Jonas Fjeld

Jonas Fjeld, recognized with a Spellemann Award as a singer/songwriter working in country-rock, broadened his audience past the initial comedy-oriented recordings issued by the Jonas Fjeld Rock 'N' Rolf Band and the Jonas Fjeld Bing Bang Band once he delivered his debut solo effort, the singer/songwriter-oriented Take Aspirins & Call Me in the Morning (1975). English-language country-rock projects credited to the Jonas Fjeld Band throughout the later 1970s and 1980s encompassed the Steven Van Zandt-produced Neck 'n' Neck (1985). Partnerships conducted in the 1990s alongside Eric Andersen and Rick Danko of the Band operated under the Danko Fjeld Andersen banner, while bluegrass-leaning projects with North Carolina's Chatham County Line commenced with the 2007 release Amerikabesøk. Although Fjeld persisted in putting out occasional solo albums—several of which reached the Norwegian Top Ten, among them 2015's Hustrig—the 2019 LP Winter Stories emerged from a collaboration with Judy Collins that also featured Chatham County Line.

Born Terje Lillegård Jensen in Bodø, Norway in 1952, Fjeld grew up mainly in Drammen. The singer, songwriter, and guitarist entered the studio for the first time in 1973 alongside the Jonas Fjeld Rock 'N' Rolf Band, whose lineup also contained comedian and songwriter Herodes Falsk. Further releases arrived in 1974 with Pans Fløyte (under the Jonas Fjeld Bing Bang Band name) and The Best of Jonas Fjeld Rock 'N' Rolf Band, after which Fjeld stepped out on his own. Motivated by Eric Andersen's Blue River album, the 1975 solo set Take Aspirins & Call Me in the Morning centered on original material and covers, among them two Beatles interpretations plus the 1933 standard "Hold Me." Several songs were co-written with producer/songwriter Audun Tylden, who likewise participated in work by the Jonas Fjeld Band. That group signed with Mercury and issued its first album, Tennessee Tapes, in 1977, then followed with Back in the U.S.A. in 1978 and the Bent Bredesen-produced Make Up in 1979. A second solo album, Living for the Weekend, surfaced in 1982 and contained exclusively original compositions. The Jonas Fjeld Band's fourth album, Neck 'n' Neck (1984), was produced by Steven Van Zandt. Time and Motion, released in 1986, marked the last recording issued under the band name, although Fjeld maintained collaborative activity through Norwegian-language albums with singers Sidsel Endresen and Ingrid Bjoner issued in the late 1980s.

Returning to solo work in the 1990s, Fjeld began with Svært Nok for Meg, a 1990 project with songwriter Ole Paus that reached number two in Norway and initiated an extended association between the pair under the To Rustne Herrer designation. At the same time he established the country-rock trio Danko Fjeld Andersen with Eric Andersen and Rick Danko; their self-produced self-titled album appeared in 1991 and earned Fjeld his third Spellemann award. The Norwegian-language solo album Texas Jensen followed in 1993, after which Danko Fjeld Andersen delivered the more folk-rock-oriented Ridin' on the Blinds in 1994. Plans for a third trio album ended when Danko faced a drug arrest and later died of heart failure in 1999. Fjeld closed the decade with a Spellemann-winning live album, Nerven I Min Sang, and a greatest-hits collection, Beste.

The solo albums Voice on the Water (recorded in English) and Tidevann (primarily in Norwegian) appeared in 2000 and 2001. Further collaboration with producer Asle Karstad yielded Mårrakvist in 2006. A productive alliance with the North Carolina Americana ensemble Chatham County Line then began, starting with the live album Amerikabesøk issued on RCA in 2007. Fjeld and Chatham County Line reconvened for Brother of Song in 2009, which entered Norway's Top Ten; Fjeld next released the solo album Hjemmeseier in 2011, peaking at number seven on the Norwegian chart. A third joint recording, Western Harmonies, arrived in 2013 and climbed to number four in Norway. Fjeld revisited the number-four position with the 2015 solo album Hustrig. Chatham County Line also appeared on his subsequent project, a duo album with folksinger Judy Collins titled Winter Stories that surfaced on the Wildflower label in 2019.