is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Aust-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Notodden. Other population centres include the villages of Bolkesjø, Gransherad, Heddal, Hjuksebø, Hjuksevelta, Rudsgrendi, Tinnoset, and Yli.
Robben Lee Ford is an American blues, jazz, and rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, Rick Springfield, Little Feat, and Kiss. He was named one of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century" by Musician magazine.
James Witherspoon was an American jump blues singer.
Elvin Richard Bishop is an American blues and rock music singer, guitarist, bandleader, and songwriter. An original member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of that group in 2015 and the Blues Hall of Fame in his own right in 2016.
Samuel Gene Maghett, known as Magic Sam, was an American Chicago blues musician. He was born in Grenada County, Mississippi, and learned to play the blues from listening to records by Muddy Waters and Little Walter. After moving to Chicago at the age of 19, he was signed by Cobra Records and became well known as a bluesman after the release of his first record, "All Your Love", in 1957. He was known for his distinctive tremolo guitar playing.
Charles Douglas Musselwhite is an American blues harmonica player and bandleader, one who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal figure in helping to revive the Chicago Blues movement of the 1960s. He has often been identified as a "white bluesman".
The Edmonton Blues Festival is an annual blues music festival in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, which was first held in 1999. The festival runs for three days in mid-August at the Heritage Amphitheatre in Hawrelak Park. In 2008, the festival was the recipient of the 'Keeping The Blues Alive Award' from the Blues Foundation, based in Memphis, Tennessee. Due to renovations that will close Hawrelak Park until 2026, the festival is moving to Edmonton's RE/MAX Field.
Curtis Salgado is a Portland, Oregon-based blues, blues rock, and blue-eyed soul singer-songwriter. He plays harmonica and fronts his own band as lead vocalist.
Knut Reiersrud is a Norwegian blues guitarist. His work also incorporates elements of Norwegian traditional music and African music. Reiersrud has recorded and played with David Lindley, the Blind Boys Of Alabama, Rickie Lee Jones, Nina Hagen and Swedish blues musician Sven Zetterberg. He has also numerous collaborations with Middle East performers like Rim Banna and Mahsa Vahdat. He lives in Oslo. He has collaborated extensively with the Norwegian organist Iver Kleive. He is lead guitarist and one of the original members of Cloudberry Cream.
The Long Beach Blues Festival, in Long Beach, California, United States, was established in full in 1980, and was one of the largest blues festivals and was the second oldest on the West Coast. It was held on Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend. For many years it was held on the athletic field on the California State University, Long Beach campus. The 2009 festival, the 30th annual, was held at Rainbow Lagoon in downtown Long Beach. The Festival went on hiatus in 2010, and has not been held since.
Alan Glen is a British blues harmonica player, best known for his work with The Yardbirds, Nine Below Zero, Little Axe, and his own bands, The Barcodes and The Incredible Blues Puppies.
The San Francisco Blues Festival was active from 1973 until 2008, and was located in San Francisco, California. It was the one of the longest running blues festival in the United States.
The Gammleng Award is a Norwegian culture award created by The Fund for Performing Artists in 1982, 25 years after the fund was established in 1957. The award's official name is the Rolf Gammleng award to performing artists. It's awarded to artists who have in a meritorious way contributed on recordings, stage performances, or concerts.
Dark Season Blues is an annual blues music festival in late October, at 78 degrees north in Longyearbyen (Svalbard) in Norway, and marks the beginning of the dark season when daylight and the sun is about to leave Svalbard for four winter months.
Knut Aalefjær is a Norwegian jazz musician, and composer, educated at the Norwegian Academy of Music. He is known as an eminent drummer who provide significant contributions in the Helge Lien Trio, the band Geir Lysne Listening Ensemble, with the vocalist Live Maria Roggen, the band of Kristin Asbjørnsen, and many others.
Henrik Maarud is a Norwegian drummer. He plays in the blues rock band The Grand together with his older brother, the guitarist and vocalist Amund Maarud.
John Magnar Bernes, alias Hungry John, is a Norwegian musician.
The following is a list of notable events and releases of the year 1981 in Norwegian music.
GA-20 is an American blues band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band is named after the guitar amplifier manufactured by Gibson from 1950 to 1961. They primarily play Chicago blues.
