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Rita Engedalen
Photo: Jarle Vines (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)
Contemporary Blues

Rita Engedalen

Born: 1971-12-17• Norway• Active: 2004–present
Contemporary BluesHill Country BluesAmericana

Still touring Europe, and billed to play Notodden Blues Festival again in summer 2026 — over twenty years after her debut.

Instruments
Vocals, Acoustic guitar, Electric guitar
Labels
Bluestown Records, Grammofon
from
Kongsberg, Norway
Born
1971-12-17
Rita Engedalen is the artist Norwegians actually mean when they say "our blues queen" — a dark, powerful voice out of Kongsberg that Mississippi's own blues musicians took seriously enough to call a friend, not a tourist. She was born on December 17, 1971, in Kongsberg, Norway. She made her recorded debut as a blues artist in 2004 with Hear My Song on the Norwegian label Bluestown Records, followed in 2006 by Heaven Ain't Ready for Me Yet, which won that year's Spellemannprisen — the Norwegian Grammy — in the blues category (Kilde: snl.no, Wikipedia). Her connection to the Mississippi hill country blues scene became personal rather than academic: she earned the respect of musicians including Big Jack Johnson, Super Chikan and Jessie Mae Hemphill, the last of whom became a close friend and was reportedly struck by her natural feel for the music (Kilde: ritaengedalen.com). She has released seven solo studio albums to date — Hear My Song (2004), Heaven Ain't Ready for Me Yet (2006), The Tree Still Standing (2008), Chapels and Bars (2011), My Mother's Blues (2014) and Sun Will Come (2022), plus the 2018 compilation Best of Rita Engedalen — performing solo, in the acoustic duo Spoonful of Blues with guitarist Morten Omlid, and fronting the electric band Backbone (Kilde: snl.no). Backbone won the second European Blues Challenge, held in Berlin in 2012. In 2010, Notodden Blues Festival — Norway's largest blues festival — gave her its annual Blues Award, and the Fund for Performing Artists gave her the Gammleng Prize the same year. In 2011 she became only the third woman ever awarded the City of Kongsberg's honorary medal, and in 2012 Buskerud County Council gave her its artist award. She was inducted into the Blues Walk of Fame in 2016, and her 2022 album Sun Will Come was nominated for a Spellemannprisen (Kilde: snl.no, ritaengedalen.com). Since 2011 she has also performed as one half of Women in Blues with fellow Norwegian blues musician Margit Bakken, releasing Chapels and Bars-era duo material, Broken Soul Blues (2012) and My Precious Blues (2023) together. In August 2015 the pair topped the bill at the Sunflower Blues Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and played the legendary Shack Up Inn — a rare booking for Scandinavian blues musicians on Mississippi's own home turf (Kilde: thesoundcafe.com, Wikipedia). Engedalen continues to tour widely across Norway and Europe, with dates in the Netherlands and Portugal in 2025, and remains a regular at Notodden Blues Festival, where she is billed to perform again in summer 2026 (Kilde: bluesfest.no, ritaengedalen.com).

Musical Influence

Rita Engedalen took a genre most Norwegians only knew from records and proved it could be lived, not just imitated — earning friendship rather than tolerance from the Mississippi musicians whose music she plays, and bringing Norway's own blues scene onto the same festival stages as the genre's home turf. Notodden Blues Festival's Blues Award, two decades of touring, and a standing collaboration with Margit Bakken all trace back to the same refusal to treat the blues as a costume (Kilde: snl.no, ritaengedalen.com).

Influences

Jessie Mae HemphillBig Jack JohnsonSuper Chikan

Formative experiences

  • •1971: Born December 17 in Kongsberg, Norway. (Kilde: snl.no)
  • •2004: Recording debut with Hear My Song on Bluestown Records. (Kilde: snl.no)
  • •2006: Heaven Ain't Ready for Me Yet wins the Spellemannpris in the blues category. (Kilde: snl.no)
  • •2010: Receives the Notodden Blues Festival Blues Award and the Gammleng Prize. (Kilde: snl.no)
  • •2012: Her electric band Backbone wins the European Blues Challenge in Berlin. (Kilde: snl.no)
  • •2015: Tops the bill at the Sunflower Blues Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi, with Margit Bakken. (Kilde: thesoundcafe.com)

Instruments & Equipment

Stories & Anecdotes

"Earned the friendship of Mississippi hill country blues musician Jessie Mae Hemphill, who was reportedly struck by her natural feel for the music. (Kilde: ritaengedalen.com)"
"Became only the third woman ever to receive the City of Kongsberg's honorary medal, in 2011. (Kilde: snl.no)"
"Played the legendary Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale, Mississippi, with Margit Bakken in 2015. (Kilde: thesoundcafe.com)"

Collaborators

Margit Bakken

Duo project Women in Blues since 2011; released Broken Soul Blues (2012) and My Precious Blues (2023) together.

Morten Omlid

Guitarist in her acoustic duo, Spoonful of Blues.

Jessie Mae Hemphill, Big Jack Johnson, Super Chikan

Mississippi hill country blues musicians who took her seriously as a peer.

Watch & Listen

Featured

Heaven Ain't Ready For Me Yet

Bluestown Records

Sun Will Come

Sun Will Come

Sunshine Devil

Sunshine Devil

My Mother's Blues

My Mother's Blues

The Norwegian Blues Adventure — Live at Notodden Blues Festival 2019

The Norwegian Blues Adventure — Live at Notodden Blues Festival 2019

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Discography

YearTitleProducerStudioLabelChartSalesMusiciansYouTubeNotes
2004Hear My Song——Bluestown Records———Recording debut as a blues artist.
2006Heaven Ain't Ready for Me Yet——Bluestown Records———Won the Spellemannprisen in the blues category.
2008The Tree Still Standing——Grammofon———Third solo studio album.
2011Chapels and Bars——————Fourth solo studio album.
2014My Mother's Blues——————Fifth solo album; a personal mix of blues, roots, rock, gospel and country rooted in family and life on the road.
2018Best of Rita Engedalen——————Compilation album.
2022Sun Will Come——Bluestown Records———Seventh solo studio album; nominated for the Spellemannprisen.

Famous songs

01Heaven Ain't Ready for Me Yet
02Sun Will Come
03Sunshine Devil
04She Rocked the Cradle of the Blues
05My Mother's Blues

Awards & Recognition

2006
Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy), Blues category
Heaven Ain't Ready for Me Yet
2010
Notodden Blues Festival — Blues Award
2010
Gammleng Prize
2011
City of Kongsberg — Honorary Medal
Third woman ever to receive it
2012
European Blues Challenge — Winner (with Backbone)
2012
Buskerud County Council — Artist Award
2016
Blues Walk of Fame — Inducted
2022
Spellemannprisen — Nominated
Sun Will Come

External links

Official website Official site Wikipedia Store norske leksikon

Booking / Contact

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Sources