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Anders Roland

Guitarist, singer,
composer & song-writer

• Introducing Anders Roland
  - and his acoustic finger-picking solo guitar CD "The Wanderer"
• Complete discography
• Solo albums
• Duo records with Finn Olafsson
• Printed music
• Contact

Anders Roland
born in 1950

Introducing Anders Roland
- and his acoustic finger-picking solo guitar CD "The Wanderer"

"Walks along the hedges and the edge of the wood.
The change in atmosphere, brought on by the clouds and the wind.
The light above the fiord and the fields.
Past, Present, Man and Nature.
Everyday life with my wife and children
- and a ceaseless spiritual and creative appetite.
This is the backdrop of my music."

Born on November 30th, 1950, Anders Roland took up the guitar already at age 11 and was soon under the spell of the folk and blues revival of the day.
He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen, while performing country rock with the group "Hvalsøspillemændende" (1972-1979).
Anders made his debut as a singer and songwriter in 1981. He teamed up with singers Tom Nagel Rasmussen and Erik Grip, but then - in 1984 - embarked on an intensive, creative and remarkably innovative duo collaboration with guitarist Finn Olafsson.

The duo, "Anders Roland & Finn Olafsson", explored the potentials of the finger-picked acoustic steel-string guitar to the very core and subsequently recorded three ultimate instrumental acoustic guitar CD's: "Sight-Seeing", "Feriedage" ("Holidays"), and "Globetrotter".
The two expert guitarists co-composed a lot of varied film and TV music while appearing notably in many TV music broadcasts and playing an incredibly large number of live dates at the biggest festivals, in the smallest music clubs and at schools, art museums and other culture centers, both in Denmark and abroad.

The duo packed it in in 1990, and since then Anders Roland worked for some time with the singer-songwriter Erik Grip and as a solo performer, appearing as a studio musician on a considerable number of recordings by other artists, too.
Besides, a new solo album was recorded: "Liv, land og hjerte" ("Life, Land & Heart"), released in 1993 on the Olafssongs label and produced by Finn Olafsson.

At the same time, Anders kept exploring the musical potentials of "purely instrumental acoustic guitar" with some sort of a new guitar album in mind:

"My original idea was that the music on this CD would appear in a different context, with other musicians, but friends and colleagues encouraged me to go it alone - and arrange it all for solo guitar."

As the ultimate result, Anders Roland's third solo album "The Wanderer - Outdoor Music for Acoustic Solo Guitar", was released in 1998 - on the Olafssongs label, and produced by Finn Olafsson.
Anders Roland, elaborating on the music presented on "The Wanderer":

"Re-tuning the guitar has always fascinated me.
A different sound emerges, along with new harmonic and melodic possibilities.
None of the compositions on "The Wanderer" are performed in standard tuning (EADGBE). The closest is the "dropped D" tuning (DADGBE) on tracks 5, 6 (capo on the 2nd fret) and 11.
"Open D" tuning (DADGAD) is employed on tracks 14 (capo on the 2nd fret) and 15.
A total of seven tracks feature the "open G" tuning (DGDGBD) which I love:
Tracks 1, 2 (capo on the 2nd fret).
Track 8 uses yet another tuning (DADGAE), and track 10 still another (CGCGBE).
I use several combinations of classical and folk/blues-oriented strumming techniques. Furthermore I often let the melodic notes in a particular phrase "ring", as when a pianist uses his sustain pedal.
This creates a particular sound, with lots of harmonious layers.
All tracks feature my handmade Canadian L'Arrivee acoustic steel string guitar."

Well, now - in 2001, Anders Roland & Finn Olafsson resumed their acoustic guitar duo collaboration after an eleven-year break!
Their CD "Back to the Present" (Olafssongs OCD 040) was released to mark this event and it contains a selection of the duo's instrumental, acoustic guitar compositions from 1984 through 1990 and three new compositions from 2002: "Still Water", "El Hadji", and - "Back to the Present".

Then followed the CD "DUO" in 2003 (Olafssongs OCD 041), and in 2006: "BLUES" (Olafssongs OCD 051) - the latter of which was nominated for Danish Music Awards - Folk 2007, in the category "Danish Composer of the Year".

Complete discography

Selected titles:

Hvalsøspillemændene & Politikens Typografer:
Strejken på Politiken (Demos single, 1972)
Hvalsøspillemændene & Den Faglige Gruppe:
Lindøsange (Demos-Agitpop EP, 1973)
Hvalsøspillemændene: Kom ind (Abra Cadabra LP, 1975)
Hvalsøspillemændene: Østen for Solen (Amar LP, 1977)
Tom Nagel Rasmussen Band: Noget om ... (Amar LP, 1977)
Hvalsøspillemændene: Hvalsø (Amar LP, 1979)
Tom Nagel Rasmussen Band: I mørket (Amar LP, 1981)
Anders Roland: Sig, hvad du tænker på (Metronome LP, 1981)
Anders Roland & Finn Olafsson: Sight-seeing (Olafssongs LP/CD, 1984)
Anders Roland & Finn Olafsson: Feriedage (Olafssongs LP/CD, 1986)
Anders Roland & Finn Olafsson: Globetrotter (Olafssongs LP/CD, 1988)
Anders Roland & Finn Olafsson med Jytte Pilloni:
Himlen over dig/Moretes Tema (Olafssongs single, 1989)
Anders Roland: Liv, land og hjerte (Olafssongs CD, 1993)
Anders Roland: The Wanderer (Olafssongs CD, 1998)
Anders Roland & Finn Olafsson: Tilbage til nutiden (Olafssongs CD, 2002)
Anders Roland & Finn Olafsson: Back to the Present (Olafssongs CD, 2003)
Anders Roland & Finn Olafsson: DUO (Olafssongs CD, 2003)
Finn Olafsson: Acoustic Guitar (Olafssongs CD, 2004)
Anders Roland & Finn Olafsson: BLUES (Olafssongs CD, 2006)

Anders Roland appears on many recordings with f.i.:
Erik Grip, Lasse & Mathilde, Annika Hoydal & Thomas Kjellerup.

Solo CD's

ANDERS ROLAND
Liv, land og hjerte
Olafssongs OCD025

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ANDERS ROLAND
The Wanderer
Olafssongs OCD 035

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Duo records with Finn Olafsson

ANDERS ROLAND & FINN OLAFSSON
Sight-seeing
Olafssongs OCD 002

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ANDERS ROLAND & FINN OLAFSSON
Feriedage
Olafssongs OCD 003

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ANDERS ROLAND & FINN OLAFSSON
Globetrotter
Olafssongs OCD 010

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ANDERS ROLAND & FINN OLAFSSON with JYTTE PILLONI
Himlen over dig / Moretes tema
Olafssongs OSP 007

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ANDERS ROLAND & FINN OLAFSSON
Tilbage til nutiden
Olafssongs OCD 037

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ANDERS ROLAND & FINN OLAFSSON
Back to the Present
Olafssongs OCD 040

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ANDERS ROLAND & FINN OLAFSSON
DUO
Olafssongs OCD 041

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ANDERS ROLAND & FINN OLAFSSON
BLUES
Olafssongs OCD 051

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Printed music

Anders Roland & Finn Olafsson / Sten Kaalø: "Himlen over dig":
Printed in "Alle Tiders Sangbog 2" (Warner/Chappell Music Denmark 1409496, 1994)
Printed in "Imudico's Melodibog 73" (Musikforlaget Imudico, 2005)

Contact

Phone: +45 46 41 24 45

Olafssongs - Paarupvej 44 - DK-3230 Graested - Denmark
Phone: +45 48 39 22 59 - Fax: +45 48 39 16 29 - E-mail: ol@olafssongs.dk

Copyright © 2002-2007 by Olafssongs, Denmark