The International Tussler Society is a

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

-band from

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, formed in 1993. They started out as a side-project of fellow Trondheimers,

Motorpsycho Motorpsycho may refer to: * Motorpsycho (band), a Norwegian rock band * ''Motorpsycho'' (film), a 1965 film by Russ Meyer * ''Motorpsycho Presents The International Tussler Society'', a 2004 album by The International Tussler Society * "Motorpsych ...

, who decided to record a country-album when their drummer, Håkon Gebhardt, bought a banjo. Their line-up got extended and the story had its beginning. The first album was released (and subsequently became a rarity, as it was pressed in low amounts) and the band played several concerts. Later on, the International Tussler Society, as the project was named, developed a life of its own, aside from the Motorpsycho-universe. Despite the long gaps between recordings and tours, the band can still be seen as standing on its own feet. They derive their musical style from

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...

-veterans such as

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

The Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

The International Submarine Band The International Submarine Band (ISB) was a country-rock band formed by Gram Parsons in 1965, while a theology student at Harvard University and John Nuese, a guitar player for local rock group, The Trolls. Nuese is credited with having persua ...

, The Band,

The Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

and

The Flying Burrito Brothers The Flying Burrito Brothers are an American country rock band, best known for their influential 1969 debut album, ''The Gilded Palace of Sin''. Although the group is perhaps best known for its connection to band founders Gram Parsons and Chris ...

. Like the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers Band, they also have two drummers since 2003, when Even Granås joined them. They are also known for playing very long sets which include intense jamming, most of the 2004 tour-concerts lasted around three hours. The I.T.S. have recorded two albums, '' The Tussler - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' (1994, re-released in 1996 and 2003) and ''

Motorpsycho presents The International Tussler Society ''Motorpsycho presents The International Tussler Society'' is an album by The International Tussler Society. It was released on CD and double vinyl, both editions came with a bonus DVD featuring a documentary about the recording process of the ...

'' (2004).

Members

*Barry "Space" Hillien (Lars Lien): lead vocals, keyboards *Kjell "K.K." Karlsen: pedal steel guitar, occasional lead vocals *Duellin' Flint Gebhardt (Håkon Gebhardt): banjo *Chickenshakin' Lolly Hanks Jr. (Morten Fagervik): drums *Snakebite Ryan (

Hans Magnus Ryan Hans Magnus Ryan, alias "Snah", (born 31 December 1969 in Trondheim, Norway) is a Norwegian rock musician (guitar & vocals), known as front figure of the band Motorpsycho. Career In 1989 Ryan and bassist Bent Sæther together with drummer ...

): guitars, vocals *Charlie Bob Bent (

Bent Sæther Bent Sæther (born 18 February 1969 in Oslo, Norway) is the bass guitarist and lead vocalist of the Norwegian psychedelic rock band Motorpsycho from the start in 1989. Background Sæther grew up in an apartment complex in Ammerud before movi ...

): bass, guitars, occasional lead vocals *Ringo "Fire" Karlsen AKA The Kid ( Even Granås): drums (since 2003) {{DEFAULTSORT:International Tussler Society Norwegian country rock groups Musical groups established in 1993 1993 establishments in Norway Musical groups from Trondheim