Boots travel blog; Brad Paisley in Bergen, Norway!

On thursday afternoon, I found myself on my way to Bergen. Brad Paisley was headed to Norway, and my good friend Scott Scovill was opening for him. Although I knew they were coming this summer, I really hadn't decided weather to go or not, partly because Bergen (and Trondheim) still is far away from where I live. Anyways, Scott sent me a text and asked if I could make it to any of the concerts. I checked the prices on the flight tickets just the day before I left! With one ticket remaining at the Norwegian airline, I couldn't help it. The travel was bought and "done by the kick" as we say here in Norway, directly translated.

Surprisingly I found out that Arthur Stulien and Erlend Gunstveit were going too, and were having a gig at Jacks country saloon the same day I arrived in town. I was happy to run into more people too, reminding me that by doing country music you're truly never alone.

With such great company, this little travel had to be a success!

As soon as I stepped out of the taxi taking me to my hotel, I could hear Erlend sing. I hurried and changed my outfit for the night, and followed the sound of Erlends voice until I found Jacks Country Saloon. I didn't even need google maps! Haha! =)

Although Erlend and Arthur are Norwegian like me, I had never met them in person before. I've done on air-interviews, zoom and instagram chats with them, but basically I was on my own traveling this time. American Scott was the only one I knew from real life, haha! As soon as I entered Jacks Country Saloon, I found the tallest cowboy I've ever seen. Arthur is a man you can't miss!

Arthur doing a great job, constantly interacting with fans.

Unfortunately my flight was a little delayed, so I missed out on Arthurs part of the show. But Erlend invited him back on stage, and they were such a team! (Might be a smart idea to bring the guys to Dancing with the stars,TV2)

Later that night I ran into Bad Brooks, and I also met up with Scott and Spinning Wheels band, along with some girls I know from doing my instagram page, Boots of Europe! Great to finally meet up! And wonderful to realize I´m lucky to have so many friends showing up, especially when I travel all alone.

The next day, I crashed the guys plans, and joined Arthur and Erlend to 4sound, a guitar shop in Bergen, where Stian in the band "Sons of Vanity" works. Stian and I had a good conversation about the music business, our common job as teachers and the school system, while Arthur and Erlend were music geeks playing all the guitars in the shop(Sounded like that at least).

While we sat down and had a chat, Erlend decided it was a good time to get an ice cream. I was expecting a beer or two, traveling with country boys, but hey! I love ice cream. That should be an easy task. I promise you, it wasn't. The southern boys are picky, and no other ice cream than the cream of the ice cream, Hennig-Olsen was accepted. It turned out to be quite a hunt too. When I found a small booth that sold that peculiar ice cream, it still wasn't good enough cause they wanted Soft Ice, not ice scoops. They had to give up, and we ended up at Mc Donalds, having milkshakes instead.

After the visit for Mc Donalds, I was sure the beers were coming to the table. But again I was wrong. We were headed for the "Fløybanen". I have to admit, it was a great idea. The sun was shining all over Bergen(happens once a year, apparently!), the temperature was nice, and the "train" brought us to the top of Bergen.

Kings of Norway: Arthur, Erlend, Pål and Kim.

Finally the boys found their long lost Ice cream, and after standing half an hour in line, we sat down and had the right ice cream. Then, finally, it was time for the beer! And while sitting down I asked the guys what their favorite Brad Paisley song is.

Then it was time for dinner. Seriously, I've had McDonalds burger, milkshake, and soft ice and beer, and then dinner... Hahaha, I was so full, but still ended up having half a (very good!) small pizza at Jacks country saloon.

On our way to Jacks, we met up with country musician Håvard, a friend I've met a couple of occasions before, that actually lives on the west coast. Bergens Tidende, the local news paper, stopped us on the street, asking us to do a small interview. Talking to the press is always a good thing, and this is the fourth time this year I´ve been interviewed or involved with the media, other than doing my own weekly radio shows.

I was mentioned earlier this year at the breakfast news in the UK, for a tweet I made on Dolly Parton dedicating the ACMA-awards show for Ukraine. That woman is so including, and she doesn't forget about Europe at all, even during American Academy country music award night. When I was in Nashville in June, I was interviewed by American broadcasted TV in the middle of Broadway, and the week after I was interviewed by p10 Country, Norways broadcasted country radio., And then, now, by Bergens Tidende. Media interaction is always fun! Count me in! And thank you Håvard, for being my sidekick!

(Sidenote: Brad is always careful these days doing backstage passes. Keeping his team and himself healthy is his first priority.)

One of the visions I have doing Boots of Europe, is to strengthen the country community and build network and connections. Håvard is such a cool guy and posted this to his story; "The loser of The Voice having dinner with the winner!" Håvard tried out for The Voice too, but wasn't accepted. It's a good thing The Voice doesn't get to decide who can be an artist, and that it´s still possible to have jokes on your own behalf. Haha!

Jacks country saloon gave us a table a little hidden in the huge building. Traveling with these famous faces, it was really kind and appreciated. A little VIP treatment, that the owner saw as highly necessary. Thank you, Sheriff!

We finally made it to the concert, and I was lucky to find my name on Brad Paisleys guest list. It was nice to both skip the line, and enter for free. I'm never ever gonna take that for granted!

I also got the pleasure to meet up with Kenneth, that does "Boots Country Covers" on instagram, or @leojoerg2020! I love to see the Boots-family grow, and I'm proud of what I've created.

Scott opened up for Brad, sining a few songs from his latest projects, and he did such a great job. It's always exciting to see your friends perform, and I'm always nervous on their behalf, to be honest. Scott is a true friend of Norway, and an artist we love and treasure.

Next up was Spinning Wheels, that put on quite a show! (The performance were sent live on instagram, and I don't have any recordings of them, unfortunately!) Then it was time for Australian Morgan Evans(He's married to country superstar Kelsea Ballerini, if you didn't know that already!)

Brad had, in true spirit of himself, a great show with lots of humor.

My favorite thing to do in the middle of a show, is to turn away from the stage and watch the crowd sing. I basically love to see what the performing artist see.

Magical isn't it?!

Brad ended the show by brining Scott out with him. Always fun to see them together on stage! Brad is very including and it's clear the guys have a great time together; playing in Norway, a country they both love. (....Did you know Brad Paisley has an album out available only in Norway, called Norwegian favorites? ...Alan Jackson has one too, by the way! CDs..)

The country getaway weekend was perfect in every way! Huge thank you to all the artists for including me, and thank you to all the new friends I made in Bergen, Norway!