G2 – new CD and US tour launch soon

Speaking of Swedish bluegrass…

G2, the world-traveling bluegrassers from Sweden, will soon be winging their way westward to the USA, where they will take up residence for the summer. They have shows booked all across the country, starting with the Father’s Day Festival in Grass Valley, CA June 17-18.

The guys will also have copies of the new CD, Untapped Routes, in hand when they arrive. It’s their second recording which once again relies heavily on the first rate songwriting of guitarists and lead vocalist Christoffer Olsson.

This time, however, the project has an intercontinental flavor with a number of US artists appearing as guests. Banjo man Jens Koch shared a few details…

“Ron Stewart joined us on fiddle on three cuts and we’re thrilled to hear what he can do with a fiddle… very cool. Cia and Skip Cherryholmes added vocals on one which Molly and BJ also play fiddle on. That song is called Gold Rush. (Not the Bill Monroe Gold Rush, – this one is one of Christoffer’s originals). Another guest artist on one cut is Norwegian singer Kurt Nilsen who won World Idol in 2004. Great singer and an incredible songwriter, but on our album he sings one of Christoffer’s songs.

We’re leaving Swedish ground on June 8 and will be arriving in Nashville that same night. It’s going to be a cool experience and we are looking forward so much to getting to play every day. It’s quite a big sacrifice and an expensive project but we just have to do it now. Getting the work visas was kind of expensive, and then we bought a van to be able to get around to festivals, so I guess we’ll be eating dust and drinking water for the coming 4 months. ;-)”

You can check their US tour schedule on the G2 web site. Hopefully they’ll at least make enough for a few Waffle House stops.

Here is a sample of several tracks from the new record. The music is crisply executed and cleverly written. I can’t wait to hear the entire project.

Untapped Routes:   [http://www.g2bluegrassband.com/mp3/promo%20mix%201.mp3]

Untapped Routes will be released in Europe on the Cosmos label in September, and G2 hopes to soon announce a distribution deal with a major US bluegrass record company soon. They are still in discussion with a couple of labels, and expect to nail something down before they head our way.

In addition to Olsson and Koch, the band consists of Erik Igelström on mandolin, Tobias Strömberg on resonator guitar, and Jimmy Sunnebrandt on bass.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.