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ARNE FJELD RASMUSSEN
B I O G R A P H Y
Blues harmonica players aren’t so unusual in the United States, but a professional and highly acclaimed blues stylist from Norway is certainly anything but ordinary. Especially when a Norwegian blues harmonica player, who is so highly praised by American blues musicians as well, also chooses to expand his talent and apply his style to other genres.
Arne Fjeld Rasmussen has established himself as the premiere blues harmonica player in Norway. “Discovered†as a 15-year old while shopping for harmonicas at a local music store, he amazed everyone there with his natural talent while trying a few harps. Everyone in the store stopped in amazement at how such a youngster could be so proficient in the blues on harmonica. It wasn’t long before he was joining in on jam sessions and live gigs, and he quickly built up a name for himself in the blues underground scene in Norway.
Influenced early by such diverse artists as
Johnny Cash, Santana, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Janis Joplin, he was exposed to his grandfather’s harmonica playing, which of course he was allowed to try out. His family owned a Farfisa organ, which further added to his musical imagination, and it wasn’t long before he was playing along with his Deep Purple records.
Around 1989 he discovered the music of the blues musician William Clarke, who became a major influence. By the early 1990’s, he had started his own blues band, the Indian Blues Band, and gained more exposure to the Kongsvinger blues scene, where he joined the band Bluebeat. Shortly after, he participated in his first recordings, “Attack of the Killer Meatball†with Indian Blues Band, and “The Bluebeat Live†with Bluebeat. He also took a seminar with the renowned harmonica players Sigmund Groven and Tommy Reily. He also performed live with Groven.
In 1994 his stature as a blues musician was quickly growing in Oslo, where he came into contact with many other musicians in the scene there, often appearing at the Allstar Oslo Blues Club. He started the band Torture Tones with guitarist Vidar Busk, which soon after became Vidar Busk and His True Believers.
In 1996, he was awarded the Youth Cultural Award by his home county, Nord-Odal, and also recorded a demo session with Vidar Busk, which resulted in the CD “Stompin’ Our Feet With Joy†(Blue Mood Records), which jumped right into the 9th place on the pop charts – certainly an incredible feat for a blues artist. By the time the local “Grammies†(Spellemannprisen) was to be awarded, the committee announced that they for the first time had a serious problem: there was no category for “bluesâ€! They corrected this oversight soon after.
With Vidar Busk, he began touring internationally, throughout Europe and the USA.
By 1997 he was regularly asked to perform on radio and television, and received national press coverage.
1998 saw him record his second album with Vidar Busk, “I Came Here To Rockâ€, from which a tour of the USA and Europe followed, topped with a one-week appearance at The House of Blues in Orlando, Florida. With Busk, they landed an opening gig for B.B. King at the Mouline Blues Ospel in Belgium. After a hefty touring schedule, he decided to leave Vidar Busk and the True Believers, and return to school.
He continued to work on gigs with Erik Harstad & The Buzz Brothers, Jan Tore Lauritsen & The Buckshot Hunters and the band Chicago Bound, and by 2000 started a band together with the noted blues guitarist Amund Maarud. He became a regular in the houseband at the club Muddy Waters in Oslo together with Christoffer â€KID†Andersen, who is a member of Charlie Musslewhite’s band in the USA.
Rasmussen began teaching from 2001, accepting students and passing on his vast knowledge of the art. In 2002 he recorded on the CD “West Side From The East Side†with Kurt Slevigen, who he continues to play with regularly, as well as with Jan Tore Lauritsen and The Buckshot Hunters. In 2005 he performed in numerous concerts with the Texas guitarist Tony Vega and ex-Fabulous Thunderbird’s bass player Preston Hubbard. He also participated in the cabaret-rock band Einmal Kommt die Liebe’s CD of “Røversangerâ€(Provocateur Media).
After becoming the premiere blues harmonica player in Norway, and after participating in over 20 recording projects, Arne Rasmussen is now looking towards new possibilities of the harmonica. In 2006 he has begun working with Helge Hovland in a new music project of self-composed works, which he describes as more â€abstract musicâ€. He was asked to record on a demo for the Norwegian artist Anne Grete Preus summer 2006. His focus now is on learning to be a better singer, and work more in other genres of music, such as rock, electronica, pop, experimental music and more, and to establish himself as a songwriter.
August 2006
For more information, please contact:
Arne Fjeld Rasmussen
Email:
[email protected]
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