Bjorn Berge – Blackwood

I was surprised to see a new Bjorn Berge album “Blackwood” on Spotify. Was it really a two years ago since the last release “Fretwork”?. I’m happy to see that Bjorn Berge is going to back to his roots. If you are new to Bjorn Berge’s music. I’d suggest starting with St. Slide (2004) and I’m The Antipop (2007).

Bjorn Berge – Black Wood

01 In & Out
02 Once Again
03 Accused
04 Going To Brownsville
05 Blackwood
06 Woodstock
07 Sick ‘N Tired
08 Same Old Fool
09 Blues For One
10 Those Days
11 Darkness

It was pretty hard to find any info about the latest release. Official site had a press release (with typos), but no track list(?), or proper artwork(?).

My fav Bjorn Berge video on Youtube: Give It Away (Red Hot Chili Peppers cover)

Blackwood – Press Release:

Bjorn Berge will release his new album “BLACKWOOD” 13. October in Europe and North America. On this album he’s back to his “roots” again, which means an acoustic blend of Folk, Blues, Rock and Funky songs.

“Bjorn Berge is an acoustic genius. The Norwegian singer can move mountains with his acoustic guitars, he can outplay the hardest metalheads and raise an enormous amount of energy. His repertoire ranges from his own powerful songs to smashing cover versions, which are much more than standard versions of old hits thanks to Berge’s brutish voice and extremely dynamic guitar technique. Although this statement is only partial true: Despite all this, Berge’s music is always catchy and soulful. His concerts are definitely THE acoustic guitar event of this decade.”

Bjorn Berge has been playing guitar and banjo since he was 13 years old and since then he has been interested in music and playing. During his career he’s earned a reputation for being an outstanding guitarist. His “fingerpicking style” is at a unique level and has made him a popular performer on the European arena, as well as concerts in Canada and the United States. Some will say in the top league in the world:

He started his own bluegrass band in the mid 80′s, but now for the last 15 years he has been fully occupied with his solo career as a guitarist and to cultivate and explore the possibilities of playing 6 – and 12-string guitar. He has released nine albums so far, of which 2 has given him the Norwegian Grammy “Spellemannsprisen”.

On this new album, Berge has written all the songs himself, except two. Musically, he goes a little more back to the roots and it’s on a natural path from his previous album “Fretwork” from 2009.

For the last 7-8 years, he’s made Europe as his playground, which involves numerous days of travel. He’s a frequent guest of the major jazz-, blues- and guitar-festivals around. His music is difficult to categorize as he combines multiple musical genres, but mainly he’s in the folk-/blues segment, interspersed with elements from such rock and funk. He performs for the most originals, but he also makes his own interpretations and versions of songs from artists/bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Butler Trio, Joni Mitchell and Motorhead to name a few.

Of festival performances done in the recent years, include – to name a few:
Roskilde Festival (DK), Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest (CAN), Versailles Jazz Festival (FR), Nice Guitar Festival (FR), Nuits de la Guitare, Patrimonio, (FR – Corsica), Shepherd’s Bush Empire (UK), Arezzo Wave Love Festival ( IT), Basel Guitar Festival (CH), Notodden Blues Festival (NO),Molde International Jazz Festival (NO) Burg Hertzberg Festival (DE)

Bjorn Berge – Discography:

2011 Blackwood
2009 Fretwork
2008 Live In Europe
2007 I’m The Antipop
2006 We’re Gonna Groove
2004 St. Slide
2002 Illustrated Man
2001 Stringmachine
2000 Bag of Nails
1999 Blues Hit Me
1997 Bjørn Berge