Dark Season Blues 2026 adds Grammy-winning Mike Farris in full band format, guitar phenomenon Laura Chavez, raw delta and Mississippi blues from Big Creek Slim & Kent Erik Thorvaldsen and a Swedish rock'n'roll comeback with the Slaptones.
Mike Farris & The Fortunate Few (US)
Mike Farris has already become a Svalbard friend after strong performances during Dark Season Blues, both with band and as a solo artist. In 2026 he will return with a full band. With a background in Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies, Double Trouble and a solo career characterized by blues, soul, gospel, R&B and southern rock, Farris is a rare vocalist. The Grammy-winning singer brings fresh material from the critically acclaimed The Sound of Muscle Shoals.
Laura Chavez (US)
Laura Chavez is the guitarist everyone wants in their band – and now she’s coming to Dark Season Blues as band leader. Audiences have previously experienced her in Svalbard with Nikki Hill and Vanessa Collier, but this time she’s leading her own band. In 2023, she became the first woman to win Best Guitarist at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis. Her debut album My Voice shows why: Laura doesn’t need words, her guitar is her voice.
Big Creek Slim & Kent Erik Thorvaldsen (DK/NO)
Big Creek Slim and Kent Erik Thorvaldsen take Dark Season Blues back to the roots of the blues. Denmark’s Big Creek Slim has developed his own raw and genuine style, deeply rooted in delta and Chicago blues with inspiration from Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and John Lee Hooker. Together with Kent Erik Thorvaldsen, known from The Jelly Roll Men and the Spellemann-nominated Sugg! this will be a meeting between classic southern blues and Norwegian, primitive Mississippi-inspired nerve.
Slaptones (SE)
Slaptones reunites the Bondesson family for a very special comeback during Dark Season Blues. Greta, Stella and Sunniva Bondesson are known from Baskery, but started their career with father Janåke in the rockabilly band Slaptones back in 1999. The band plays rock’n’roll and rhythm’n’blues as it sounded before The Beatles, with songs inspired by Carl Perkins, Eddie Cochran, Muddy Waters and Otis Rush – but always with their own expression.
