Feller & Hill are spending a week in Norway, performing at a major country music festival and trying to see as much of the countryside as they can. Tom Feller shared this report.
Norway is beautiful and it has just kept getting more and more picturesque as we have gotten closer to our final destination. We’re here in Sandane gearing up for a weekend at the Norsk CountryTreff, which is a long-running country music festival, which has added bluegrass to its lineup, in recent years. We will be sharing the bill with many local country music groups, including a Johnny Cash tribute band, from Holland (who knew?).
Everyone here has been very friendly, and they share a great passion for what they do. It makes us realize that many folks back home often take for granted how much of an influence American music has on the rest of the world.
We understand that there is also a Buck Owens tribute band here in Norway by the name of Bakersfield, who are as authentic as they come. They won’t be sharing this bill, but it would be nice to run into them for some great story-sharing and photo-ops.
Also appearing at the CountryTreff (I’m assuming it roughly translates to “CountryFest”) will be fellow-Americans Mark Chesnutt, The John Jorgenson Band, and the Desert Rose Band, featuring Chris Hillman. They’ll be staying at the same hotel we’re at, and we look forward to meeting and getting to enjoy their company in such a picturesque setting. Tonight we’ll be playing just a few songs for some Government officials at a local theater. Due to the circumstances, we elected to hold off on firing into the Government Blues, perhaps saving it for the crowd over at the CountryTreff.
A trip like this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we are humbled to have been invited. The people have been very nice and ever-helpful. Chris and I are enjoying the local cuisine, but I’m not sure the entire band feels the same. Mark Poe and Glen Inman have indicated they will kiss the first McDonalds employee who takes their order, when we return to the Atlanta airport. Fiddler Jenny Obert has traveled along as an honorary Bluegrass Buckaroo for the trip and seems to be fitting right in.
Things from home seem to be a bit more expensive here. For example, we saw a sign for an $89 twelve-pack of Coke. It’s actually 89 Krones, which is roughly $14 American. Still considerably more expensive, and it made for a good picture and topic of conversation.
