Guðrið Hansdóttir (born 6 October 1980) is a Faroese singer, songwriter, composer, and musician. She has released six full studio albums and has released an EP called "Taking Ship" on 24 January 2014 in the United States, in February in Europe. ''Taking Ship'' has seven songs which are poems by Heinrich Heine in English translation, except for one of Heine's poems which is in Faroese translation by Poul F. Joensen, ''Tú hevur tær dýrastu perlur''. On the 22nd of April 2022 she released the album ''Gult myrkur'' which is a collaboration with Faroese poet Lív Maria Róadóttir Jæger.

Biography

Guðrið Hansdóttir grew up in

Argir Argir ( da, Arge) is a village in the Faroe Islands. Argir most likely takes its name from Old Irish ''airge'' meaning ''summer pasture''.; several placenames in Faroe carry the same name with this meaning. Once a village south of Tórshavn, Arg ...

near

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

, and is the daughter of Louisa and Hans Carl Hansen. Her father is a well-known guitar player in the Faroe Islands, having earlier played with the Faroese bands ''Straight Ahead'' and ''Streingjasúpan''. Guðrið's last name was Hansen, which is a Danish form commonly used in the Faroe Islands, but later she changed it to the Faroese form Hansdóttir (which means daughter of Hans). When Guðrið was 14 years old, her father taught her to play the guitar, and ever since then she has been creating her own songs. Later she became a popular singer/songwriter in the Faroe Islands. She has won the Faroese music award called ''Planet Awards'' two times. In 2007, she was awarded as the Best Female Singer and in 2009 her album ''The Sky is Opening'' was awarded as the Best Album of 2009 (best Faroese album). After her third album ''Beyond the Grey'' which was released in June 2011 she moved to

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, where she concentrated fully on her music. She performed in various places in Iceland and also toured in Europe and USA. In the Faroes she has several times performed on music festivals like

Summarfestivalurin Summarfestivalurin (the Summer Festival) is a musical festival in Klaksvík in the Faroe Islands, established in 2004. History 2004 Summarfestivalurin - The Summer Festival - was held for the first time in August 2004 in Klaksvík in the Faroe ...

Klaksvík Klaksvík is the second largest town of the Faroe Islands behind Tórshavn. The town is located on Borðoy, which is one of the northernmost islands (the Norðoyar). It is the administrative centre of Klaksvík municipality. History The first ...

and the

G! Festival The G! Festival (commonly known as G!, in Faroese also called G! Festivalur or G! Festivalurin) is a Faroese musical festival, held annually at the seaside village Gøta on Eysturoy in mid or late July, but always before the Ólavsøka. It is one ...

in Syðrugøta. She has also played at big international festivals like SXSW in Austin,

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in Aarhus and

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In Reykjavík. She finds inspiration in all, from

Swedish pop Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

music to 70s rock like Jethro Tull and 80s icon

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...

Byrta

In 2012 while living in

, she met another Faroese musician, Janus Rasmussen who has for some years now been a member of the Icelandic/Faroese electro band Bloodgroup. The two found out that they had something in common, and started to play music together. Before she met Janus, Guðrið wrote some new songs, this time in Faroese, instead of in English. She and Janus worked with these new songs for some months and planned to make a new album. She wrote the lyrics and composed the songs; Janus played all the instruments and later he produced the album. The album self-titled ''BYRTA'' was released in May 2013. They are now a new duo, which is called Byrta. Their music is electropop.

Discography

Albums

;Solo albums * Love is Dead,

Tutl TUTL Records is a record label of the Faroe Islands that was founded in 1977 by Kristian Blak. The label is credited with giving many Faroese musicians their first break and "has played a major role in giving musicians a chance to record and pub ...

, 2007. * The Sky is Opening, 2009. * Beyond the Grey, 2011 * Taking Ship, 2014. * Painted Fire, 2016. * Gult myrkur, 2022. ;With Byrta * ''BYRTA'', Tutl, 2013

Prizes and nominations

* Planet Awards 2005 nominated as ''Best female singer'' * Planet Awards 2006 nominated as ''Best female singer'' * Planet Awards 2007 ''Best female singer'' (won) * Planet Awards 2009 ''Album of the Year'' (won) * Planet Awards 2010 nominated as ''Best female singer'' * Planet Awards 2011 nominated as ''Best female singer'' * Planet Awards 2011 nominated as ''Artist of the Year * Planet Awards 2011 nominated as ''Album of the Year (Beyond the Grey) Faroese Music Awards 2014 nominated as Album of the Year (BYRTA) (Won) Faroese Music Awards 2014 nominated as artist of the Year (BYRTA) ( Won) Faroese Music Awards 2014 nominated as best new act ( BYRTA) (Won)Planet.fo
Planet Awards 2011: Tey tilnevndu eru… (in Faroese, list of the nominated artist, albums and musical groups for the Planet Awards 2011)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gudrid Hansdottir 1980 births Living people Faroese women singers Faroese guitarists Faroese singer-songwriters Faroese composers English-language singers from the Faroe Islands 21st-century Danish women singers 21st-century guitarists 21st-century women guitarists