Bjørn Berge

Bjørn Berge plays the blues as a one-man band. A guitar, a voice and a stompcase underfoot are enough for him to fill a room, and the sound he makes is rawer and harder than most full line-ups manage.

Born in Sveio on 23 September 1968, he took up the guitar at thirteen and learned from Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Leo Kottke and John Hammond. Those four names explain the range of his playing: Delta slide, hard country picking and a rhythmic drive that owes as much to rock and funk as to the blues.

From Berge/Flaaten to a solo career

He debuted in 1994 with Berge/Flaaten, a duo record with Jan Flaaten, before striking out alone with Blues Hit Me in 1999. From there he built a reputation as a live act across Europe and North America, appearing at the Roskilde Festival, Molde Jazz Festival and the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest.

Between 2014 and 2019 he was the guitarist in the established Norwegian band Vamp. In 2023 he returned to a duo format with Vamp's Odin Staveland on Hoohahs and Cat Calls.

Recognition

Dagbladet named him Best Musician of the Year in 1998. He won the Spellemannprisen in the blues category twice, in 2001 for Stringmachine and in 2002 for Illustrated Man, and took the Norwegian blues prize at the Notodden Blues Festival in 2001. Mad Fingers Ball brought a further Spellemannprisen nomination in 2013.

Spellemannprisen Blues 2001 (Stringmachine); Spellemannprisen Blues 2002 (Illustrated Man); NBF Blues Prize, Notodden 2001; Dagbladet Best Musician of the Year 1998