Reloaded Norway

Born out of Notodden — the Norwegian city that hosts one of Europe's most celebrated blues festivals — Reloaded Norway came to life in 2012, the same year vocalist and songwriter Heidi Kvalholm Blåsmo was chosen by Magne Furuholmen of A-HA to represent his team on The Voice Norway. Heidi gathered five highly skilled and experienced musicians around her, and the result was something raw, honest and impossible to ignore.

The band's sound is built on a simple but powerful philosophy: the vocalist writes the songs, the band jams them into life, and what comes out is not a polished studio fantasy — it's the real deal, "grease and all." Blues-rock at its most visceral, with Heidi's voice at the centre — a force of nature that critics and audiences alike have compared to Mahalia Jackson, Tina Turner and Beth Hart.

Their debut album "I'm Freakin' Reloaded" (2013, Nordic Records Norway) established them as a serious band with serious songs. Their second album "My Longest Mile" (2018, Bluestown Records) took them to a new level entirely — earning Album of the Year 2018 from the Indie Voice Blog, and sending the single "Saturday Night Diva" to #1 on the Roots Music Report Blues-Rock Charts in both October 2018 and January 2019. Radio stations and DJs across Europe and the US picked up the record, with NRK P1 calling them simply: "Rockblues, or rock with a little bit of blue. That's Reloaded!"

The live reputation followed. Reloaded Norway won the Norwegian Blues Challenge in 2019, 2020 and 2021 — three consecutive years — and represented Norway at the European Blues Challenge in Malmö, Sweden (2022). Band members also bring deep roots in the wider music world, with connections to artists such as Johnny Hates Jazz and Sherman Robertson.

Reloaded Norway is not a band you forget. They are a band you tell your friends about.

• Norwegian Blues Challenge Winners — 2019, 2020, 2021 (three consecutive years)

• European Blues Challenge Representative — Represented Norway in Malmö, Sweden (2022)

• #1 Roots Music Report Blues-Rock Charts — "Saturday Night Diva" (October 2018 & January 2019)

• Album of the Year 2018 — My Longest Mile, Indie Voice Blog

• 18 months on Roots Music Report Top 50 — Unprecedented for a Norwegian blues band

• International airplay — USA, England, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Brazil

• NRK P1 national radio feature — Norway's public broadcaster