Young Norwegian Guitarist Takes Hollywood!

Fredrik Strand Halland ….A Young Man With A Future

Heart of Gold Entertainment Presents
A Night Of Young, Gifted Musicians
The Knitting Factory, August 9^th.

***

Hollywood is a tough nut to crack. People in Hollywood see everything which passes as entertainment and either love it or shrug it off. Mostly they shrug it off and forget about it the next day. The artists go on to the next city and venue.

This writer has seen the best of the best in Tinsel Town and Thursday evening was pleased to have been invited to see a collection of very young guitarists at a gathering at The Knitting Factory.

Throughout the evening, the level of playing increased as one after another, these young men took the stage and strapped on their instruments. This writer will admit he was amazed at the level of guitar playing he was witnessing.

Then….at 11:22 PM, the last young man stepped onto the stage. I thought to myself, “This is the kid I’ve heard so much about. Let’s see what he can do.”

Then Bill Boyrer (Heart Of Gold Entertainment) announces that this last act is a young man which has come all the way from Norway. His name….Fredrik Strand Halland.

***
He is dressed in shorts, sandals, a t-shirt and a pork pie hat. He is thirteen years old with longish blonde hair and blue eyes that twinkle with the faint hint of a smile as he gazes at the Hollywood audience and checks his gear, adjusting the pedals and switches which have become all too familiar appliances with today’s modern guitarists. There is a terrible hum and the young guitarist stops it instantly. He shows no fear and I am amazed at his absolute calmness in what must be to him….strange territory.

This writer is upstairs by the sound board in the center of the room as the set begins. The soundman adjusts the keyboard and finally brings it into the mix. Fredrik sings “The Telephone Song”, a cut from his forthcoming CD and an original piece of material. When the solo comes, I watch as this young man starts to play. No leaping or jumping around like so many other performers feel it necessary to do, just flat-out good playing.

Keeping the energy level high, Fredrik performs another original song, “It’s A Beautiful Day”. This song is a real stomper and the audience starts moving toward the stage sensing there is something happening they don’t want to miss.

As Fredrik continues his show with his pedals to the metal, the audience moves in closer and closer until the young player can almost reach out and touch them. Now they want a closer look at this handsome young player from abroad. The photographers are having a field day with Fredrik, who appears blind to everything except the music. He has the audience in the palm of his hand. Then he plays “Purple Haze” and it is amazing that Fredrik plays it almost exactly as Jimi played it and even plays Jimi’s solo from the record, note for note. Then to top what he has just done, this young player rips his own solo and has the audience screaming for more.

It’s obvious that Fredrik has studied Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix and the other great players who preceded him. That’s natural. The amazing point is that he plays with such dexterity and clarity. His choice of notes is far beyond the norm and he exhibits pure soul. One can simply look at Fredrik and tell he “feels” what he plays. Amazing for one so young!

One song this writer thought was a terrific showcase for Fredrik’s playing ability was “Kentucky Derby”. Obviously the Norwegian sense of humor working as this song is so fast that one can not count the tempo accurately, yet the young man plays it with such stunning clarity and speed, it is simply amazing. The audience is stunned.

Fredrik’s aplomb and stage courtesy shines as he introduces his band. He introduces the keyboard player who has played exceedingly well all evening, Harold Dahlstroem. Then, with a big smile, Fredrik introduces “The Boss”, Frank Halland on bass. (Frank is also his father and one of his teachers.) Then, last but certainly not least, he introduces his powerful drummer, Zsolt Meszaros. This mighty rhythm section has done well by Fredrik all evening and he shows he is grateful.

Fredrik closes the show with “Texas Flood” and a song called “Look At Little Sister”, showing he can combine real Texas blues with good old rock and roll.

There is absolutely no doubt who owned the stage this evening. Though the other young musicians performed very well, Fredrik took control of the venue and showed the audience with his presence, attitude and talent, that you don’t have to be American to play the blues.

Fredrik Strand Halland is rapidly becoming a star in Norway. Hopefully his star will shine throughout the rest of the world.

Thank you Fredrik….your performance was worth the wait.

John Rhys/BluePower.com

Photo by: Hugh Holland

Click here to go straight to Fredrik's site!

AT&T's Pearl Jam Fiasco!

Normally when I re-print anything from IM2, I put up half the story and let folks who want to read the rest go to the Inside Music Media web site. This piece is too important to miss so I hope Jerry will forgive us just this once.
______________________________________

I guess AT&T will think twice in the future if it -- or anyone working for the cell phone giant -- tries to censor a rock performance.

They got burned when AT&T admitted to Lollapalooza concert officials that portions of the show were cut from the webcast.

During the performance of "Daughter" these lyrics were sung by Pearl Jam to the tune of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall", but they never made it onto the webcast:

"George Bush, leave this world alone." (the second time it was sung).

"George Bush find yourself another home".

Listen for yourself.


If it makes you feel any better, AT&T apologized for censoring the song.

It doesn't make me feel much better.

The Internet is a vast space that promises freedoms of all kind. Freedom of expression is one of them. We tolerate many things in the name of freedom. This kind of action makes me wonder whether some fail to comprehend the importance of so-called "net neutrality".

Many companies don't like the words "net neutrality". They want people to trust their judgment.

Trusting anyone's judgment other than your own is forfeiting the rights that go along with freedom of speech. That's why this incident is an important one.

You could look at it as a mistake with an apology and that's that. But it's really a wake-up call.

Providers have no right to censor content on the Internet.

Consumers have other options.

They can take this advice from CNET writer Marguerite Reardon, "any provider that blocks access to content is inviting customers to find another provider."

Now Pearl Jam on its website is asking fans to report "examples of AT&T censoring artist performances around political content."

AT&T has gotten itself into a lot of trouble.

The citizenry can't be too outraged when freedom of expression is concerned.

To borrow a phrase from one of AT&T's ad campaigns back in the day in making the apology they made "the right choice".

It would be better if they now championed "net neutrality" instead of reluctantly tolerating it. If not, AT&T will pay a bigger price the next time it has a lapse in good judgment.

The Internet is everybody's place -- not the domain or fiduciary of big corporations and government.

From: Inside Music Media
By: Jerry Del Colliano

SSL's Ten Blues CDs for the week of August 11, 2007!

#10 Omar Dykes&Jimmie Vaughan/Aw Shucks Hush Your Mouth/On The Jimmy Dean Highway /Ruf

#9 Chris Duarte Group/R U 4 Real?/Blue Velocity/BBI

#8 Hot Monkey Love/Stay/Speakin’ Evil/self

#7 Ellis Hooks/Don’t Come Runnin’/Another Saturday Morning/Evidence

#6 Teresa James/I Do My Drinkin’on The Weekends/The Bottom Line/New Light

#5 Delta Moon/Life’s A Song/Clear Blue Flame/Jumping Jack

#4 Duke Robillard/Blue Nightmare/World Full Of Blues/Stony Plain

#3 Tab Benoit/Sac-Au-Lait Fishing/Power Of The Pontchartrain/Telarc

#2 West Of Memphis/That’s Alright/Honey Pie/self

#1 The Soul Of John Black/Fire Blues/The Good Girl Blues/Yellow Dog

New (and Old) From Hans Theessink

Hans Theessink/Run On For A Long Time/Slow Train/Blue Groove

Hans Theessink/29 Ways /Journey On/Blue Groove

Hans Theessink/Leaving At Daybreak/Slow Train/Blue Groove

New Blues Chart Climbers

Popa Chubby/Little Wing/Electric Chubbyland/Blind Pig

Robben Ford/Peace On My Mind/Truth/Concord

Willie McBlind/Chicken/Find My Way Back Home/Free Note

Blue Voo Doo/Somewhere Else Instead/Back To The Shack/self

Nelsen Adelard/Didn’t Have To Leave Me Alone/Blues Still Got A Hold On Me/self

The Mojomatics/The Stalker/My Kind Of Crazy/Smoke Ring

Lee Rocker/Black Cat Bone/Black Cat Bone/Alligator

Mem Shannon/Smell Something/A Night At Tipitinas/Northern Blues

This Week’s Best New Arrivals

Mike Milligan/Run Daddy Run/Going Up/self

Dan Mahar/Its Cuttin’ Time/Long Stone’s Throw/White Smoke

Sarah Ayers Band/Hook Me Up/3am Epiphany/Star City

Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers/Sad Hours/Thrillville/Delta Groove

Sue Foley/Show Me/Summertime Blues/Ruf

Walter Trout/A Brush With The Blues/Freeway Jam/Shrapnel

Euge Groove/A Summer Night’s Dream/Born To Groove/Narda

To listen....go to sidebar and click Smokestack Lightnin' !

Happy 28th Anniversary!

When you reach for the stars, sometimes you can touch the sky.

This anniversary greeting is to my beautiful wife Lori on the occasion of our twenty-eight years of marriage.

To tell you the truth, I never thought I would ever be married again much less for twenty-eight years.

Thank you for sticking with me through all the good times and the bad. Thanks too for our wonderful children who will stand in our stead when we're gone.

I would not have made it this far without you.

I love you my little Sweetie!

Me