Biography

“The closest a new Norwegian singer/songwriter has come the timeless qualities of Ryan Adams” (Stein Ostboe, VG, Norway)

Nordgarden is a Norwegian artist deriving from the American old school of classic songwriting. In a style of deep roots in folk, blues, jazz, gospel and rock he seeks to write that good, melodic storytelling song, as well as performing it with burning passion and nerve following in the traditions of such as the indispensable Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young to the more recent likes of Elliott Smith, Ryan Adams and Rufus Wainwright.

His life takes a drastic turn at the age of fourteen when he sees Bruce Springsteen playing a concert in Oslo. Bouncing up and down for four hours of pure rock´n roll until his feet are sore and the revelation is complete. As kids at that age seek their identity he finds his in a guitar and in the songs he writes in his room, trying to figure out a thing or two about the confusing world outside. At the age of 18 he finishes high school and goes studying music for a year at a Sunnhordland FHS on Halsnoy, an island South of Bergen and far off the Norwegian West Coast. The year makes a deep impact with breathtaking nature, endless hours of music study, but also struggles with melancholy and the sensation of being lost.
One year later he moves to Oslo working a year in a kindergarden as part of his civil service playing guitar for the kids. Eagerly digging after new inspiration in the fervent rock scene of Oslo where gets to see a new hero Elliott Smith playing only years before his all too early death. Deeply inspired Nordgarden started playing random shows at the student bars and began learning the art of live performance. Later on he writes and dedicates the song “The Gift Of Song” to Elliott Smith.

The year after he moves to Bologna escaping the boredom of a balanced Norway to explore the more adventurous chaos of Italy. He immediately falls in love with the people, the culture, the way of life and the rhythm. He plays frequently in Via Zamboni and makes his money and connections on the street. This eventually leads him to play a concert in Florence where he meets the girlfriend of the Italian songwriter Paolo Benvegnu. In short Benvegnu gets to hear a demo of Nordgarden and immediately falls for the Norwegian talent. In less than a year they do pre-productions and record the first album “Terje Nordgarden”(StoutMusic – 2003). It receives good reviews and loads of attention in the Italian press and establishes Nordgarden as a touring artist on the Italian alternative scene.

Back in Oslo a few years later, Nordgarden must take on a vocal intervention to remove a cyst that disables him from singing. The operation slows him down for a year, but also gives him a blow and a whole new perspective on singing inspiring him to work harder than ever and just a year after the operation he releases his second album “A Brighter Kind Of Blue” (Grappa 2006) to a standing ovation from the Norwegian press. Co-produced with the trumpet player Peder Oiseth (Palace of Pleasure, Mira Craig etc) it is a solo acoustic album with references to classics like “Pink Moon” by Nick Drake and “Nebraska” by Bruce Springsteen, but with a brighter touch and with his “new” clear, strong voice as the central element. He goes on tour with legendary folk-hero Eric Anderson and begins his first European Tour that will last an entire year.

In 2008 Nordgarden goes solo without a record company to do his first independent production. Inspired by the DIYs and tired of not earning a penny he does it all on his own this time, recording in a friends studio in Oslo at Cabin Recorders (Jaga Jazzist, Thom Hell). Out comes “The Path Of Love” (GDN 2008) on his own label GDN Records. The album consists of yearning and longing songs in a full band production with piano arrangements in the style of Roy Bittan. It earns him another approving nod from the Norwegian, Dutch and Italian press and enables him to go touring the continent more extensively than ever – this time for over 2 years.

In 2012 Nordgarden is taking it all back to where it once started, to the roots of the American music that has inspired him all these years. He releases “You Gotta Get Ready” late February 2012 and receives great reviews from Norwegian and Italian press and receives national rotation on the Italian Radio Deejay. He goes off on relentless touring once again to spread the music and plays the Northern parts of Norway for the first time.

In 2013 he releases his first album in Italian – DIECI – which means ten – as in ten years past since his debut album released in 2003.
It contains ten songs by ten different italian artists to whom he pays tribute – as well as a homeage to Italy – his second home.

2014 is a peak year with more than 140 concerts around Europe – 100 just in Italy. Nordgardens releases his first Christmas song – A Merry Old Christmas – which reaches an Nordgarden alltime high on Spotify with more than 200.000 streams.

In 2015 he releases the live album – Live in Dresden – a solo concert recorded in the beautiful Dreikonigskirche in Dresden.

2016 sees the release of the two singles – Tears All Over Town and You Must Be the Change – which both end up on high rotation on nation Norwegian radio NRK P1.

2017 – the new album – Changes – is finally getting ready for release on vinyl late September.