The Alabama Rodeo Stars: What's New?

Below is some pictures taken from the Recording Session of Christmas Song for Anna.
The song will be available for download as soon as we receive it from the mastering studio.

Let me share some of the music I've been listening to lately...
(link to music below pictures)

Artist: RuRu
Album: Elisabeth


http://www.myspace.com/rurumusic

My thoughts: The album Elisabeth was recorded when RuRu, who now likes to be referred to by his birth name Isac Russel, was only 16 years old! The record is nevertheless very mature with at times extremely good lyrics. RuRu's strength however lays in his ability to produce perfect pop melodies with a tiny hint of Americana. Rumors say that he recently signed a major deal with Colombia Records. Well deserved!

Artist: Kreg Viesselman
Album: The Pull


http://www.myspace.com/kregviesselman

My thoughts: Have a look at some of the reviews below. I couldn't have said it better myself.

"Kreg Viesselman's The Pull CD is one of the largely overlooked gems of Americana from the past couple of years...Viesselman's voice is a remarkable instrument...a talent to be watched..." -THE GLASGOW HERALD

"[The Pull is] one of the few albums which warrants the listener to hang onto the artist's every single word...without exception I found every song totally engrossing...Viesselman is an incisive writer who uses dazzling imagery...there are so many highlights it almost seems unfair to spotlight just one." - MAVERICK MAGAZINE, Five Star Review

Artist: Anthony da Costa
Album: Typical American Tragedy


http://www.anthonydacosta.com/index.php?page=cds&category=01--Records&display=39

My thoughts: Like RuRu mentioned above, Anthony da Costa is also a very young and talented singer/songwriter. His songs are very touching. I have listened to all his albums, and I have to say that Typical American Tragedy stands out as something really special. Rarely do I hear songs about the recent US activities that captivates me like Anthony's songs does. Just give the opening cut a listen and you'll understand what I mean...

Artist: Doug Burr
Albums: The Shawl
On Promenade


http://www.myspace.com/dougburr

My thoughts: A fantastic singer/songwriter. On Promenade is perfect, so is the newly released The Shawl. Both albums are available from iTunes.

"There’s really no other way to put it. Denton singer/songwriter Doug Burr (who made quite the impression with his 2007 sophomore effort, On Promenade) has delivered one of the year’s most delicate, haunting and consistently thrilling discs with The Shawl."
-Preston Jones

Follow the recording session of our new album....
LINK TO BLOG

If you are a fan of The Alabama Rodeo Stars you know how extremely talented Erlend is as a guitarist.

Not only is he together with Torje, Arne, Jonny and Lillian the centerpiece of the constellation, he is also a fantastic performer to watch. At times even eccentric...

Without his rumbling & tumbling from the heart sound that will make even the toughest cry, The Alabama Rodeo Stars are reduced to nothing but a local country band from Gandvalley, with bonds to Hommersåk.

Please follow the link and vote! If you didn't get a chance to vote for Obama, take a minute to vote for Erlend:

http://tiny.cc/4W5vM
Go down to end of list and vote for Erlend Aasland!

PS: For the band this feels like being nominated for the Oscars, an Emmy and a Spellemannspris all at the same time!

For our 7th episode we decided to break every rule we've been following so far.
Rules are after all made to be broken!
The bluegrass style is gone in this episode. The song is a Bob Dylan song. A song I've been listening to for years, and I wouldn't even dare to wish for a song this good to come my way.
I know a lot of you guys have an almost religious relationship with Erlend's banjo, but hey! He's a heck of a good guitar player as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPqbDxqu_9o

Finally episode 6 is available for you to enjoy.
So please enjoy!
We wanted to play this classic bluegrass song as slow as we possibly could allow ourselves to play it.
Although this tempo gives the song a new feel, we just couldnt hold back anymore in the end!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0sx-3IPpb4

Thanks!
Olav Larsen

Someone told me they discovered our YouTube blog "Songs we wish were ours" on a blog community called the Metafilter Blog. I checked it out, and as very often in these kind of blogs they end up in a never ending beautiful discussion about something someone though they heard me say:

http://www.metafilter.com/73551/Songs-we-wish-were-ours

We just came back from a fantastic weekend at the Risør Bluegrass Festival. Pictures below were captured by Mr Tom Larsen:

It has been a while folks! We've been busy touring our new album. It's been, believe it or not, 8 months since episode 4. Now we're back!
"I Saw the Light" is a 1948 Gospel tune written and first performed by the late great Monsieur Hank Williams, a true genius both as a songwriter and a performer.
I sure wish the song was ours!!! Great song with quite some poetic lines here and there. Hope you like it!

What everyone is calling "The death of the music industry" has really had some positive side effects on me, and probably on many other music lovers out there.

To make a very long story very short I've discovered a lot of music I'd never even get the chance to hear about hadn't it been for this thing called the internet. Yes, that same thing that killed the industry!

Through MySpace, CDbaby, Amazon and of course numerous music blogs I've discovered things so beautiful and true, words are powerless in trying to describe.

Let me present for you some of the fantastic artists I've got to know over the years (click on picture to listen to a song/sample):

Danny Schmidt


Elvis Perkins

Richard McGraw

Tom House

Sam Baker

This is like a dream come true for me. Tom House, one of my favorite poets/songwriters has agreed to write some lyrics for me for my next album.
Most probably it will end up being as Tom put it "a relationship song".


Tom House is a Nashville-based poet and singer-songwriter who has received worldwide attention for his unique recordings and performances. An independent cassette—Inside These Walls—and CD's on the Checkered Past label—The Neighborhood is Changing and This White Man's Burden—received critical acclaim and have placed him securely in the new fringe genre "Americana." Newer releases on Catamount Records— Til You've Seen Mine, Jesus Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and Long Time Home From Here—continue to receive praise and acknowledgement. Tom also serves as the long-time driving spirit behind the Working Stiffs Jambouree, a Nashville institution that features eclectic, non-mainstream talent.

Tom has had over 400 poems published nationally and internationally; his poems have been translated into Italian, German, French, and Japanese. Earliest publications include the Southern Poetry Review, the Duke Archive, and the St. Andrew's Review. Later work found its place with Road House Press and magazines like Bogg, Nausea, and Poetry Motel. In 1996, The Tennessee Bi-Centennial Anthology feautured three of Tom's poems.

Lillian Hodne will be joining the band on fiddle* on a regular basis. She's got good ears and makes us sound better even when we don't sound good.


Please welcome her with open arms!

*The term fiddle refers to a violin; it is a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music. Fiddle playing, or fiddling, is a style of music.

We were asked by Mr Christer Falck to record a song for his upcoming Prince tribute Shockadelica (OUT IN STORES 02.06.2008). Our choice landed on the sexy "Slow Love" from the album Sign "O" Times.


Pictures from the recording session have now been uploaded:

The recording session went fine. Got to record five or six songs. They may or may not be a part of my next album....

On Friday the 11th of April The Alabama Rodeo Stars played The Only One Pub in Klepp. It is the only pub in Klepp and the place was packed! Sold out!!!


As the pictures suggest we had a lot of fun! The crowd was perfect! Singing, clapping and stomping a-long to both old and new songs! We are looking forward to coming back again!

We just came back from Scotland after having played four fantastic shows! A big thanks to Mr Loudon Temple at Brookfield Knights for making us feel like superstars! See pictures from the tour in the photo gallery!

This is our new web page! Thanks for passing by!
Feel free to listen to all of our released and some never before available music.
We have also put some free music on the site, and for a limited time you can even download for free our out of print EP "Gospel & Drinking Songs" in high quality Mp3.


This web page is made in a way that makes it much easier for me to update and blog as much as I like without having a specialist to help me out.
Take the tour and enjoy! Don't forget to come back for more news, tour dates, new video blogs and new music.
Join our mailing list or/and leave a note in the guestbook
Thanks,
Olav Larsen