Bluegrass in Bergen

A week ago, one of my friends told me that a bluegrass group was coming to Bergen to play a couple of sets. I got three of my friends to join me Monday night to hear some bluegrass and cajun music at a folk music venue called Columbi Egg. The group is called Foghorn Stringband, and when the two cajuns joined them half-way into the set they became Cajun Country Revival. They put on a great show! So after the set, Kjetil asked where we might be able to find them jamming the following night. They shot him an email and we headed out to the bar last night to hear some more tunes.

We made some new friends at the bar while we waited for the band to start playing some tunes; Åse Britt and Bjørn (aka Polka-Bjørn). Åse Britt and I danced to some cajun music and then Polka-Bjørn sang "In the Jailhouse Now" - he was really good!! Kjetil had his accordion in the back of his car and asked the mandolin player if he could join for a few songs and he was warmly welcomed.

Around 1:30AM we decided it was time to head home since we had work in the morning, but then one of the fiddle players (Joel Savoy) asked what I played. I told him mandolin, and he asked me to play a song with them. I chose the only one that I knew I couldn't screw up too bad since it had been a while since I had done any plucking on my mandolin (I usually stick to chords lately); so I played "Red Haired Boy". It was a lot of fun and they were asking us to come see them in Oslo this weekend. Too bad we hadn't known before because maybe we'd get to play more songs with a Grammy winning producer - Joel Savoy!!

You can check them out this July at the Hiawatha Music Festival in the UP! https://hiawathamusic.org/

Cajun Country Revival at Columbi Egg

Foghorn Stringband at Columbi Egg

Tuesday night pub music

Kjetil (aka Accordion Man) playing with Cajun Country Revival

That's me in the red jacket playing mandolin with Joel Savoy on the fiddle.

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