Knut Reiersrud (born 12 February 1961) is a Norwegian

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

guitarist. His work also incorporates elements of Norwegian traditional music and

African music Given the vastness of the African continent, its music is diverse, with regions and nations having many distinct musical traditions. African music includes the genres amapiano, Jùjú, Fuji, Afrobeat, Highlife, Makossa, Kizomba, and others. The ...

. Reiersrud has recorded and played with David Lindley,

the Blind Boys Of Alabama The Blind Boys of Alabama, also billed as The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, and Clarence Fountain and the Blind Boys of Alabama, is an American gospel group. The group was founded in 1939 in Talladega, Alabama, and has featured a changing roster ...

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author. Over the course of a career that spans five decades, she has recorded in various musical styles including Rock music, rock, Rhythm and blues, R&B ...

Nina Hagen Catharina "Nina" Hagen (; born 11 March 1955) is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rose to prominence during the Punk subculture, punk and New wave music, new wave movements in the late 1970s a ...

and Swedish blues musician Sven Zetterberg. He has also numerous collaborations with Middle East performers like

Rim Banna Rim Banna ( ar, ريم بنا; 8 December 1966 – 24 March 2018) was a Palestinian singer and composer who was most known for her modern interpretations of traditional Palestinian songs and poetry. Banna was born in Nazareth, where she graduat ...

and

Mahsa Vahdat Mahsa Vahdat (in Persian مهسا وحدت) (born 29 October 1973, Tehran, Iran) is a Persian classical and world music vocalist. Mahsa Vahdat's music style is contemporary expression inspired by old traditional and folk and regional music of ...

. He lives in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. He has collaborated extensively with the Norwegian organist

Iver Kleive Iver Kleive (born 25 May 1949 in Skien, Norway) is a Norwegian composer and organist. He is known for his composing style which is a fusion of traditional church music with other musical idioms such as blues, jazz, and Norwegian folk music. He ...

. He is lead guitarist and one of the original members of Cloudberry Cream.

Career

Reiersrud also plays the

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

langeleik The ''langeleik'', also called langleik, is a Norwegian stringed folklore musical instrument, a droned zither. Description The langeleik has only one melody string and up to 8 drone strings. Under the melody string there are seven frets per o ...

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...

, and Turkish saz, he has composed music for four Norwegian movies, and together with Iver Kleive, took part in the opening ceremony of the '94

Olympic Winter Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

. In 2008 Reiersrud established his own festival «Trestock» at

Nesodden Nesodden is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Follo. The administrative centre of the municipality is Nesoddtangen. The parish of ''Næsodden'' was established as a municipality on 1 ...

, where a superteam of Norwegian musicians contributed. Among the artists can be mentioned

Odd Nordstoga 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 o ...

Valkyrien Allstars Valkyrien Allstars (established 2003 in Oslo, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of ...

and Reiersrud with his own K. R. Band, and in collaboration with organist

. Upcoming artists, exciting for the younger audience, include

Jarle Bernhoft Jarle Bernhoft (; Jarle Norman Bernhoft-Sjødin; born 21 June 1976), known professionally as Bernhoft (often stylized as Bern/hoft), is a Norwegian singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and lyricist. Bernhoft is from Nittedal in Norway. His be ...

(ex «Span») with his new project; the band «Lester», composed of Nikolai Eilertsen (ex

BigBang Big Bang (; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean boy band formed by YG Entertainment. The group consists of four members: G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, and Daesung. Originally a five-piece band, Seungri retired from the entertainment industry ...

) and

David Wallumrød David Wallumrød (born 2 October 1977 in Kongsberg, Norway) is a Norwegian pianist, known from cooperations with artists such as Knut Reiersrud, Torun Eriksen, Jarle Bernhoft, Marit Larsen, Maria Solheim, Vidar Busk, Bigbang, Maria Mena, Thomas ...

; and the indie band «Maika». Other names include

The Grand The Grand may refer to: Buildings Official names * The Grand (Calgary), a theatre in Alberta, Canada *The Grand (Ellsworth, Maine), an arts center in Maine, U.S. * The Grand Doubletree, condominium and hotel skyscraper in Miami, U.S. * The Grand C ...

;

Amund Maarud Amund Maarud (born 7 April 1981 in Nes, Akershus, Norway) is a Norwegian blues/rock musician (guitar, vocals) and composer, known as a solo artist and as frontman of rock bands The Grand (2005-2010) and the duo «Morudes» (2010 -) with his brot ...

's rock band, Spellemannprisen nominated ; the girls who play lively frantic noise in Katzenjammer; the Rockabilly girls in

Lucky Lips Lucky Lips is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally recorded by Ruth Brown in 1956 and was successfully covered by Cliff Richard in 1963. Ruth Brown and early cover versions The song was first recorded by the R&B si ...

; the country artist Ivar Thomas; the Nesodden heroes «Foggy Boys» and «Midnight Special»; the traditional music trio «Vrang»; and «Drøbak Bluesband». Reiersrud has for many years been host of the NRK radio program, ''Blues Asylet'', together with Knut Borge. The program is meant to be a playground and a respite for blues and blues-friends of all shades. In 2004,

Krissy Matthews Krissy Matthews (born 25 May 1992) is a British-Norwegian blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. He had released three albums by the age of 18. His most recent and fifth album, ''Scenes From a Moving Window'', was released by Promise Recor ...

undertook a radio session with Reiersrud for ''Blues Asylet'' on

NRK P2 NRK P2 is one of three main, nationwide radio channels produced by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). Its current format – focusing on news and current affairs, debate, analysis, culture, science, and society – is the result of the ...

Honors

*1991:

Spellemannprisen Spellemannprisen, often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards in English, is a Norwegian music award presented to Norwegian musicians. The award was established by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organizati ...

for the album ''Blå koral'' *1992:

Gammleng-prisen The Gammleng Award ( no, Gammleng-prisen) is a Norwegian culture award created by ''The Fund for Performing Artists'' in 1982, 25 years after the fund was established in 1957. The award's official name is the ''Rolf Gammleng award to performing art ...

in the class Studio *1995: Notodden Bluesfestivalpris *2004: Spellemannprisen for ''Pretty Ugly'' *2006: Danish Grammy for the tune "Nåde Over Nåde"

Discography

Solo albums

*1993 - ''Tramp'' (

Kirkelig Kulturverksted Kirkelig Kulturverksted (KKV) is a Norwegian company and record label, founded in 1974 by Erik Hillestad. Among the musicians who have issued records on the label are Ketil Bjørnstad, Kari Bremnes, Erik Bye, Ole Paus, Sigvart Dagsland, Bjørn Eidsv ...

), released in the U.S. in 1994 under the title ''Footwork'' *1995 - ''Klapp'' (Kirkelig Kulturverksted) *1998 - ''Soul of a Man'' (Kirkelig Kulturverksted) *1999 - ''Sub'' (Kirkelig Kulturverksted) *2001 - ''Sweet Showers of Rain'' (Kirkelig Kulturverksted) *2004 - ''Pretty Ugly'' (Kirkelig Kulturverksted) *2009 - ''Gitar'' (Big Dipper Records) *2013 - ''Aftonblues'' (Bluestown Records) *2015 - ''Tears Of The World'' (

ACT Music ACT is a German record label founded in 1992 by Siegfried Loch. It is a division of ACT + Music Video founded by Loch and Annette Humpe in 1988. ACT started as a pop music label but folded soon after it started. Loch turned it into a jazz label, ...

), with

Mighty Sam McClain Samuel McClain (April 15, 1943 – June 15, 2015), billed as Mighty Sam McClain, was an American soul blues singer and songwriter. Life and career He was born in Monroe, Louisiana. As a five-year-old, he began singing in his mother's Gospel ...

*2018 - Heat (Jazzland Recordings)

Collaborative works

*1982 - ''Rooster Blues'' (

Hot Club Records Hot Club Records is a jazz record label established 1982, by guitarist Jon Larsen in Oslo, Norway.Dregni, Michael (2008) ''Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing'', OUP USA, , p. 229 The label has released over 350 ...

), with «The Four Roosters» *1993 - ''Roots To Scandinavian Blues'' (Hot Club Records), with

Nappy Brown Napoleon Brown Goodson Culp (October 12, 1929 – September 20, 2008) better known by his stage name Nappy Brown, was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singing, singer. His hit record, hits include the 1955 ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard' ...

*1991 - ''Blå koral'' (

), with

*1996 - ''Himmelskip'' (Kirkelig Kulturverksted), with Iver Kleive *2000 - ''Den Signede Dag'' (Kirkelig Kulturverksted), with Iver Kleive & Povl Dissing *2000 - ''4G'' (

Curling Legs __NOTOC__ Curling Legs Productions A/S (established 1992 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian record label with a catalogue encompassing all styles of jazz and improvised music. It was started by Knut Værnes and Morten Halle to release their own mus ...

), guitar album with

Frode Alnæs Frode Alnæs (born 3 March 1959) is a Norwegian jazz guitarist and composer, known from cooperation with international artists like Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen, Arild Andersen, Jon Balke, Ole Edvard Antonsen, Ketil Bjørnstad, Henning Somme ...

Knut Værnes Knut Værnes (born 1 April 1954) is a Norwegian jazz musician (guitar), composer and band leader, known from several recordings in the jazz rock genre. He grew up at Bøler in Oslo, where he became an accomplished guitarist. Career Værnes wa ...

Bjørn Klakegg Bjørn Klakegg (born 30 January 1958 in Skien, Norway) is a Norwegians, Norwegian jazz musician (guitar) and composer, known from a number of recordings and cooperations with the likes of Nils Petter Molvær, Sverre Gjørvad, Ernst-Wiggo Sandbakk ...

*2006 - ''Nåde For Nåde'' (Kirkelig Kulturverksted), with Iver Kleive *2011 - ''One Drop Is Plenty'' (Kirkelig Kulturverksted), with

*2013 - ''Som Den Gylne Sol'', with

and Povl Dissing *2014 - ''Blues Detour'', with

Eric Bibb Eric Charles Bibb (born August 16, 1951) is a Grammy-nominated American-born blues singer and songwriter. Biography Bibb's father, Leon, was a musical theatre singer, who made a name for himself as part of the 1960s New York folk scene; his u ...

and Ale Moeller *2015 - ''Trail of Souls'', with

Solveig Slettahjell Solveig Slettahjell (born 2 April 1971 in Bærum, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz singer, known for her soulful, seductive voice. Career Slettahjell had her record debut with the album ''Slow Motion Orchestra'' (2003), contains jazz standards li ...

and In the Country *2019 - ''Flying like Eagles'' ( ACT), feat. Knut Reiersrud, Phil Donkin and Jim Black

References

External links

*
Knut Reiersrud performing Scrapper Blackwell´s Back Door Blues
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reiersrud, Knut 1961 births Living people Fingerstyle guitarists Norwegian blues guitarists Oud players Spellemannprisen winners Musicians from Oslo ACT Music artists Jazzland Recordings (1997) artists