Hole In The Wall (initiated 1971 in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

, Norway) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

country rock band, established by Erik Moll and Rune Walle.

Biography

From a historical perspective, the band can be placed among the pioneers of the

Roots revival A roots revival (folk revival) is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly composed songs with socially and politically aware ly ...

in Norway. The group existed in three different eras, with different musicians. The name of the group refers to a gang of outlaws in the US

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

, which had taken its name from a remote mountain pass called Hole-in-the-Wall in the mountains

Johnson County, Wyoming Johnson County is a county in the north central part of the U.S. state of Wyoming. At the 2020 United States Census, the population was 8,447. The county seat is Buffalo. Kaycee is the only other incorporated town in the county. Johnson Count ...

where the outlaws had their hideout. The music was a mix of American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

traditional folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

and rock'n'roll. The first album was innovative by Norwegian standards, and can be compared to the music of bands like Fairport Convention, Grateful Dead and

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth", rele ...

. One of the band members, Rune Walle, was later recruited to the

Ozark Mountain Daredevils The Ozark Mountain Daredevils are an American rock band formed in 1972 in Springfield, Missouri. They are most widely known for their singles "If You Wanna Get to Heaven" in 1974 and "Jackie Blue" in 1975. Bassist Michael "Supe" Granda has al ...

. Musicians of this first album was besides Moll, Walle and Thue, Anne Bolstad (fiddle and vocals), Ketil Sand (guitar), Arve Håland (accordion), Tom Sætre (guitar), Elisabeth Braarvig (cello), Jens Braarvig (bass) and Leif Jensen (drums). The music was composed by Moll and Walle, with Thue, Harald Are Lund and Nils Bjarne Kvam as producers. The first lineup of Hole In The Wall was based on a group of Hippies living in a collective in Brgen. In 1972 the band was reorganized to a permanent lineup, but had split up by 1973. Thue along with Rune Walle, Kaare Øivind Moldestad and Gunnar Bergstrøm, started a new edition of Saft. Moll went back to US, his second home country, and was part of the Happy Valley String Band (1974-77). Life in California gave many great musical experiences, but not much in the way of earnings. In 1978 Moll returned to Norway to form a new Hole In The Wall releasing a new album. Trygve Thue was producer for the second album ''Rose Of Barcelona'' (1978), where the material was composed by Moll. Thue also played lead guitar on the album together with other guests artists like Gunnar Bergstrøm (drums), Tom Harry Halvorsen (piano) and Magne Lunde (drums). The following year he was back in California, where he joined the band The Remnants, but again with no commercial success . Moll formed a third edition of Hole In the Wall with his old friend Rune Walle, who had recently returned from the US, after playing six years with the band

. New music was composed, but no record companies would invest in the music that five years later was designated as Roots music. Hole In the Wall split once again, this time for good. Moll left for the US again, changed his surname from Møll to Moll, and broke through as a solo artist and

song writer A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

for among others, Norwegian artist Steinar Albrigtsen. Walle continued on his own, while the other band members were conspicuous in many other contexts. Gundersen initiated the Gjøa Studio, and became one of key actors in the so-called

Bergen Wave The Bergen Wave (in Norwegian: ''Bergensbølgen'') is an expression often used by Norwegian media regarding the city of Bergen, Norway as a platform for the development of modern music, illustrating a period in time of a new generation of artists ...

comprising artists like Sergeant Petter and Julian Berntzen, by the way the son of Lasse Berntzen, part of the 1978 lineup off Hole In the Wall.

Band members

;First lineup * Erik Moll – vocals, guitar * Rune Walle – vocals, guitar, piano * Trygve Thue – lead guitar * Harald Dyb – accordion * Kaare Øivind Moldestad – bass * Gunnar Bergstrøm – drums ;Second lineup * Erik Moll – vocals, guitar * Lasse Berntzen – guitar, accordion * Inge Glambek – mandolin, banjo, vocals * Garmen de la Nuez – vocals, percussion * Bjørn Aarland – bass * Stein Nilsen – fiddle ;Third lineup * Erik Moll – vocals, guitar * Rune Walle – vocals, guitar, piano * Gunnar Bergstrøm – trommer * Kåre Sandvik – piano * Hans Petter Gundersen – gitarist * Atle Mjørlaug – bassist

Discography

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

: ''Hole In the Wall'' (

Sonet Records Sonet Records was a jazz, pop and rock record label operating as an imprint of Universal Music Sweden. It was founded in Sweden in 1956. Sonet Records was established by Sven Lindholm and Gunnar Bergström, who managed the label into the 1980s ...

) * 1978: ''Rose Of Barcelona'' (

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

)

References

External links

«Hole In The Wall»
''Rockipedia'' * {{discogs artist, Hole In The Wall Norwegian pop music groups Norwegian folk rock groups Musical groups established in 1971 1971 establishments in Norway Musical groups from Bergen Sonet Records artists Mercury Records artists