Rita Engedalen has long since been crowned \u201cNorway\u2019s Queen of the Blues.\u201d With her beautiful voice, she tells stories based on her own life or strong female figures in the blues, and her musical journey takes her down dusty country roads in the Appalachians and the Mississippi Delta rather than along busy highways. <\/p>\n\n
In 2010, she received the Notodden Blues Award, and two years later she followed that up with a victory in the European Blues Challenge. Several performances on the main stage at the Sunflower Blues & Gospel Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi\u2014most recently in 2016\u2014are also among the highlights of her career. \u201cShe\u2019s got power, but she doesn\u2019t let herself be tempted to go full Janis. For a blues vocalist, it\u2019s just as important to know when to hold back. That\u2019s the only way to achieve credibility in this industry,\u201d wrote Dagbladet\u2019s Fredrik Wandrup aptly about her 2004 debut \u201cHear My Song.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
Rita has performed at Dark Season Blues several times and in various lineups, including with the project Damer i blues. She is now focusing on her solo career, and she\u2019s coming to Svalbard with her own band, consisting of her longtime collaborator Morten Omlid (acoustic and electric guitar), as well as Dan Magnusson (drums and percussion) and B\u00e5rd Gunnar Moe (bass). They will perform songs from the brand-new album \u201cSun Will Come\u201d and highlights from throughout her career. <\/p>\n\n