z Vidar Busk and His True Believers

On November 7, Blues Heaven proudly presents a reunion for a band that made headlines in Scandinavia in the 90s. Vidar Busk & His True Believers perform in Frederikshavn their first concert with the original crew from 1997. This was the year Vidar Busk had his breakthrough with the release “Stompin ‘Our Feet With Joy.” With his eminent guitar playing, he set a standard for blues guitarists, not only in Norway but also in neighboring countries.

The crew includes producer, pianist, and guitarist Johnny “Guitar” Augland, also known from his time with artists such as Louisiana Red, Carey Bell, and Rock Bottom. The harmonica player Arne Fjeld Rasmussen and the bassist, Rune Endal from the original ensemble, are present. Drummer Alexander Pettersen joined Vidar’s band later, but he is also well known for his time in Rick Estrin & The Nightcats and countless Norwegian blues bands.

Vidar Busk & His True Believers come to Denmark straight from recordings in Halden’s studio in Norway. After 21 years, the band is in the process of their sequel to the three critically acclaimed True Believers albums that came out in the late ’90s, Stompin Our Feet With Joy (1997), I Came Here To Rock (1998) and Atomic Swing (1999). After the first album, Vidar was awarded the Notodden Blues Festival’s blues prize. In the wake of the second album, he was named Norwegian artist of the year during the Spellemann Prize 1998 (the Norwegian Grammy). Vidar was also nominated for the Spellemann Prize in 1999, the rock class for Atomic Swing.

In 2001, Busk got a contract with Warner Music, where he released three albums until 2005. Later he has played with and released records with different band constellations. For the past five years, he has toured Norway around full houses with a big tribute show to Elvis Presley, at the same time as he has also been on the road with his own projects. He has also collaborated with Danish Ole Frimer.