Knut Hamsen

As you listen to "Flying Like Eagles", an episode from Jack Kerouac's novel "On the Road" might flicker across your mind, or perhaps a scene from the movie "Easy Rider". And that is because the point of departure for this album is traditional roots music from America, inspired in part by American-Indian heritage, plus three classic songs that are also imbued with that same spirit of unspoilt authenticity and freedom.

Even Norwegians get the blues. On “Tears Of The World,” guitarist Knut Reiersrud and his band find themselves in the company of the 72-year old vocalist Mighty Sam McClain, originally from Louisiana. Together, they have dedicated themselves to the music of the deep south and have given impressive proof that, when it comes to playing hard-driven R&B, soul or blues, it's not where you come from that's important.In the context of the regular flow of new releases on the ACT label, “Tears Of The World” is patently a stylistic outlier; and yet this detour is not all that surprising, given label founder Siggi Loch's passion for the blues. In Loch's autobiography he describes the experience of what he remembers as the “wildest night” of his life - until then, at least. It was in 1962, and he was at one of the first American Folk Blues Fest…