Album Notes

The time has come for Thorbjørn Risager’s fifth CD. Ever since the debut, this great Danish vocalist and his equally outstanding band is delivering new albums with about a year’s interval, full of new compositions. How they find time for this – especially the composing – in spite of their intense touring, is a bit of a mystery. But life on the road is definitely a source of inspiration, which some of the songs, and even the cover photos, are reflecting – even though they don’t do so much of their travelling by train…

So far, they have played live in 15 countries, and their CD’s have been played and reviewed in 20. (We stopped counting the radio playlists at 65… ) And they are getting enthusiastic reactions everywhere, which proves that their music is truly convincing!

”It’s only a matter of time before the secret’s out on this guy. Bottom line: he’s dynamite. Don’t sleep on this one!” Dylann DeAnna, BluesWax (US)
”Infectiously enthusiastic and musically accomplished” John Taylor, Blues On Stage (US)
”The man is really in possession of a powerful, slightly raucous voice which is letting his songs sizzle.” Lambert Smits, Back To The Roots (BE)
”Risager has songwriting skills that match his larger-than-life voice” Kyle M. Palarino, BluesWax (US)

Track Record was recorded in Medley Studios in Copenhagen, which has an excellent reputation. And so does the producer, Lars Skjærbæk (and you thought that Thorbjorn had a strange name…? By the way, after having received many inquiries about the pronounciation of Thorbjorn’s name, we added a link on www.risager.info to an audio file where you can hear him pronounce his own name…)

Thorbjorn has an exceptional voice, full of intensity and emotions, and his song writing skills – with a few contributions by the band members – is another thing that puts this group in a class of its own.
The only ”cover” on this CD is a brilliant version of the classical Baby Please Don’t Go. As usual, Thorbjorn displays a wide range of blues styles, but the opening track, Rock And Roll Ride, brings him into a heavier, more rootsy sound, which can also be found on Let’s Go Down. The soul influences are, as always, obvious, especially on the ballad Stand Beside Me. And the energetic songs in the ”scorcher” category are always present, here represented by tracks like Eyes That Turned Away.

Influences from many great blues, R&B and soul artists can be detected, but with each new CD, Thorbjorn is taking several steps towards defining a genre that’s completely his own. And many listeners and critics would agree that he is already there, together with his fabulous band!