Skrekk & Guro: Kjepphest – out now!

The folk-rock group Skrekk & Guro have just released their second album “Kjepphest”. Three of the group’s members – Knut, Åsmund and Guro – have known each other their whole lives. As children of folk musicians, they have grown up with a very close relationship to folk music. Through the years, they have developed their own sound that in a personal and uncompromising way fuses Norwegian folk music with energetic rock and roll. As Åsmund Solberg says, “The album comes from a passionate engagement for the music we have grown up with”.

Among other things, the group is inspired by the legendary fiddler and traditional folk musician from Voss, Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa (1910–1990), and in particular his collaboration with the Norwegian prog-rock band Saft, in Holmenkollen (Oslo) in 1973, which shocked a lot of people. Guro Kvifte Nesheim adds that Osa was “a fantastic fiddler and the bearer of tradition, but also one who was not afraid to take the genre into new directions”. The group’s tribute to Osa can be heard in their version of Bruremarsj fra Sirdal (Wedding March from Sirdal). Kjepphest (Hobby Horse) presents traditional Hardanger fiddle folk tunes from Tovdal and Voss, and self-composed pieces which take elements from folk music and dresses them up in Skrekk and Guro’s own singular rock style.

 

Skrekk & Guro:

Guro Kvifte Nesheim: hardanger fiddle, hardanger d’amore, vocals

Knut Kvifte Nesheim: drums

Åsmund Solberg: guitar, vocals

Egil Kalman: double bass

 

 

  1. Pers Springar
  2. Jössehärspolska
  3. Dine Sanger
  4. Nyttårspolska
  5. Ola Mossafinn
  6. Grebbe Hangur
  7. Odel og Jord
  8. Kjepphesten
  9. Bruremarsj fra Sirdal

Åsmund Solberg

Åsmund Solberg (1991; guitar and pedal steel) plays jazz, folk music and related genres. He has a M.A. in improvisation at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gotheburg, as well as a B.A. form the University of Agder. He lives in Oslo, working as a free-lance musician and composer, and has taken part in a number of releases. At the moment, he is working on an art project with visual artist Signe Solberg.

Guro Kvifte Nesheim

(Hardanger fiddle and Hardanger d'Amore) Guro grew up in Oslo, Norway, and started playing the Hardanger fiddle when she was seven years old. She has learnt to play the traditional music of Norway from many great Hardanger fiddle players and has received prizes for her playing in national competitions for folk music. In 2013 she began her folk music education in Sweden at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg. Guro is composing a lot of music, and has a great interest in, and love for the old music traditions of Norway and Sweden. In 2011 she went to the world music camp Ethno and was bit by the “Ethno-bug”. Since then she has attended many Ethno Camps as a participant and leader, and setup Ethno Norway with a team of fellow musicians. In spring 2015 she worked at the Opera House of Gothenburg with the dance piece “Shadowland” where the famous Swedish folk musician Ale Möller had the musical responsibility. She is now freelancing and playing in different constellations.

Knut Kvifte Nesheim

Knut is a Norwegian drummer, vibraphonist and composer from Oslo. He holds a master in composition and improvisation from the University of Gothenburg, and works around in Scandinavia and Europe, mostly in Oslo, Gothenburgh and Copenhagen. Besides his solo career, he also appears lve and on recordings with Mathilde Gross Viddal's FRIENSEMBLET, BENREDDIK, Greta Eacotts (UK) SIX DRUMMER FORMATION, Espera, duo with Ellen Martine Gismervik; also the impro-duos JULIUS (with Martin Tonne) og NUTELA (with Michaela Antalova)(SK), trio with Mia Dyberg and Christian Balvig (DK), as well as his own band band PoC!

Skrekk&Guro

Skrekk & Guro: Guro Kvifte Nesheim, hardingfele, hardanger d'amore Åsmund Solberg, guitar, steel Egil Kalman, bass Knut Kvifte Nesheim, drums