Kåre Virud Band

It is simply great to be able to announce to everyone that there will be an extra concert with Kåre Virud Band and the king of blues in Norwegian during this year's festival. Kåre Virud Band will play in Bok Blueshuset on Saturday evening. 

We at Notodden Blues Festival continue to celebrate Kåre Virud and his impressive career. During last year's festival there was a lot of competition for tickets to the concert where Kåre Virud reunited Telemark Blueslag, on New Year's Eve Virud turned 80 and now we can launch a very rare concert with the fantastic Kåre Virud Band for this year's festival. There will be no more Notodden Blues Festival than a concert with Kåre Virud. 

We don't know which songs Kåre Virud will pick for this concert, but there are probably classics to choose from; "Storgata", "Ild og Vann", "Dama Mi", "Ikke jeg", "Blind Lemon", "Uflaks", and all the other well-known and beloved Kåre songs. 

Kåre Virud was a pioneer in singing blues in Norwegian. One of his first appearances as a musician was with the local rock band The Tornadoes at Notodden Theatre in 1962. In an interview in connection with his own 60th birthday in 2003, he said that he discovered the blues genre in Copenhagen in 1964, and started what was probably Norway's first blues band in a bomb shelter in Notodden in 1965.

Kåre Virud made his debut with Barbeinte Engel in 1974. Since then, there have been many album releases. All in Norwegian. His lyrics often have a local touch, which has earned him enormous respect in his hometown of Notodden, but the lyrics are still written in such a way that they have a general and national significance. Audiences all over Norway have embraced Kåre Virud, and he is more recognized and popular than ever. 

Kåre Virud Band consists of Kåre Virud (vocals, guitar), Espen Fjelle (keyboards), Tore Wildauer (drums) and Bård Slagsvold (bass, vocals).