Gary Owen's Blog

This past October, I spent a wonderful weekend performing at the Beatles festival high up in the ski-resort town of Beitostølen, Norway. This was a big departure from the likes of Beatlefest and Abbey Road On The River as it's much smaller and personal. Met many nice people like Terje- the person running the convention- and was given the chance to sit down with renowned Beatles author Mark Lewishon. Some interesting Beatles-related tidbits were discussed over a nice dinner. Ola Furu- a Beatles record collector- was displaying his collection. He specializes in all the UK pressings of the "Please Please Me" LP and had about forty copies showcased! He also had all the uniquely compiled Norwegian 45's which command a hefty sum these days. Scandinavian pressings- especially Norwegian- are not common at all. I was given the chance to really unload on some of the more obscure material that nobody performs. That was a major rush for me as anything interesting and different...

My first trip to Scandinavia was in February, 2000. I spent an entire month gigging in Copenhagen, Denmark. The info for this gig was given to me by my fellow musician friend Will Hoppey who was brave enough to take that first step towards something so vast and unknown.  Anyway, this month marks 15 years since my first tour and I thought I'd use this post to thank all the good people of Scandinavia- especially Norway- for making my time there wonderful. I always feel welcome and thoroughly enjoy performing for you all. Here is a gorgeous tune by Norwegian band "The Hellbillies" titled "Den Finast Eg Veit" ('The Finest I Know'). Tusen takk, Scandinavia.