Trond Kallevåg — Amerikabåten

Amerikabåten is a recent nine-track album from Norwegian guitarist & composer Trond Kallevåg. The album title translates to 'The American boat', and it finds him blending musical Americana with Norwegian folk melodies.

I visited Oslo twenty or so years back, and one of the things that struck me was the subtle influence of the USA- going from the way locals spoke English( often with a US twang), and the way American TV shows were popular/culturally impactful. So the idea of this album makes perfect sonic sense to me, and over the album's length, Kallevåg creates an impressive sonic highbred that dips its toes in both country's sonic pasts.
 
The lineup for the album takes in Trond Kallevåg: guitar and pedal steel guitar. Daniela Reyes: accordion and guitar Selma French: violin, hardanger fiddle, guitar and vocal on “Enveisbillett”. Håkon Aase: violin, guitar and harmonium. Jo Berger Myhre: bass guitar, and Ola Øverby: drums and musical saw.
 
We move from the gentle rolling pace of the title track- with its jaunting lead melody played out by guitar & violin simmer- with pedal guitar & sprightly fiddle detail here & there.  We have the strummed summer guitar glid meets folky fiddle & swoon of “Ørkenen Sur” which feels both warming & slightly contemplative. There is steady bass pulse ‘n’ percussive snake meets pedal steel simmer, and waving/ wordless female vocalizing of “Enveisbillett” With the album playing out with plucked blues slide meets earthy swoon ‘n’ fiddle of “Siste amerikabrev”.
 
With Amerikabåten, Kallevåg and his friends have certainly managed to create an album that rather sits in an in-between place- somewhere floating in the sonic ocean between Norway &  the USA.