Joakim Borgen, co-founder of Norway’s popular Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra, has announced his decision to leave the group.
Borgen founded the group with Rebekka Nilsson, after the two saw the 2012 Belgian film, Broken Circle Breakdown, a tragic romance which was set within a Dutch bluegrass band. The two, already experienced musicians, became so fascinated with the sound of bluegrass music that they dedicated their efforts to learning to play and sing it themselves.
The group quickly became quite popular in European bluegrass circle after a video of them performing the folk classic, Wayfaring Stranger, hit big on YouTube. More than 5 million views later, and they found themselves booked on shows across the continent. A debut full-length album, Migrants, earned a Norwegian Grammy nomination in 2022 and the Orchestra – so named for their unusually large number of players – showcased at the IBMA World of Bluegrass.
Rebekka and Joakim, who had met in drama school, always had a highly theatrical vision for their shows, something they achieved with aplomb in a live concert video they produced as an album release film when Migrants first hit.
Borgen was behind their recording of the Everly Brothers song, All I Have To Do Is Dream, which was used as the final music in the Netflix series, Lost Ollie.
On departing his co-creation, Borgen says…
“There is a time for everything, and I now feel that the time has come for me to step aside and let the band continue on its journey without me. There is no bad blood between us, and I wish my incredible bandmates all the best moving forward.”
The full Orchestra, minus Joakim, will be performing next week during the World of Bluegrass convention in Raleigh, NC.
