Biography:


Music has always been something real, something genuine, for me. And, for as long as I can remember, it has given me an indescribable yearning - for something. I can still remember my father playing country music in the car; the smell of the car, the sun and the dusty roads – and that incredible yearning. I was five years old back then. I didn’t understand what they were singing, but the melody told it all. It was genuine.

Ever since I was a little girl, my grandpa played the guitar and mandolin. He just strummed away. Something in the air changed, the day got brighter, and the yearning even stronger.Then one night in 1988, at 15 years old, I saw a live performance of Buffy Sainte-Marie, a petite lady, with long black hair, all alone on the stage with just a guitar. I was completely hooked. And the tears came, despite the fact that the whole experience was completely beautiful... right then and there, I found a name for the yearning. Music!

Four years later, I discovered Nanci Griffith. No artist has ever, nor will ever, mean as much to me as she does. Her simple, real and sincere way of expressing herself made a major impression on me. It felt like flying, and for a moment I just might have. The yearning had become a goal, a purpose, that I was working towards. I got a guitar, and learned to play 'Coming Down in The Rain' and 'Speed of The Sound of Loneliness', and sang as often as I had the chance. Poems were given melodies, new lyrics were written, and I finally had a notebook full of my own songs.

Several years later, I did get the chance to meet Nanci Griffith. She is as genuine and warm as her music suggests. Through her music, I’ve begun to know artists such as Townes Van Zandt, Eric Taylor, James Hooker, Bill Staines, Richard Dobson, Lyle Lovett, Vince Bell, Julie Gold, John Prine and many, many more.

Other artists that inspire me are Buffy Sainte-Marie, Mary Black, Steve Earle, Melissa Etheridge, Waterboys and last but not least, Ottar Big-Hand Johansen.

In 2006, I released my first CD 'Blue Roses from Hell' – a dream come true.
In August 2008, my next CD will be ready. 'Time to Move On.'

Music will always stand for something genuine and real. It will continue to give me a marvelous and indescribable feeling of yearning.

'I’ll never lose if my heart goes flyin’
   If I sail it true and set it free
   it’ll come flyin’ home
   be waitin’ in my window
   callin’ for the poet in me' (Nanci Griffith)
 
Camilla Larsen
Born in 1973, Mo i Rana