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Kent Erik Thorvaldsen

Also known as: 9Fingers

• Norway• Active: 2000s–present
Nordic BluesDelta BluesHill Country BluesChicago Blues

Toten's "9Fingers" — former frontman of vintage Chicago-blues revivalists The Jelly Roll Men, now a solo delta-blues storyteller singing in his own dialect, whose 2025 debut album "SUGG." features Knut Reiersrud as guest guitarist.

For over a decade, Kent Erik Thorvaldsen was known to Norwegian blues audiences as the witty, harmonica-blowing frontman of The Jelly Roll Men, a band devoted to recreating classic Chicago blues of the late 1940s and early '50s. Based in an old wooden house in Toten, he and his brother, guitarist Tomas Thorvaldsen, built the band around a shared love of jump blues and boogie woogie (Kilde: Svalbard Blues / Dark Season Blues Festival; Chicago Blues Network, "No Border Blues Episode Seven"). The Jelly Roll Men's sole album, "Jelly Roll Shuffle" (2017, Rhythm Bomb Records), was produced by Little Victor and captured the band's raw, vintage-style sound across 14 tracks, including "Date Bait," "Pontiac Blues" and "Keep Your Hands Out of My Pocket." The album drew enough international attention to earn the band a feature on the American web series "No Border Blues," which profiled the group as "a labor of love for the greatest era of Chicago blues" (Kilde: Discogs; Chicago Blues Network). In more recent years, Thorvaldsen has stepped out as a solo artist, trading the Jelly Roll Men's electric shuffle for a starker, more personal sound rooted in delta blues and hill country blues — drawing on Robert Nighthawk, Floyd Jones and Son House, performed alone with slide guitar and harmonica. Svalbard Blues, which has hosted him at its Dark Season Blues festival, described his shift toward "delta blues with greater artistic seriousness," summing up his musical philosophy: "For Kent Erik, music is religion, a manual for coming out of a divorce, a severed thumb and an audience that claps its hands" (Kilde: Svalbard Blues / Dark Season Blues Festival). That philosophy runs directly through his 2025 solo debut album, "SUGG." (AFR Records), recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Arne Fjeld Rasmussen. All 17 songs were written by Thorvaldsen himself, largely sung in his own Toten dialect, blending sly humor with hard-won life experience — a quality Telen newspaper highlighted when it described him as an artist "who perhaps often flies under the radar for many," despite returning to the Notodden Blues Festival year after year. Guitarist Knut Reiersrud, one of Norway's best-known blues musicians, guests on six of the album's tracks, and Rasmussen himself contributes harmonica on three more. Liner notes were written by Richard Gjems, with artwork by Jonny Hansen and photography by Hanne Fossum (Kilde: Discogs; Telen). Thorvaldsen — also known by the nickname "9Fingers," a name whose origin traces back to the same hard-luck life experiences he sings about — remains a fixture at Notodden Blues Festival, performing both on the main festival stages and in more intimate settings like the Lille Blå venue and the M/S Telemarken blues cruise. He has also appeared at Dalane Blues Festival, Blues Heaven, and at his local LaagenDelta Bluesklubb, and has recorded and performed alongside a wide circle of Norwegian musicians including pianist Vidar Sundbakken, duo partner Øyvind Stølefjell, guitarist Christian Øynes, and singer Cecilie Helle (Kilde: Viberate; Svalbard Blues / Dark Season Blues Festival).

Musical Influence

A late-career pivot from ensemble revivalism to solo, dialect-sung delta blues gives Thorvaldsen a genuinely distinctive voice in the Norwegian blues scene — one recognized enough to draw a guest appearance from Knut Reiersrud on his 2025 debut. (Kilde: Discogs; Svalbard Blues)

Influences

Robert NighthawkFloyd JonesSon HouseChicago blues (late 1940s-early 1950s)

Formative experiences

  • •2000s: Forms The Jelly Roll Men with brother Tomas Thorvaldsen, dedicated to classic late-1940s/early-1950s Chicago blues. (Kilde: Chicago Blues Network)
  • •2017: The Jelly Roll Men release "Jelly Roll Shuffle" on Rhythm Bomb Records, produced by Little Victor. (Kilde: Discogs)
  • •2018: Performs "Sonny Boy's Christmas Blues" with pianist Vidar Sundbakken at Totenviken kirke. (Kilde: YouTube)
  • •Transitions to a solo career, shifting toward delta and hill country blues. (Kilde: Svalbard Blues / Dark Season Blues Festival)
  • •2025: Releases solo debut album "SUGG." on AFR Records, produced by Arne Fjeld Rasmussen, featuring guest guitarist Knut Reiersrud. (Kilde: Discogs)

Instruments & Equipment

Guitar

Slide guitar

Core to his solo delta-blues performances.

Vocals

Vocals & harmonica

Frontman role in The Jelly Roll Men; central to his storytelling solo style.

Stories & Anecdotes

"Thorvaldsen performs under the nickname "9Fingers" — reflected in The Jelly Roll Men's own YouTube channel handle, @9fingersblues — a name rooted in the same hard-luck life experiences (including, per his own festival biography, a severed thumb) that run through his songwriting. (Kilde: YouTube; Svalbard Blues / Dark Season Blues Festival)"
"The American web series "No Border Blues" devoted a full episode to The Jelly Roll Men, describing the band as "a labor of love for the greatest era of Chicago blues." (Kilde: Chicago Blues Network)"
"On his 2025 solo album "SUGG.," Thorvaldsen sings largely in his own Toten dialect — a distinctive choice that Telen newspaper connected to his tendency to "fly under the radar" despite years of consistent performances at Notodden Blues Festival. (Kilde: Telen; Discogs)"

Collaborators

Tomas Thorvaldsen

Brother; guitarist in The Jelly Roll Men.

Knut Reiersrud

Guest guitarist/bouzouki on six tracks of "SUGG." (2025).

Arne Fjeld Rasmussen

Producer, engineer and guest harmonica player on "SUGG."; runs AFR Records.

Vidar Sundbakken

Pianist; performed "Sonny Boy's Christmas Blues" together, 2018.

Øyvind Stølefjell

Blues duo partner; also a Jelly Roll Men alumnus.

Christian Øynes

Performed together as Thorvaldsen/Øynes at LaagenDelta Bluesklubb.

Cecilie Helle

Duet partner on "Good Lover."

Watch & Listen

Featured

No Border Blues Episode Seven: The Jelly Roll Men

Full-length US web-series feature on The Jelly Roll Men.

Chicago Blues Network

Kent Erik Thorvaldsen @ Lille Blå, Notodden Blues Festival

Kent Erik Thorvaldsen @ Lille Blå, Notodden Blues Festival

Helt for meg sjøl

Helt for meg sjøl

Brun og blid (Mjøndalsvisa)

Brun og blid (Mjøndalsvisa)

Kjøpe meg en hammock (med Knut Reiersrud)

Kjøpe meg en hammock (med Knut Reiersrud)

The Jelly Roll Men - Keep Your Hands Out of My Pocket

The Jelly Roll Men - Keep Your Hands Out of My Pocket

The Jelly Roll Men - Date Bait

The Jelly Roll Men - Date Bait

Sonny Boy's Christmas Blues, Totenviken kirke (2018)

Sonny Boy's Christmas Blues, Totenviken kirke (2018)

Thorvaldsen/Øynes - I'm Gonna Murder My Baby

Thorvaldsen/Øynes - I'm Gonna Murder My Baby

Good Lover - Cecilie Helle & Kent Erik Thorvaldsen

Good Lover - Cecilie Helle & Kent Erik Thorvaldsen

Low Down Ways, Drammen 2018

Low Down Ways, Drammen 2018

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Press & quotes

"For Kent Erik, music is religion, a manual for coming out of a divorce, a severed thumb and an audience that claps its hands."
Svalbard Blues · Dark Season Blues Festival artist biography — Svalbard Blues

Discography

YearTitleProducerStudioLabelChartSalesMusiciansYouTubeNotes
2017Jelly Roll Shuffle (with The Jelly Roll Men)Little Victor—Rhythm Bomb Records——Tomas Thorvaldsen (Guitar)The Jelly Roll Men's only album; 14 tracks of vintage-style Chicago jump blues and boogie woogie. Thorvaldsen sang lead and played harmonica.
2025SUGG.Arne Fjeld Rasmussen—AFR Records (cat. AFRRECD2501)——Knut Reiersrud (Guitar, bouzouki (guest)), Arne Fjeld Rasmussen (Harmonica (guest))Solo debut album, 17 original songs written by Thorvaldsen, largely sung in Toten dialect. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Rasmussen at AFR Records. Knut Reiersrud guests on guitar/bouzouki (6 tracks), Rasmussen on harmonica (3 tracks). Liner notes: Richard Gjems. Artwork: Jonny Hansen. Photography: Hanne Fossum.

Famous songs

01Helt for meg sjøl
02Bøverbru blues
03Date Bait

External links

The Jelly Roll Men — YouTube Discogs

Booking / Contact

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Sources

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