We live in a time where the soulful, funky side of bygone decades westcoast pop (think Steely Dan, Michael McDonald and Doobie Brothers) has received a tremendous renaissance among hipsters and other trend-conscious young music fans, in an ironic packaging under the banner “yacht rock”. But funnily enough, few of these seem to have noticed that one of the foremost practitioners of this style of music at present, is Norwegian. Maybe it’s because irony is a completely foreign concept whendescribing the music of Ole Børud. And thank goodness for that!

Make no mistakes. Ole Børud is far from a hidden treasure, or some ignored musician. Not among those who care about such things, anyway. Search “Ole Børud” on YouTube and you’ll find tons of videos where aspiring musicians around the world are trying to hone their skills on compositions from his previous two albums, in so-called woofers, guitar or drum covers. 

As a guitarist and arranger he is among the elite of Norway’s live- and session musicians, and has collaborated with artists like Bill Champlin, Jay Graydon and Michael Omartian, not to mention his contributions to “Fly Away” (2009) – an international tribute album to David Foster, featuring a band comprised of the finest of musicians in the genre.