I’m in Rough Trade’s flagship record store in Brick Lane, East London for a performance by Norwegian country singer Malin Pettersen – a gig that coincides with the four-day Americana UK Festival in nearby Hackney. Pettersen is a lead vocalist of the band Lucky Lips but she has also recorded two solo albums, the second and most recent, is a stripped-to-the-bone, six track EP titled, ALONESOME.
She performed her Festival showcase the previous night at Paper Dress Vintage with a full band, which included members of Darling West, another Norwegian act booked to appear at the Festival. Pettersen is fashionably dressed down in tee shirt and 70’s style flared jeans for today’s event, in contrast to the white nudie suit and sky-blue cowgirl boots she wore at the previous night’s show. Renowned as a fashion-conscious performer, her casual attire on stage today reflect the themes in the well-crafted material she delivers from the EP. Where last night’s set was upbeat, this one homes in instead on Pettersen’s rich vocals and nimble guitar playing.
Sitting in the make shift dressing room after her set, I remind her of my first encounter with her. Lucky Lips had been booked for a gig at the celebrated Station Inn in Nashville at Americana Fest 2018, appearing on stage before the rising star, Colter Wall. Not the ideal time for your luggage to go missing in transit, which unfortunately was the dilemma Pettersen found herself in. Shorts, trainers and a straw hat replaced the intended western attire.
‘’It was a pretty vulnerable situation as it was the first time we were at Americana Fest and at the Station Inn, which is such a legendary venue,” Malin tells me.” I have this suit that I was to wear which would have made me feel comfortable and allow me to focus on the music. Then when my bags got lost, I thought ‘Oh No!’ I then had to think what do I wear and it just screwed me up so much. Even though I like to convey feelings by what I wear, I’m conscious that the music is always the most important thing. That night I thought, I’m just going to wear something that’s weird and have fun.’’
Her ‘go to’ style when fronting her band is very much Western Style, which seems important to her in keeping with the country music tradition.
‘’For me, the Western look is just a cool way to show my audience that I appreciate and respect the history of the music and that I’m attempting to be like my musical heroes. They made the music that they wanted to make. They did not copy anyone, which was very respectful of the people who came before them. As a kid I’d always wanted to express myself by what I wore and I thought by the time I’d reach eighteen I would know exactly what my style was. Well, that never happened for me and it was a very confusing time, reaching that age and not finding my individual style. I then realised that my thing was just about everything and to just dress like my mood at the time.’’
I had been somewhat taken back on the first play of ALONESOME. I had expected a combination of fiddles, pedal steel guitar and twang, but the only instruments are her vocals and guitar throughout. However, I was won over after a few listens. It was a brave move to temporarily change musical direction, yet it succeeded in highlighting Pettersen’s ability to compose deep and thoughtful songs while revealing her crystalline vocals.
‘‘It was supposed to be a very personal project. I felt I had to do to prove to myself that I could actually do that, just be me. I actually didn’t think that anybody would listen to it. It blew me away that people accepted it and it’s been the album that has got my name out there, more so than my first album REFERENCES Pt.1, which is more of a band thing. I did feel that I had so many things that I needed to say and so many ways of saying things that I wanted to explore. I knew I could not please everyone all the time, as some people will like my acoustic stuff and some will like the band music more. But I have all of these thoughts in me – and it means so much to me when people say they like the EP because it’s really me in my barest form. It’s also a bit of an adventure because I’m used to being in a very safe place with Lucky Lips. We’ve been playing together for more than a decade and we know each other very well. REFERENCES Pt.1, which was my first album without the Lucky Lips players,was all about trying to play with other people and see if I could make the music I had in my head with other people, and try to be in charge. I’d proven to myself that I could do that with that album but I then needed to see if I could work without other people and trust myself. I was still hiding and leaning on the fact that I needed other people around me. That was where the idea for ALONESOME came from, I needed to trust myself to do my own thing. It was actually after a concert at the Station Inn with Andrew Combs - we did an amazing duo set - that I decided I wanted and needed to do a solo album.’’
The songs are quite melancholy and intimate, in some cases looking over her shoulder at past life experiences, as well as taking stock of the present.
‘’For that album, all the songs definitely come from my experiences, though Lonely With You, one of the gentler ones, was written in my head as a story about someone else, but with a feeling I had to explore for myself. Three of the songs are written about what I feel right now and the other three are retrospective, looking back at my early twenties when it was difficult, sometimes, just growing up. It was also a good experiment for me, now that I have my kids and my marriage and I feel fortunate for the things I have in my life. I wanted to see if I could still write those type of songs in my present circumstances. So, I had to dig deep and go back to earlier experiences. But it felt good to write about it and see it from a distance.’’
Pettersen appeared on stage with J.P. Harris at his annual Sunday Morning Coming Down event at Americana Fest last September and also features on his WHY DON’T WE DUET ON THE ROAD (AGAIN) EP. The only non-American singer to grace that stage with J.P. Harris, she was offered the closing slot and delivered a note perfect rendition of the Tom Paxton classic, The Last Thing On My Mind.
‘’Amazing. My God that was a dream. I don’t normally get nervous, I’m usually logical about playing live, but I really was. All these fantastic artists were waiting there ready to go up and do their songs. All these people that I’d listened to so much, Nikki Lane, Molly Tuttle, Kristina Murray, Miss Tess, Kelsey Waldon and Erin Rae. But it was a great experience.’’
J.P. Harris is renowned for his ongoing support of female artists, often at the expense of promoting his own career. A casual connection on social media with him was the spark that has helped her network with him and likeminded artists in Nashville.
‘’It was really funny. I’ve always used social media as a means to connect with other country music lovers and I basically started following a lot of these up and coming country artists in Nashville. Many years ago, I had met J.P. Harris for the first time in Oslo when he was playing with Chance McCoy. He and I have a common friend, a fiddler from Austin and that was my connection. We followed each other on Instagram and in 2018, when you saw us at The Station Inn, was the second time I got to meet him. I wasn’t sure he would remember me, but he did and we connected. Later that year he emailed me to say he was going on a European tour and that he really wanted to go to Norway but didn’t have any dates there yet. He’d listened to Lucky Lips and asked if we’d be interested in doing a show together of country classics in Oslo and have fun. We did do it and it was so much fun. One of the things I find with the Nashville people is that they know and love the same music as we do. I could say ‘can we do this George Jones song’ and it’s like ‘Yeh, sure we know that one’. After that show J.P. told me he was recording a new EP and would love to have me feature on it. That was huge for me. Another thing about the Nashville music scene is that I’ve been fortunate to become a tiny part of. It’s amazing how hugely supportive they all are. I expected it to be all elbows.‘’
That trip to Americana Fest also gave her the opportunity to put down the bones of her next solo album, taking advantage of the local talent and recording in Nashville for the first time.
‘’Yes, I recorded songs for a new band album in Nashville with a guy called Ryan Keith. He has a tiny studio in Nashville but it’s filled with the most amazing gear. I worked with Ryan, Aaron Goodrich and Misa Arriaga. These were the three people I wanted to record with. They brought in Eddie Dunlap on fiddle and steel guitar who is fantastic and some other players. I might also include some older songs on the finished album and I’m enjoying playing with a band. Again, it was all about exploring my music. The reason that I make music is because I have a curiosity about myself, people, power and this life we all live in. I’m always trying to understand it and probably never will (laughs). I also wanted to record with a band that I had never really met, had never worked with and lived on the other side of the planet, with songs they’d never heard before. Songs that were never rehearsed: just go in to the studio and work the songs. It was an adventure, more than I could ever have dreamed about.’’
Artists often refer to the Nashville experience and say they draw inspiration by recording in Music City. Pettersen certainly found this to be the case.
‘’Definitely, for me it was so true. The first time I went to Nashville I did not really have my hopes up as I figured that a place like that with so much history would be daunting. I pictured that the whole of Nashville would be like Broadway and I thought ‘don’t get your hopes up.’ To go there is like stepping into Country music. In Nashville it felt like I was living in some of the documentaries I had seen. When you’re in the studio in Norway, everyone is on the clock, it costs a lot and you’ve to be gone at an exact time. That’s a way to be creative, too, but in the Nashville studio where we recorded, it was more like: ‘How long do you want to go’ and we’d say we’ve got a groove on this song, can we go to 2am. It felt amazing.’’
The term ‘Nordicana’ is one that is creeping its way into the ever-expanding body of musical genre. Acts like Pettersen, Signe Marie Rustad, Darling West and Louien seem to be currently leading the charge. That said, there has been a thriving country music scene in Norway for decades, although, as is the case in Ireland and the U.K, making a breakthrough both at home and overseas has always been a challenge.
‘There’s always been a country scene in Norway, which used to be called a roots scene. My dad was part of the second wave of that scene and I grew up playing with a lot of that last generation of musicians that made it big – artists such as Claudia Scott, who has played The Opry, and Tore Andersen. They went to Nashville in their day and some are still active, still working. Tore Andersen, who unfortunately died a few years ago, was one of my favourite songwriters. We have country festivals in Norway so there have always been people playing country music in Norway. In the last ten years it’s been steadily growing with a new wave of artists and exploded in the last few years with some of the names you’ve mentioned. It’s difficult to get exposure, not just outside Norway but even in Norway because country music has not been necessarily something that everyone wants to write about. Now because the numbers of acts are increasing and acts like ourselves and other parts of the industry are trying to be more professional, to create a business that we can make a living out of it - it is making a difference. So, we are getting noticed, this is the first time we’ve been at the AMA UK Festival and it’s been fun, and also welcoming. I know that I – and several others – would love to do more shows in Europe. Die With Your Boots On, the label that I am on are very good at trying to connect and find likeminded people outside of Norway.’’
What does set Norway aside from many other European countries is Government support for the Arts and Pettersen has recently been the recipient of such financial aid.
‘’I’ve been doing this for half my life and last year was the first year that I got any Government funding which I feel very fortunate about. After I recorded REFERENCES Pt.1, I went on a small tour with that album and afterwards thought that I just can’t do this anymore. It does take a toll as I have children and was turning thirty. I was not making money and looking for support from my husband, and not being the responsible grown up that you’re supposed to be. So now things are going in the right direction but I do know from experience that it can turn the other way any minute. So, I’m fortunate to have the grant and will continue to work hard.’’
It has been interesting observing the progress that the Norwegian has been making in recent years and also her undivided enthusiasm for the music she believes in. Hopefully she will be invited for another return visit to Americana Fest this September.
‘’I really hope so. I think I’ll be going to Nashville either way, it’s just so much fun. I remember the first time I went there I did Honky Tonk Tuesday Night at The American Legion over there and someone told me after the show that they could tell I was into George Jones by my phrasing. I’d never come across people who knew country music like that before.’’
Interview by Declan Culliton