Denmark - The West & North

 We arrive in Denmark our first stop in Scandinavia.  It's apparently home to the most content people in the world.  I have visited a few times, but mostly just travelling through on my way further north, so don't know the country that well.  

We start along the west coast first.  Guitarist and composer Preben Carlsen was raised in a windy village of west Jutland, the main peninsula forming the country of Denmark, which could essentially be anywhere along the west.  His first musical love was the blues and he soon discovered the West African roots of the blues.  He travelled around Africa extensively and has recently started a collaboration with Gambian percussionist Sal Dibba to form the duo Ba Balance.  They released their debut album Around the Crocodile Pond in 2020 and this is the opening track called Djembe:

The village of Sønderho on the island of Fanø off the west coast of Jutland may only have 299 inhabitants, but it has it's very own 300 year old folk and dance tradition.  Det Yderste Hav (The outermost sea) is a folk trio endeavouring to keep this tradition alive and has released an album in 2015 of the regional dance tunes and songs called Sønderhoninger, led by classical guitarist Jørgen Bjørslev.  Generally the guitar features more in Danish folk compared to other Scandinavian traditions.  This is a song from that album called Skal vi gå til fremmed' lande (Shall we go to foreign lands):

Singer/songwriter Lars Lilholt was actually born in Herlev near Copenhagen in 1953, but in 1982 he founded the popular folk rock band Lars Lilholt Band in Aalborg, which is still active recording and touring.  Here is a track with a distinct Irish feel to it called Den Magiske Møhårspensel (The magic hairbrush) from their latest 2021 album Decameron:

Next we are heading to Hirtshals in the far north of Denmark, where singer/songwriter and comedian Niels Hausgaard was born in 1944.  All his songs are preceded by a long monologue in Danish or even in the dialect of his home region of Vendsyssel known as Vendelbomål, which can be a bit frustrating for non-Danish speakers (I only speak a very rudimentary Pidgeon Scandinavian...).  I found one of his songs at least partially sung in English Called No Balls Blues, which is evidently about spineless politicians:

That's it for today.  Hirtshals is also the departure point for the ferry to the Faroe Islands and Iceland, where we will be heading next before returning to Denmark.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual rambling on my Tripline map.