Odd Nordstoga

Odd Nordstoga is an award-winning Norwegian folksinger with a versatile style who was well established critically before he made his solo album debut in 2004 with Luring, a tremendously successful full-length effort that topped the charts for 14 weeks. Born on December 10, 1972, in Vinje, Norway, he is the son of Norwegian folksingers; his brother, Aasmund Nordstoga, is also a successful entertainer. Nordstoga made his recording debut in 1997 with Something Odd, the eponymous album debut of the band with which he was involved at the time. The self-released album earned Something Odd a major-label recording deal with BMG and resulted in the follow-up album Solreven (1998). Not much came of Something Odd's major-label album debut, however, and, swiftly dropped by BMG, the band renamed itself Nordstoga and released an eponymous album on the label Grappa in 2000. More pop-friendly than past efforts, Nordstoga spawned a couple minor hits, one of which ("Bie På Deg") won an Edvardprisen award. Again in association with Grappa, Nordstoga formed another band and released the eponymous album Blåmann Blåmann (2001), a folk-oriented effort named after a poem by Norwegian writer Aasmund Olavsson Vinje. The album was well received critically and spawned a minor hit with "Tippe Tippe Tuve." Nordstoga's next full-length effort on Grappa, Nivelkinn (2002), was a collaboration with fellow folkie Øyonn Groven Myhren. Based on poems by Norwegian poet Aslaug Vaa, Nivelkinn was an even greater critical success than Blåmann Blåmann, winning a Spellemannprisen award in 2003. Well established by this point from a critical standpoint, Nordstoga signed a major-label recording deal with Universal Music and made his solo album debut in 2004 with Luring. A canny collection of crossover folk-pop songs, the album was tremendously successful, topping the Norwegian albums chart for 14 weeks and earning Nordstoga a pair of Spellemannprisen awards in 2005, including one for Artist of the Year. The follow-up efforts "Heim Te Mor" (2006) and Pilegrim (2008) were also commercial blockbusters, peaking at number two on the albums chart and spawning the respective hit singles "Heim Te Mor" and "Min Eigen Song." ~ Jason Birchmeier