Blue Velvet Band before we head off to the Rootsinpyhtaa festival.

May 30th - 2011 - We just got home from Bergen. We had a great weekend, starting off with our releaseconcert Thursday at Internasjonalen in Oslo. Friday, we played at Wessel Bar in Bergen. And finally, we played at Osterøyfestivalen Saturday.

This Wednesday, we'll be off to the Netherlands. Making stops in Malmø and København before we lock in on Voorthuizen.

We also recieved video's from our perfomance on the TV show "God Morgen Norge".
Enjoy!

May 23rd - 2011 - Finally our album has been released in stores! Get it on iTunes, Amazon, Platekompaniet or CDON.

Have a look at some review quotes from the press!

We were interviewed in nitimen, on the radio. It's in Norwegian, and the interview starts at about 11:10, followed by an airing of our tune "Roof Leak" from the album.

May 11th - 2011 - The release is closing in, and time is litterally flying. We were just aired by one of Norway's most renouned radio-DJs, Harald Are Lund, on the national radio channel NRK P3. The show was aired the 9th of May 2011, and they showcased our tune "Way To Go" off the album.

Blindsides was also reviewed in the paper Klassekampen:



We also got a new bandpage for facebook, and have made two bonus tracks that didn't make the album available for download.

And offcourse, we made this video of our tune Roof Leak:

April 12th - 2011 - So we are leaking tunes ahead of our album release. But these are tunes that aren't going to be on the album. Enjoy!


Can't Abide - Bonus tracks - Blindsides

April 9th - 2011 - We've been keeping ourselves busy all through the month. Our record has been shipped to the print and we're back on track with rehearsals after resting our ears for a few weeks after the album recording.
We just recieved some new press photos taken by the great Ingvil Skeie Ljones



And last but not least. We're ready to reveal that our upcoming album will be titled "Blindsides". It's set to be released Monday the 23rd of May. We're updating our concert schedule as we go, and there will be more events at the week of the release.
Also - we will be prereleasing a couple of tunes for streaming or download in advance, that didn't make the album. Not because they're not good enough, but because we recorded too many!

March 24th - 2011 - Tonight we are sending our new record off to get mastered. Release is set to the end of May. We'll be doing our release concert in Oslo before we pack our bags and leave for the Netherlands and Finland in the start of June. Hooray!

March 6th - 2011 - Big night for alot of musicians and bands yesterday. We'd like to congratulate Ida Jenshus with her spellemann (grammy) for best country album 2010. Well deserved! Also a pat on the back to the nominees Hellbillies and Steff Nevers, who were all seated way up front in Oslo Spektrum.

Christian was interviewed about our winning chances in Telemarksavisa. Turns out he was spot on. Well done, Nostradamus!

Audun gets into the fickle enigma of separating country-, western- and folk music in Romerikes Blad. Carefull, now - We don't want no trouble.

Hans Martin gets into details with Momentium about developing the band sound, working efficiently, and the recording of our upcoming album.
He will also be holding a solo concert the 20th of march at the venue Parkteatret (facebook event), and will be playing a few of the album cuts at this event.

February 27th - 2011 - We've had an amazing and efficient week at Ocean Sound Recordings, with the great sound engineer Eyvinn Magnus Solberg. We've completed 15 new tracks, and will be mixing it in a few weeks. Our hopes are high, and we are very happy with the sound so far! Here's a short video from our initial sound setup sessions, posted by the studio's own crew.



We've also confirmed a booking to the festival Kalottspel, in Målselv, the 11th of August.

January 18th - 2011 - This weekend turned out to be pretty eventfull. In the middle of intense rehersals for our upcoming studiosessions:

We got nominated for a Spellemann which is the Norwegian Grammy Awards. We're nominated for our album in the category of "best country music record". Here's one happy bunch at the press conference. Our first bonafide "cheese" photo.



We we're also invited to play at the main european bluegrass festival event of the year EWOB 2011, which will be held in the start of June in the Netherlands. Our showcase will be the 4th of June.

As if this wasn't enough - we've also been booked to play at the renouned Finnish Roots Festival Rootsinpyhtaa 2011 in early June. Rootsinpyhtaa is the largest Finnish festival for bluegrass and roots music, and has existed since 1988. They've housed well known artists through the years like Don Rigsby, Tony Trishcka, Hot Rize, and the list goes on. A perfect summer kickoff!

January 8th - 2011 - Happy new year! It's been a while since we posted anything here on our website. But rest assured that we haven't been on our lazy side. We've been in the eye of the hurricane, so to speak. Especially working on material for studio sessions in February. We are heading off to the well reputed Ocean Sound Recordings studio, at the small island of Giske. We are also expanding our live set with alot of new tunes, and will be playing several of them when we hit By:Larm 2011.
We're also doing some booking-work in between, hoping to post details on this as soon as possible.

Hans Martin and Olav Christer will also be playing a duo concert in Oslo the 3rd of February at the venue Riksscenen, for OsloFolk.

November 2nd - 2010 - The european web magazine FolkWorld reviewed our record, saying it's "... A promising debut with easy going, well played string music which brings joy in the living room."
We like it! Can't wait to make another one!

October 28th - 2010 - Hans Martin and Olav are playing a short set at the festival Kennel Connects 2010. They are playing Saturday the 30th of October at 21:45 at the venue Soria Moria, in Oslo.

They will be playing american old time tunes - some of them they learned on their fieldtrip to the U.S. in April/May.
Although they will only be playing traditionals on Saturday - Here's a very secret and exclusive demo recording of a beautiful John Hartford tune. Wrong Road

October 16th - 2010 - We are playing another gig in Oslo, at the venue Internasjonalen. The date is the 21st of October. This will most likely be our last time in Oslo this fall. Here's a facebook event, if you want a reminder

But we won't be gone for long!

In February, we have been fortunate enough to make the cut for the By:Larm festival 2011. They said making this was a needle's eye, so we crossed our hearts and hoped to die, jammed a dagger in Erlends thigh, and ate some horse manure pie. And by golly, we made it!
And what's even better is that the festival is held the weekend before we initiate studiosessions for our upcoming album. It'll be a great week for sure!

But wait! There's more!

Erlend, Olav, Christian and Hans Martin just participated in an album release for the norwegian Tyrilistiftelsen. They are celebrating 30 years of work in offering detox treatment to people who need it, and want it.
To give the aniversary a worthy celebration, they gathered a handful of artist to record their own tunes. The album is titled Hjertestups and will be released the 18th of October! Our contribution is with the band Lyden.
Also contributing on the album are:
Bigbang, Elvira & Emil Nikolaisen, Harrys Gym with I Was A King, Kaizers Orchestra, Moddi, Leif & The Future, Roy Lønhøiden, Thom Hell og Sivert Høyem, Casa Murilo and Kreg Viesselman.

September 30th - 2010 - We are doing a splitgig with Angry Wasp in Oslo at the venue Parkteatret. The concert is the 8th of October. For more information click here.

Also: Audun has been out fishing again, looking for the big ones! Check it out

September 19th - 2010 - While we are working on tunes, preparing a photo session, meeting at sunrise every monday, and so on, our band members are also busy with many projects.
As mentioned earlier, several Earlybird Stringband members performed at Folkelarm 2010. Audun|Nina has been playing together for many years, and was recently in Pakistan performing in collaboration with Norwegian and Pakistani musicians. They make out one half of a group called Triumvir, but Audun|Nina is their duo. We were there, and got it on tape. Or should we say on memory stick... anyway - enjoy!

September 13th - 2010 - Great news! We are soon ready to start recording our second album. We will initiate recording sessions in February. This is really a good thing, because the number of new tunes in our desk drawer is stacking up faster than we can rehearse them. This will surely slow down the writing progression! Thank goodness! Now let's make a record!

Also!

The 5th annual Norwegian folk music festival Folkelarm was held this weekend in Oslo. Three of Earlybird's members, Audun, Erlend and Olav Christer played at the festival with different projects. We were there, and captured a tune with Olav's band Geitungen. Here performing a "masurka" from their latest album Langt Ute.

September 2nd - 2010 - More fishing with Audun!

August 18th - 2010 - We've posted yet another section for the website. Learn with Earlybird Stringband. This page will consist of tabs and notes for tunes that we would like, and are able, to share. Due to copyright laws the tunes will mostly be traditionals. The section has a link on the sidebar in the form of a graduate cap.

August 4th - 2010 - We've posted an all new section on the website - Fishing with Audun (Norwegian only) .A great place to kill some time enjoying the timeless art of fishing. You'll also find the link for this section in the form of a mackerel in the sidebar. Enjoy!

July 20th - 2010 - We had a blast at Risør Bluegrassfestival, jammed with old and new friends, and recieved a video recording of a tune from our concert Saturday evening. Thank you for the tape Håkon, and thank you to everyone else!

July 9th - 2010 - Our About page has gotten a new work over. We are also folding hands or shaking fists towards the sky, hoping for better weather at Risør Bluegrass Festival this year.

July 2nd - 2010 - July month is here, and though the summer vacation is well on the way, Earlybirds are having a busy month:

We are playing at Skjåk Country Festival July 3rd, having the great Håkon Askeland stand in on the mandolin. He flew in all the way from Bergen for rehersals, and we're now very excited to be playing for a whole new audience at the festival.

The band "Lyden", which holds four of Earlybird Stringband's members, will play a concert at "Jomfruland" for the 30th aniversary of the organization Tyrili Stiftelsen.
This ordeal will take place the 7th of July.
Lyden has an album in the works, currently shrouded in secrecy, but supposedly not too far away.

Risør Bluegrass festival is also closing in, starting off with workshops Monday the 12th of July, concerts starting Thursday the 15th of July.
Earlybird Stringband will play at the festival Saturday the 17th of July.

June 30th - 2010 - We've given our good old site a make over. No more grey, green is the new scenery.
We'll have to thank the amazing Magnus Rakeng at melkeveien.no, for designing our band logo, and also designing our album cover.

We are working on ideas to how this site can be more fun for you, and hope that we'll have posted some of them during the summer.

June 29th - 2010 - Our website is under reconstruction, transcending from html to css encoding. Due to these changes several links from our old news are out of order. As we roll, these links will be updated or removed.

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