Norway’s Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra has another single today from their upcoming album, Migrants, a new song written by vocalist Rebekka Nilsson and mandolinist Joakim Borgen.
If you were watching the Bluegrass Ramble concerts during the virtual World of Bluegrass last month, you may have seen their stunning presentation. It was a full on production, recorded before a live audience, complete with sparse but effective staging and brilliant costuming, not to mention beautiful music.
This eight-piece band includes all the instruments you would expect from a bluegrass ensemble, plus an accordion, in a nod to Norwegian folk and dance music.
Borgen says this song, Smokey Mountain Railway, was written as an allegory about love lost.
“Smokey Mountain Railway gets its title from the beautiful North Carolina railroad, but it’s really a song about loss and longing. It’s about being on a journey that takes you further and further away from where you want to be, and from a love that you left behind. As the train moves endlessly forward you look back and wonder if you made the right decision.”
In addition to Rebekkah and Joakim, Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra is Ole Engrav on guitar, Magnus Eriksrud on banjo, Moa Meinich on fiddle, Jonas Olsen on bass, Emil Brattested on reso-guitar, and Sjur Marqvardsen on accordion.
Smokey Mountain Railway is available now from several popular streaming sites.
Migrants is scheduled for a full release in February of 2021.
