Hege Øversveen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-MIgws5Rk8&t=31s

I’m so exited ! The first single of my new album will be out April 7th. With a very cool music video ❤

Å du – je kjinner at du har mei.
Nok engang overbeviser Hege Øversveen et satt publikum – i alle fall sittende – med et rikt utvalg av egenprodusert og kortreist rootspoprock, akkompagnert av en enda mer kortreist Morten Hoelsveen på gitarer.

Vi fikk servert kjente låter fra hennes tidligere album i tillegg til flere nye fra det kommende. Til og med en urpremiere. At det er innspilt i Nashville lar seg også høre. Det er tidvis mer boots enn roots. Nytt er det også at hun synger på Norsk. Vi ble invitert med på allsang på; Å du – je kjinner du har mei som etter hvert ble til originalversjonen; I Think I’m in Love.

Selv om værgudene ikke var helt med oss, og temperaturen var nede, så holdt Hege oss oppe med både sjarme og varme. Nesten 80 publikummere, de fleste ureiste, fikk valuta for pengene. Til og med en klem til den som var nok frampå. 
Takk til alle som delte denne opplevelsen med oss.
Morten, Mona og Lars Ove

So, I read about this Liv Austen girl in the newspaper here in Norway. She lives in London, writes songs, tours and is pretty much doing what I’m doing. AND she’s originally from my home town. We went to the same school and know a lot of the same people. But we have never met.  What are the odds, right.

So I wrote her on Facebook. Asked if maybe she knew some people that she could share my music with. We chattet for a while,  and then she invited me over to come see her in London. She was like : » and I can fix us some gigs too». I was like «yeah..that sounds cool».

So I booket tickets and went to England.

First of all..she was the best host. Made me feel really comfortable! «Thank you, Liv» <3 And what an artist she is. This charming girl got what it takes!  We traveled around England and played nice venues. I also met some wonderful people. Both people from the audience and the other performers. I have to mention this one guy . Robbie Cavanagh. He completely blew my mind.  His songs are amazing and he’s got the voice  like a soft summer breeze.  Promise me.. Check him out 🙂

      This is a pic of Liv Austen (from the right), me, Steven Barker, Robbie Cavanagh, Emma Swindell from our gig in Wolverhampton

Me and Liv enjoying a glass of wine <3

Amy Westney, Liv Austen and me at The Bluebird Sessions in Essex

This is a photo from when we recorded my album. I brought some «Norwegian stuff» over to the states. (Aquavit, Kvikk Lunsj). You know.. making sure we all had good vibes in the studio;)

In Norway this is famous for being the easter chocolate! When we go cross country skiing, we always bring oranges and this chocolate.  The american musicians thought this tasted like a «gourmet kitkat» . And I thought that was so funny! 😀

HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE!!

 During my stay in Nashville I had several meetings with this fella. Stephen L.Betts is a writer for ROLLING STONE COUNTRY, and he has written an english (and improved) version of my bio. Check it out 😀 (He’s also gonna review my album!!)

BIOGRAPHY:

Although it’s some 4,300 miles from her picturesque home in the quaint Norwegian village of Biri to the fabled streets of Music City, singer-songwriter Hege Øversveen has made the journey from Norway to Nashville several times. With each trip to the country-music capital she has established a foothold that finds her becoming one of Music City’s most promising new artists, while continuing to build upon the stardom she has rightfully achieved in her Norwegian homeland, where she was hailed by one critic for her ability to «balance Hank Williams’ cryin’ with Sheryl Crow’s punch.»

Born into a musical family, at 7 years old Hege attempted to learn the violin and later the piano, but admits she lacked the necessary patience those instruments took at the time. Still, she longed to perform, as evidenced by her stage debut, a school performance at age 8. For her impassioned rendition of Celine Dion’s «Think Twice,» Hege’s first «band» was a CD player. It wasn’t until she was 20 that she took up the guitar and finally found the musical pieces falling into place. Before long she was writing her own songs and performing them in public.

Whether it’s an intimate concert with the audience a few feet from the stage, or a vast festival setting, Hege’s songs, which freely straddle the melodic borderline between country, rock and pop, are delivered with a fearless authority on stage. Oozing with attitude when she’s got her father’s old Telecaster at her fingertips, or stripping the music down for an intimate, acoustic session, it’s her passion for connecting with an audience that has helped the singer win fans from all over the world.

In her native land, Hege earned a second-place finish as a 2012 contestant on the televised singing competition, The Voice – Norges beste stemme. Participating in Norway’s version of the worldwide hit series, The Voice, Hege performed songs by Keith Urban, Gavin DeGraw and Beth Hart, as well as her own original tune, «Where Did I Go Wrong.» When it was all over, she was the top-ranking female contestant.

In May 2013, Hege released her first full-length album. You Don’t Know Me was a commercial and critical favorite with Norway newspaper Klassekampen singling it out as one of the best Norwegian albums of the year. In 2014, she appeared on Norway’s highly rated, long-running musical-variety series, ​​Beat for Beat.

As her trips across the globe to Nashville have increased, so has Hege’s experience as a live performer in one of Music City’s most daunting settings: the tightly packed, hear-a-pin-drop listening rooms where singer-songwriters careers can turn on a dime. But thanks to her confident, energetic (and, yes, ballsy) approach to performing and songwriting, Hege has quickly gone from inhabiting the stage to commanding it, thanks to the eclectic material on You Don’t Know Me. Whether she’s pouring out her fragile heart in a tender ballad, like the chill-inducing «Rainy Days,» coaxing a smile with the bouncy «I Think I’m in Love,» or seriously amping up the energy with the country-rocker «Love Me Everyday (Till I Die),» Hege has fans on both sides of the world anxious to hear what comes next. And what’s next is a brand-new album set for release in 2016. After that, there’s no telling what will follow, but it will certainly be worth paying attention.

For the last couple of years, I haven’t been sure which road to take next. I (of course) had a goal to record a second album. And I knew that the producer had to be a songwriter/musician. But what studio…which producer. I worked and worked and weeks, months, years went by so fast. And to be honest I wasn’t feeling super inspired. Then suddenly sparks came back, and I knew what I wanted to do.

My visit to Nashville in February 2015 was such an inspiration. I had the time of my life.  My friend Bob Saporiti ( Reckless Johnny Wales) had just finished recording his album. He was going out to the studio one day, to mix with his producer, and asked if I wanted to join. I said yes, and so I entered «The Sound Shelter». Here I got introduced to his producer Brett Ryan Stewart. For hours they were working on mixing, and even tho I had exquisite company in both Denise (the photographer of these photos) and Patrick (the studio apprentice), it was kinda tedious. (lol). But then the guys took a break. So, me and Brett started talking. I immediately liked his energy and he showed interest in me and my story. We even found out he knows people in Norway! We became Facebook friends, and continued talking. Then, several months later, I just knew that he was gonna produce my next album. It’s weird, but when I have my mind set on something, when I get «that feeling», I just do it. (that’s why I hate NOT having my mind set on things). After a few years not knowing what I was gonna do next… I knew!

So I asked him if he wanted to record with me, and he did. So we started working. I sent him all of my songs (old & new ones) for him to get to know my music. One morning this past summer I woke up to this looong email from him. He told me what he was thinking about the songs, my voice and what direction he thought would be cool. Without telling you what he wrote, he was SO spot on, and I was really happy. He understood me. He simply said all the right things, without even knowing it. That’s pretty cool. Fate!

October 2015 I went to Nashville to start the recording prossess. It has been a true blast. I can not wait for you guys to hear what we’ve been working on for the last few months!

Now I wanna share some beautiful pictures, taken during our sessions.

Man, life is a journey…! And I trust my gut. Even tho it’s not always easy, my experience is :» Things happen for a reason and down the road things work out how they’re suppose too.»     Photographer: Denise Fussell (Fussell Graphics)