Pål Flåta (born 8 April 1968) is a Norwegian vocalist, known from the band

Midnight Choir Midnight Choir was a Norway, Norwegian alternative rock/alt-country band active from 1992 to 2004. Biography The members of Midnight Choir were Al DeLoner (Atle Bystrøm 'Olsen'), Paal Flaata, and Ron 'Bystrøm' Olsen. (Atle and Ron are brother ...

and as a solo artist.

Career

Flaata was born in

Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...

, Norway. He started his career in the Skien band Memphis News and has since then been involved in Paal & Pål Band with Pål Jensen, Carsten "Kesh" Holt, and

Vidar Busk Vidar Busk (born 19 May 1970 in Langesund, Norway) is a Norwegian guitarist, vocalist, composer and record producer within genres blues and soul music, soul. Store Norske Leksikon (in Norwegian) (in Norwegian) Career Busk grew up in Langesund, ...

. In the early 1990s, Flaata traveled to

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

along with two other musicians. There, they played

hillbilly ''Hillbilly'' is a term historically used for White people who dwell in rural area, rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in the Appalachian region and Ozarks. As people migrated out of the region during the Great Depression, ...

music on the street and were called the Hashbrowns. Then the band got a record deal, and went to the US to record an album. Hashbrowns was then transformed to Midnight Choir. Flaata was in the forefront of Midnight Choir, until the band was dissolved in 2004, and was involved in the outlet of five albums plus a compilation. He debuted as a solo artist in 2002 with ''In Demand'' and continued as a solo artist after the dissolution of Midnight Choir. They were nominated for the

Spellemannprisen The Spellemannprisen (also referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards) is a Norwegian music award ceremony presented by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry#Local associations, IFPI Norge and :no:FONO, FONO. It was first awarded i ...

2012 for the album ''Wait by the Fire'' in the class Country. In 2008, Flaata also participated on the children's record ''Magiske Kroker & Hemmeligheter'' produced by

Linn Skåber Linn Skåber (born 31 March 1970) is a Norwegian actress, singer, comedian, text writer and TV personality. She made her stage début on Oslo Nye Teater (''Centralteatret'') in 1997, playing the title role in Goldoni's comic opera '' Mirandol ...

and

Jacob Young Jacob Wayne Young (born September 10, 1979) is an American actor and producer. He is a five-time Daytime Emmy Award nominee, winning once in 2002 for his role as Lucky Spencer in the soap opera ''General Hospital'' (2000–2003). He is best kno ...

, with the song "Fredag". Other artists who participated were Simone Larsen,

Maria Haukaas Storeng Maria Haukaas Mittet (née Storeng, born 3 August 1979) also known as simply Maria is a Norwegian recording artist. She gained national recognition in 2004 for her participation in the '' Idol'' reality television series, and international recog ...

, Egil Hegerberg,

Venke Knutson Venke Knutson (born 20 October 1978) is a Norwegian singer. Since 2003, she has had six top 10 hits in Norway. Life and career Venke Knutson was born in Birkeland, in 1978. She was the youngest of three sisters, in a musical family, and she go ...

, Alejandro Fuentes, Julius Winger,

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, and Andrea Bræin Hovig. He has also released a trilogy of albums by three American songwriters. An album with only

Chip Taylor Chip Taylor (born James Wesley Voight; March 21, 1940) is an American songwriter and singer noted for writing " Angel of the Morning" and " Wild Thing". He is the paternal uncle of actress Angelina Jolie and former actor James Haven. He is the ...

songs, ''Wait By the Fire – Songs of Chip Taylor'' (2012), an album of only

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songs, ''Bless Us All – Songs of Mickey Newbury'' (2014) and an album of only

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

songs, Come Tomorrow – Songs of Townes Van Zandt. A single with the track "Come Tomorrow" (2016), where Paal Flaata sings with his daughter Maia Flaata, was released the same year. He has performed alongside

Stephen Ackles __NOTOC__ Stephen Ackles (15 February 1966 – 28 September 2023) was a Norwegian vocalist, pianist, and songwriter who mainly played rock 'n' roll inspired by Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley. His mother, Berglio ...

and Vidar Bush. They have released a tribute album to

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Presley's sexuall ...

, a Christmas album and a gospel album together.

Personal life

He was married 20 July 2013, to Stine Sollie Flåta (b. Sollie 1988).

Discography

Solo albums

*2002: ''In Demand'' (Universal Music) *2005: ''Rain'' (S2 Records) *2006: ''Christmas Island'' (Grammofon) *2008: ''Old Angel Midnight'' (Wilma Records) *2012: ''Wait by the Fire - Songs of

'' (Rootsy) *2014: ''Bless Us All - Songs of

'' *2016: ''Come Tomorrow - Songs of

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

'' * 2017: ''Love and Rain: The Athletic Sessions'' * 2022: ''New Green Grass Will Grow'' * 2023: ''I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day'' Compilation album * 2017: ''Songs - The Trilogy Collection''

Collaborations

;Within

*1994: ''Midnight Choir'' (Fjording) *1996: ''Olsen's Lot'' (S2 Records) *1998: ''Amsterdam Stranded'' (S2 Records) *2000: ''Unsung Heroine'' (Glitterhouse Records) *2002: ''Selected Songs'' (S2 Records) *2003: ''Waiting for the Bricks to Fall'' (S2 Records) *2005: ''All Tomorrows Tears: The Best of Midnight Choir'' (S2 Records) * ''2008: In the Shadow of the Circus'' * ''2016: The Loma Ranch Sessions'' With

and

Vidar busk Vidar Busk (born 19 May 1970 in Langesund, Norway) is a Norwegian guitarist, vocalist, composer and record producer within genres blues and soul music, soul. Store Norske Leksikon (in Norwegian) (in Norwegian) Career Busk grew up in Langesund, ...

* 2016: ''En storslått hyllest til Elvis!'' * 2017: ''I Wish Everyday Could Be Like Christmas!'' * 2018: ''A Thing Called Love – The Gospel Album'' The Humble Servants * 2012: ''Down to the Bone''

References

External links

*
Paal Flaata, "Bless us all"
at YouTube
Paal Flaata – Releave me(sic) (encore) – Rockefeller, Oslo – 2011-12-04
at YouTube
Midnight Choir Biography
at

Store Norske Leksikon The ''Great Norwegian Encyclopedia'' (, abbreviated ''SNL'') is a Norwegian-language online encyclopedia. It has several subdivisions, including the Norsk biografisk leksikon. The online encyclopedia is among the most-read Norwegian publishe ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flaata, Paal Norwegian male singers Norwegian pop musicians Norwegian composers Norwegian male composers 1968 births Living people Musicians from Skien