Norwegian singer, musician, actor and editor
Odd Nordstoga
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Drammen Elvefestival 2004
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Born
| (
1972-12-10
)
December 10, 1972
(age 51)
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Origin
| Vinje, Norway
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Genres
| Folk
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Instrument(s)
| Guitar, Accordion, Piano
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Years active
| 1997?present
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Website
| www
.oddnordstoga
.no
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Musical artist
Odd Nordstoga
(born 10 December 1972) is a folk singer, musician, actor and
editor
from
Vinje
in
Telemark
, Norway. In 2004, he went from relative obscurity to becoming the country's biggest selling recording artist, with the phenomenal success of his first solo album proper,
"Luring"
. The album, a fusion of pop and
Norwegian
folk music
, has sold more than 160,000 copies in Norway to date and earned him several
Spellemannsprisen
awards. For the album
Stralande Jul
, released together with
Sissel Kyrkjebø
, he won an unprecedented 11 Norwegian platinum trophies.
[1]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Nordstoga grew up at
Plassen
in
Vinje
,
Telemark
, the
homestead
of author
Aasmund Olavsson Vinje
. He hails from a hugely cultural family. His mother,
Ellen Bojer Nordstoga
is a
folk singer
. His father,
Olav Nordstoga
is a folk singer, former politician and the chairman of the Vinje Literary Days. In addition, brother
Aasmund Nordstoga
has made a name for himself as a singer, dancer, actor and radio and TV presenter. Organist
Kare Nordstoga
is his second cousin.
Nordstoga resides in
Lambertseter
, a
borough
of
Oslo
, together with his wife and three children.
Early career
[
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]
His career as a recording artist spans 8 years. He made his debut as a recording artist in 1997 with the band Something Odd and their self-titled debut. This album earned them a record deal with BMG Norway and they swiftly released the follow-up
Solreven
in 1998. Two minor radio-hits, the
folk rock
inspired "Fuggel i Karmen" and the haunting ballad "Ingen eg kjenner", came out of this album, but the album sold poorly and the band was dropped from their label. In 2000, Odd Nordstoga changed the name of Something Odd to simply
Nordstoga
, signed to the Norwegian label Grappa and released a more
pop music
oriented self-titled album. A couple of minor radio hits, "Dag" and "Bie pa deg", ensued. Nordstoga won Norway's prestigious
Edvardprisen Award
for "Bie pa Deg". However, soon afterwards they disbanded.
Between 2001?2003, Odd Nordstoga concentrated most of his efforts towards the more traditional folk music of Telemark. With his other band
Blamann Blamann
(named after the poem by
Aasmund O. Vinje
), consisting of Nordstoga and his friends from Vinje, guitarist
Asgaut H. Bakken
, flute player
Silje Hegg
and harding fiddle virtuoso
Lars Underdal
, he released a self-titled album to great reviews in 2001, and scored a radio hit in "Tippe Tippe Tuve". In 2002 he teamed up with highly respected Norwegian folk musician
Øyonn Groven Myhren
(amongst other things known from the folk ensemble
Dvergmal
) to write, perform and release the album
Nivelkinn
, based on poems by Telemark poet
Aslaug Vaa
. This collaboration scored a couple of minor radio hits in "Uppi Maneskin" and "Guten og Folen", and earned them the Spellemannprisen award (Norwegian equivalent of the Grammy) in 2003 for best folk music album. Nordstoga was also involved in a book release in 2002, namely the song book
Song for deg og meg
(
Song for you and me
) which he edited, consisting of children songs written in
Nynorsk
, one of Norway's two written standards. In 2014 he received the
Nynorsk User of the Year
award.
Breakthrough
[
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]
It was also in 2003 that the mainstream opened its eyes to Nordstoga as he teamed up with famous singer/actress/writer
Herborg Krakevik
to write and perform the title track from her
Edith Piaf
-cabaret, entitled
Eg & Edith
. The cabaret and its soundtrack, although greatly anticipated, was a minor flop in terms of album sales and tickets sold, whereas the title track proved to be a nice radio hit for the duo. Nordstoga, together with lyricist
Stein Versto
(another Vinje native), also contributed with the track "Rosevev" on this album.
Nordstoga had previously worked with Krakevik in the film
Det Rare
, based on a short story by famous Norwegian writer
Tarjei Vesaas
.
In 2004, Nordstoga signed for
Universal Records
and made his definitive breakthrough with the album
Luring
, selling 150.000 copies and spending 14 weeks on top of the Norwegian album charts. The lead single from the album, about a howling pig entitled "Kveldssong for deg og meg", is already a Norwegian evergreen and one of the most played songs on Norwegian radio in 2004. "Texas", "Lause Ting", "Hallo Hallo" and "Farvel til deg" from the same album also became massive radio hits for Nordstoga.
The tour in the wake of the album, the so-called
Luringtur
tour, which Nordstoga played together with his backing band
Daz Nordstogaz Allstars
, played to a 60.000 strong crowd. At the Spellemannprisen Awards in February 2005, Nordstoga won two awards as he was named best male artist and Artist of the Year. In the summer of 2005, Nordstoga once again took to the road for the
"Luringtur" MK II
tour.
Nordstoga has also been involved in TV productions. In 2004 he did the music for the Norwegian children's series
Linus i Svingen
that was broadcast on NRK 1, Norway's public broadcaster. The theme song, "Svingensongen", is being released in 2005 on the compilation album
Tidenes beste barneplate 2
. He has also been involved with the music for Norway's vastly popular UHU! series.
In June 2005, Nordstoga teamed up with some of Norway's finest jazz musicians and performed the piece "Pilegrim" to great acclaim at Festspillene i Bergen (Bergen Music Festival). the lyrics were written by lyricists
Stein Versto
and
Ragnar Hovland
, both previously involved in the
Luring
production. In August 2005, he made a cameo appearance with Norwegian rap-collective
Klovner i Kamp
, singing the chorus to their single "Syng".
Odd Nordstoga has also done projects for 'The Salvation Army' and folk music projects with different people, amongst other things, renditions of the famous Telemark piece "Storegut" with brother Aasmund and
Lars Underdal
, and guest appearances with the band Fake It or Leave It who play Beatles songs Norwegian folk music style.
Nordstoga released his follow-up to
Luring
in October 2006. Entitled
Heim Te Mor
, the album received a great deal of airplay and acclaim from critics all over Norway. The radio single and title track "Heim Te Mor" became a radio hit upon release in September 2006, marking another milestone for Nordstoga as this release marks his first
music video
as a solo artist, an animated video based on a Nordstoga concert in his local community made by the Animidas film maker crew. With radio single number two "Frøken Franzen" coinciding with the album's release, Odd Nordstoga looks set for another album success. He is also responsible for the soundtrack to the forthcoming Christmas children series
Jul i Svingen
on Norway's NRK TV channel, which is the follow-up to
Linus i Svingen
.
Nordstoga released the songbook
Songfuggel i Karmen
in 2007, containing his greatest hits and his personal favourites. In 2008 the album
Pilegrim
was released to great acclaim, securing the third bestseller in a row for the artist. In the autumn of the same year Nordstoga, together with his brother
Aasmund Nordstoga
and fiddler
Per Anders Buen Garnas
, toured Norway with a revamped version of the
Storegut
performance.
Stralande Jul
and sales record
[
edit
]
On November 9, 2009 Nordstoga released the album
Stralande Jul
together with Norwegian soprano
Sissel Kyrkjebø
. The album is a collection of Norwegian, Swedish and Danish Christmas songs. The album was issued under the moniker
Sissel & Odd
and accompanied by a series of concerts in Scandinavia. In an attempt to sell more records in the age of
downloading
the album was partly released through the grocery store chain
Coop Norge
whereby its members could buy the album at a reduced price. The gimmick paid off, securing a sale of over 100.000 copies in its first week of release alone, of which 60.000 were sold in Coop stores.
[2]
With the album selling well in both Norway and Sweden, it was released in Denmark on December 1, 2009. It was revealed by the end of 2009 that this album was the best selling album of the 2000s in Norway, selling 400,000 copies.
[3]
Controversy
[
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]
In the autumn of 2006, Odd Nordstoga was the cause of a controversy between the Norwegian national broadcaster NRK, his management, Universal Records and the producers and cast of Norwegian-Swedish folk music adaptation of the
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
piece
The Magic Flute
(
Tryllefløyten
). Nordstoga, having played
Papageno
in the piece in the spring of 2006, withdrew from the plans to show the stage adaptation on NRK TV during Christmas 2006. According to Nordstoga's management and label, a screening of the play at this time would collide with Nordstoga's two album releases of 2006 and overexpose him. The result was a massive outburst from some of his contemporaries in the Norwegian folk music scene, most prominently the folk singer
Kirsten Braten Berg
. In the media, Nordstoga was portrayed as the villain, letting his personal career interfere with the ensemble of which he was part. In later interviews, Nordstoga claims to have been very sad about the situation and felt trapped by his obligations toward his recording company.
Crossover
[
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]
Nordstoga has collaborated with leading Norwegian artists and musicians from a wide variety of genres including
folk music
,
jazz
,
electronica
,
chanson
,
hip hop
,
rock
,
classical music
and
pop
. In addition to this, Nordstoga has shown that he is a "
jack-of-all-trades
" within the cultural field having performed in and helped writing
cabarets
,
opera
, edited books and acted in a film.
International career
[
edit
]
Nordstoga is for the most part famous within Norway. However, together with
Rikskonsertene
, he carried out a tour of China in 2008. In concurrence with the release of the Christmas album
Stralande Jul
he toured Sweden as well as appearing on Norwegian-Swedish talkshow
Skavlan
.
[4]
The album peaked at #17 in the Swedish Charts.
[5]
The album will also be released in Denmark.
[2]
Dialect
[
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]
Being from Vinje in the traditional district of
Vest-Telemark
, Nordstoga writes and performs most of his original work in his native
Telemark dialect
. He also speaks the dialect privately and in the media. This has become a
trademark
for him and gained him respect from language organizations, as well as parodies and, to a small extent, ridicule from parts of the population without a distinct dialect. He was awarded the Telemark County Travel Industry Award for 2010 for using his dialect to promote the county of Telemark in a positive way.
[6]
Discography
[
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]
Albums
[
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]
Singles
[
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]
- Promotional singles
- 2005: "Syng" (Tuba) -
(Klovner i Kamp feat. Odd Nordstoga)
- 2006: "Heim Te Mor"
- 2008: "Min Eigen Song"
- Radio singles
- 1998: "Fuggel i Karmen"
(as Something Odd)
- 1998: "Ingen eg kjenner"
(as Something Odd)
- 2000: "
Dag
"
- 2000: "Bie pa deg"
- 2001: "Tippe Tippe Tuve"
- 2002: "Uppi Maneskin"
(with Øyonn Groven Myhren)
- 2002: "Guten og Folen"
(with Øyonn Groven Myhren)
- 2003: "Eg & Edith"
(with Herborg Krakevik)
- 2004: "Lause Ting"
- 2004: "Hallo Hallo"
- 2004: "Farvel til deg"
- 2004: "Texas"
- 2004: "Kveldssong for deg og meg"
- 2004: "Svingensongen"
- 2006: "Frøken Franzen"
- 2009: "Upp gledjest alle, gledjest no"
(as Sissel & Odd)
- 2010: "November"
- 2010: "Lykkeliten"
- 2011: "Bestevenn"
- 2011: "Ein farfar i livet"
- 2013: "Olav Olav" (with Ingebjørg Bratland)
- 2014: "Landet imot Nord" (with Ingebjørg Bratland)
- 2014: "Dette landet" (with Ingebjørg Bratland)
- Music video
- 2006:
Heim Te Mor
-
Odd Nordstoga
Chart history
[
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]
All of Odd Nordstoga's solo albums have charted highly in the Norwegian Top 40 Albums Chart.
Luring
stayed in the charts for 38 weeks in 2004-2005 and peaked at no. 1.
[7]
"Heim te Mor" stayed in the charts for 19 weeks in 2006-2007 and peaked at no. 2.
[7]
"Pilegrim" stayed in the charts for 17 weeks in 2008-2009 and peaked at no. 2.
[7]
The album
Stralande Jul
marked Nordstoga's first international hit album, entering the Swedish Top 40 Charts at #37 in its first week.,
[5]
and peaking at #17 in its third week.
[5]
In Norway, the same album entered at #2, selling 100.000 copies in its first week,
[13]
eventually reaching #1 in its second week.
[13]
His latest album
November
debuted at no. 1 on the Norwegian charts.
The soundtrack album for the
NRK
series
Jul i Svingen
, written in its entirety by Odd Nordstoga and
John VInge
, charted for 4 weeks in 2006, peaking at no. 22.
[14]
Nordstoga's single "Heim te Mor" spent 16 weeks on the Norwegian Top 20 Singles Chart in 2006-2007 peaking at no. 5.
[7]
The single "Min Eigen Song" stayed in the charts for one week only in 2008, peaking at no. 19.
[7]
The album
Eg & Edith
by
Herborg Krakevik
, of which Odd Nordstoga was a substantial contributor both as a musician and songwriter, stayed in the Norwegian charts for 7 weeks in 2002 and peaked at no. 21.
[15]
Other projects
[
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]
- Soundtracks
- 2004:
Linus i Svingen
(soundtrack for NRK)
- 2006:
Jul i Svingen
(soundtrack for NRK)
- 2011:
Vaffelhjarte
(soundtrack for NRK)
- Guest appearances
- 1999:
Smak av himmel, spor av jord
(charity album by various artists)
- 2002:
Eg & Edith
(album by Herborg Krakevik)
- 2002:
My Mother's Tears
(album by
Hillborg Romtveit
)
- 2004:
Stolpesko
(charity album by various artists)
- 2004:
Barske børnerim (for viderekomne voksne)
(album by
Bjarte Hjelmeland
)
- 2004:
New North
(album by
Karl Seglem
)
- 2005:
Ørnen tek ikkje unga
(album by
Klovner i Kamp
)
- 2005:
Last Days & Nights
(album by
Simone Larsen
)
- 2005:
Det beste fra Aftenlandet
(album by
Aftenlandet
)
- 2006:
Under The Surface
(album by
Marit Larsen
)
- 2006:
Venn
(charity single by various artists)
- 2008:
Eggensongar
(album by
Jørund Fluge Samuelsen
)
- 2008:
De beste fra UHU
(soundtrack album to children's television by various artists)
- 2009:
Ein Visefugg
(album by
Aasmund Nordstoga
)
- Rarities
- 2001:
Blamann Blamann
(limited edition interview disc issued by
Rikskonsertene
)
- Stage productions
- 2002:
Storegut
(live production of poems by
Aasmund O. Vinje
performed by Aasmund Nordstoga, Odd Nordstoga &
Lars Underdal
)
- 2002:
Kjærlighet er best pa pinne
(cabaret with Eduardo Andersen)
- 2002:
Eg & Edith
(cabaret with Herborg Krakevik)
- 2002:
Nivelkinn
(piece composed especially for
Telemarkfestivalen
)
- 2005:
Pilegrim
(piece composed especially for the
Bergen Music Festival
)
- 2006:
Tryllefløyten
(folk music adaptation of
Mozart's
"The Magic Flute"
)
- 2006:
Asbury Park
(tribute concert for
Bruce Springsteen
at the
Kongsberg Jazzfestival
)
- 2008:
Storegut
(revised live production of poems by Aasmund O. Vinje performed by Aasmund Nordstoga, Odd Nordstoga &
Per Anders Buen Garnas
)
- Film
- 1991:
Det Rare
(short film based on a short story by
Tarjei Vesaas
)
- TV series
- Books
- 2002:
Song for deg og meg
(edited by Odd Nordstoga)
- 2007:
Sangbok
(songbook by
Kjetil Indregard
and Odd Nordstoga)
- 2007:
Songfuggel i karmen
(songbook published by
Det Norske Samlaget
)
Audio books:
- 2007:
Linus i Svingen og fotballkampen
(Kjetil Indregard and Odd Nordstoga)
- Fun facts
- Nordstoga competed in a norwegian computer game competition in 2013 and placed first. This took place in Bergen and the event was called "B-lan".
Selected awards
[
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]
- Norwegian Grammy for
Best Folk Music Album
in 2002 ("
Nivelkinn
").
- Norwegian Grammies for
Best Male Artist
and
Artist of the Year
in 2004.
- Rural Profile of the year 2004, voted by the readers of the newspaper
Nationen
.
- Prisen for god offentleg sprakbruk
2004 (Award for excellent public use of the language)
- Vinje Kommunes Kulturpris
2004 (The Culture Award of Vinje Municipality).
- Folkemusikkprisen
2004 (The 2004 Folk Music Award)
- The Edvard Award (Edvardprisen) for his song
"Bie pa deg"
from the
"Nordstoga"
album of 2000
- Storegutprisen 2010
- Telemark County Travel Industry Award for 2010
Appearances
[
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]
TV shows
[
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]
Odd Nordstoga has appeared in, amongst others, these TV shows
- Odd Nordstoga - Live i Studio 2 (NRK)
- Skavlan (NRK/SVT)
- Nytt pa nytt (NRK)
- Førkveld (NRK)
- Idol (TV2)
- Stereo (NRK 2)
- Senkveld med HC & Tommy (TV 2)
- Senkveld med Thomas og Harald (TV2)
- Absolutt Underholdning (TV 2)
- Absolutt Norsk (NRK 1)
- Beat for Beat (NRK 1)
- Frokost-TV (NRK 1)
- Jul fra Gamle Bergen Kirke (NRK 1)
- God Morgen, Norge! (TV 2)
- Sommerapent (NRK 1)
- Nordic Music Awards Countdown (TV 2)
- Nordic Music Awards 2004 (TV 2)
- Redaksjon EN (NRK 1)
- SøndagsTabloid (TV 2)
- Magiske Understrenger-Historien om Hardingfela (NRK 1)
- Spellemannprisen 2002 (TV 2)
- Spellemannprisen 2004 (TV 2)
- TV-Aksjonen (NRK 1)
- Kvelden før Kvelden (NRK 1)
- Ein Luring fra Vinje (NRK 1)
- Jul i Blafjell (NRK 1)
- Faktor (NRK 1)
- Frodes musikalske reise (TV 2)
- Den som ser fær sja (Vest-Telemark Lokal TV)
Radio shows
[
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]
Odd Nordstoga has appeared in, amongst others, these radio shows
- P1-scenen (NRK P1)
- Norsk pa Norsk (NRK P1)
- Folkemusikktimen (NRK P2)
- P3-Morgen (NRK P3)
- JuleSessions (NRK P3)
- Sommer i P2 (NRK P2)
See also
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]
References
[
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External links
[
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]
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International
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Artists
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