Blues in Hell 2015 with John Mayall, Reidar Larsen, Noora Noor, Knockout Greg and others

Posted on September 6, 2015 by Per Ole Hagen

The second night of Blues in Hell had John Mayall as the headliner. They also had a CD release concert by Reidar Larsen and a surprisingly good concert with Tor Einar Bekken, Richard Gjems and Noora Noor in the acoustic tent. Swedish Knockout Greg & The Injectors followed up with a stylish and powerful concert before, like on Friday night, Davina & The Vagabonds closed the night in the acoustic tent, and The Travellin Brothers did the same on the main stage. (Picture above: Travellin Brothers)

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Notodden Blues Festival 2014 Coming Up

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Per Ole Hagen

The Notodden Blues Festival is starting next week. This will be the 27th festival, and it has established itself as the largest blues festival in Scandinavia, and also one of the largest ones in Europe. In 2012 Notodden was named a part of the Mississippi Blues Trail as the only place outside of the USA. Here are some thoughts about the artists, plus some pictures of the highlights from last year. (Picture above: Vidar Busk and His True Believers)

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John Mayall – The Grandfather Of British Blues

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Per Ole Hagen

John Mayall is 80 years on November 29th. During 50 of these years he has been one of the driving forces in British Blues, and altogether he is one of the most important figures in modern blues. His main importance lies in the way he has found and developed new talents, mainly guitarists. (Picture above: John Mayall at Notodden in 2004).

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Notodden Blues Festival – The Third and Fourth Day

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Per Ole Hagen

The twenty sixth Notodden festival is over, and it has been a great festival with lots of happy blues fans, great artists who truly enjoyed being at Notodden, and some remarkable and memorable concerts. The festival closed Sunday with a free concert at noon. Saturday was packed with music, from the morning until late night. Here is a report from the last two days. (Picture above: Dana Fuchs)

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Notodden Blues Festival 2013 Is Coming Up

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Per Ole Hagen

Next Thursday, August 1st the twenty sixth Notodden Blues Festival starts. A program topped with Van Morrison, The Tedeschi Trucks Band, Royal Southern Brotherhood and John Mayall is ready for blues fans from all over Norway. Notodden is the meeting place for the Norwegian blues family, and this year’s festival looks very good.