100 Degrees Celcius "Redgrass" (Pan Records, 1987) (LP)
A Hungarian bluegrass band that first formed in 1976. This was their first album sung in English, and includes three originals by bassist Iztvan Droszmer, along with two others credited to the whole band.
Steinar Albrigtsen "Alone Too Long" (Norsk Plateproduksjon, 1990)
(Produced by Sverre Erik Henriksen)
Born in 1957, Norwegian singer-songwriter Steinar Albrigtsen had a long ramp-up to his commercial country career, which began with a debut album that made a huge splash in the Scandinavian music scene. Albrigtsen began performing in his teens, way in the early 1970s, and spent much of the 'Eighties busking and playing small clubs. This album, however, was an award-winning blockbuster, ultimately selling nearly 200,000 copies and becoming the biggest-selling country record in Norwegian history. Other successful albums followed and Albrigtsen's career continued well into the 21st Century. (Worth noting: Albrigtsen also worked in a few pop groups and infrequently recorded as "Stoney Albright," releasing a blues album under that name in 2022.)
Steinar Albrigtsen "Bound To Wander" (Norsk Plateproduksjon, 1992)
(Produced by Sverre Erik Henriksen)
Steinar Albrigtsen & Tom Pacheco "Big Storm Comin' " (Norsk Plateproduksjon, 1993)
(Produced by Sverre Erik Henriksen)
Alfred & Country Road "Alfred And Country Road" (Sun Music, 1978) (LP)
Singer Alfred ("Fred") Hansen was born in Tonder, Denmark but moved full-time to Orebro, Sweden, where he co-founded the band Country Road, who back him here. Hansen also made a few trips back to Denmark and recorded with musicians there, as seen on the albums below.
Alfred & Country Road "Alfred And Country Road, v.2" (Sun Music, 19--?) (LP)
Alfred "Alfred" (Salut Records, 1987) (LP)
This is one of Hansen's later albums, and one of the few recorded without backing by his band, Country Road. The all-Danish ensemble included Alfred Hansen on guitar and vocals, along with Anders Mossberg (bass), Niels "Flipper" Stuart (bass), Danne Gansmoe (drums), Bjarne Hansen (guitar), Jan Rosenkrantz (harmonica) and Lars Bo Jensen on keyboards. Of perhaps even greater interest, at least to multi-genre music fans, are the backing vocals by Lei Moe and Lupe Moe, daughters of Hawaiian music legend Tau Moe and Danish-born vocalist Lissi Petersen, who formed their own Polynesian pop group in Denmark, The Malihini Hawaiians. Funny old world!
Alfred "Alfred" (Music Mill, 1997) (LP)
(Produced by Kenth Larnebrant)
Vidar Lonn Arnesen "Countryfest I Kveld" (AB Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Vidar Lonn Arnesen & Ole Vidar Lien)
Primarily a children's music singer, Vidar Lonn Arnesen also appeared on several of the 1970's "Country Fest" albums along with the band Country Snakes and producer/guitarist Ottar Johansen, who also performs on this album, which was a nod back to the original Countryfest series. Arnesen covers a bunch of American country and folk classics, such as "Cotton Fields," "Detroit City," "Jambalaya," "Red River Valley," "This Old House" and Terry Fell's "Truck Driving Man."
Lillian Askeland - see artist discography
Country music is everywhere, even in the erudite intellectual aeries of Europe... In fact, there's so much of the stuff, I barely know a fraction of it. This section includes a bunch of random bluegrass and country bands from across the European continent, although I'm aware there are many, many other artists and albums not currently on my radar. Also, separate sections exist for Germany and The United Kingdom and Ireland which have their own large, impressive country scenes, though many of those albums may also be included here. And trust me, once I crack the code and find all the records, France, Croatia and Lichtenstein will all get their own twang guides, too! (PS: I apologize for not being able to support umlauts and schwas and other special characters and for making all your languages look so very not right. I'm just not smart enough for all that technical-type stuff!)
