HELLBILLIES

Hellbillies were a success right from the start in 1990, with hit songs, good record sales and lots of people at the concerts. Their trick is that they have managed to stay in the upper echelon of Norwegian music throughout all these years! They have delivered a large number of hit songs, 17 gold records and have played thousands of concerts all over the country.

The recognition has come in many different forms, ranging from "Honorary Spellemann Award", "Spellemann of the Year" and "Record of the Year", awards from Noregs Mållag, the Norwegian Artists' Association, the Prøysen Award and the Medaas Award - to rave reviews of both records and concerts.

The Hellbillies have been revered and respected for their ability to fuse American and Norwegian musical traditions, but still with a distinctive character so that there is never any doubt that it is the Hellbillies you are listening to. Not least, the lyrics of one of the founders of the band, Arne Moslåtten, have been of great importance. With their originality and high literary quality, together with the music of Aslag and Lars Haavard Haugen, they have become an important part of Norwegian cultural life. This has made them a role model for many bands within their genre. They are therefore not only tradition-bearing, but also to the highest degree style-creating within Norwegian music life. It is therefore particularly pleasing for the band that a number of young artists have picked up their songs and had success with them. That's no small recognition, either!

Despite all this success over the years, they continue to work hard every single day. The inner drive, the need to create and express themselves is the most important motive to keep going. And who knows - maybe this is precisely the driving force behind their success over such a long period of time?