<\/p>\n
Norwegian coastal culture meets American dreams in Trond Kallev\u00e5g\u2019s most cinematic work yet.\u00a0Imagine Ry Cooder, Daniel Lanois, and David Lynch sharing a rowboat on a misty West Norwegian morning \u2013 that\u2019s the world of\u00a0Minnesota<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n With\u00a0Minnesota<\/em>, guitarist and composer Trond Kallev\u00e5g deepens his\u00a0image-rich sound \u2013 a warm, wistful universe where the atmosphere of Norway\u2019s rugged west coast drifts seamlessly into the wide horizons of the American Midwest.<\/p>\n Drawing inspiration from traditional music, jazz, ambient folk, emigration stories, and rare photographs unearthed during an artist residency on the unique and remote island of Tr\u00e6na in\u00a0Northern Norway , Kallev\u00e5g weaves a sound world rooted in the\u00a0Norwegian Coast \u2013 yet forever gazing westward.<\/p>\n Minnesota<\/em>\u00a0marks Kallev\u00e5g\u2019s fourth album on the acclaimed Hubro label, following\u00a0Bedehus & Hawaii<\/em>\u00a0(2019),\u00a0Fengselsfugl<\/em>\u00a0(2021), and\u00a0Amerikab\u00e5ten<\/em>\u00a0(2023). As on his previous releases, historical curiosity meets personal presence, resulting in instrumental storytelling of rare depth and resonance.<\/p>\n Kallev\u00e5g is joined by three of Norway\u2019s most in-demand musicians \u2013 ECM artists, Gard Nilssen (drums, vibraphone), Mats Eilertsen (double bass), and the exceptionally talented young violinist Tuva Halse \u2013 alongside his own guitar, pedal steel, and a delicate layer of production, mixing, and overdubs. Together, they create a soundscape as much shaped by American folk music and cinematic jazz as by the devotional music and understated beauty of Norway\u2019s west coast.<\/p>\n The album continues Kallev\u00e5g\u2019s exploration of the ties between Norway and America \u2013 a terrain of cowboy ballads, murder ballads, immigrant sagas, and coastal lives that never returned home. Tracks such as\u00a0Edward Curtis Portraits<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Pine Ridge<\/em>\u00a0take inspiration from Edward Curtis\u2019 iconic photographic portraits of Native Americans, adding another layer to the album\u2019s transatlantic narrative.<\/p>\n The cover features Rune Johansen\u2019s photograph\u00a0Jeg var s\u00e5 forbanna lykkelig<\/em>\u00a0(\u201cI Was So Damn Happy\u201d) \u2013 an image that captures the album\u2019s emotional heart.<\/p>\n Originally commissioned for the Sildajazz Festival in 2022, much of the music was developed further during Kallev\u00e5g\u2019s month-long stay on Tr\u00e6na in autumn 2024. There, he created\u00a0Tr\u00e6na Hawaii<\/em>, a project inspired by old letters and photographs exchanged between Alma Sand\u00f8y and her brother in Hawaii \u2013 a meeting that never happened, yet lived on in images and memory.<\/p>\n 2025 marks 200 years since the first organized Norwegian emigrants sailed from Stavanger to New York aboard the sloop\u00a0Restauration<\/em>, with many eventually settling in Minnesota. While not intended as a historical commemoration, the album bears the imprint of that ongoing movement \u2013 between places, between memories, between longing and belonging.<\/p>\n \u201cI love that balance \u2013 being fully present with the musicians in the moment, making quick decisions on the spot, then returning to the material later to shape it further. More than ever, I enjoyed producing this record, playing with the mix and adding subtle details after the sessions. It\u2019s the tension between the spontaneous and the dreamlike where I feel most at home.\u201d \u2013 Trond Kallev\u00e5g<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Norwegian coastal culture meets American dreams in Trond Kallev\u00e5g\u2019s most cinematic work yet.\u00a0Imagine Ry Cooder, Daniel Lanois, and David Lynch sharing a rowboat on a misty West Norwegian morning \u2013 that\u2019s the world of\u00a0Minnesota<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":42357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[36],"product_tag":[8135,7925],"class_list":{"0":"post-42354","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-hubro","7":"product_tag-minnesota","8":"product_tag-trond-kallevag","9":"uni_artist_tag-trond-kallevag","10":"uni_main_artist_tag-trond-kallevag","11":"uni_artist_genre-americana","12":"uni_artist_genre-indie","13":"uni_artist_genre-instrumental","14":"uni_artist_genre-jazz","16":"first","17":"instock","18":"taxable","19":"shipping-taxable","20":"purchasable","21":"product-type-variable"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/42354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=42354"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=42354"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=42354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}