Norwegian-American Charlie Rackstead from Sticklesbergen, Minnesota has set himself the goal of translating a number of Norwegian pop and rock classics into English, in order to give them a new audience in the USA. Rackstead takes his father's legacy seriously, and gives the songs a genuine American bluegrass feel, much driven by Morty Lion's banjo and a vocal that smells of Minnesota and steep hills a long way…

Rackstead has clearly taken his time with the translations, and gives the songs great respect. The English translations are as direct as can be made, and it is quite clear that Rackstead has acquired a good understanding of Norwegian through mother's milk. We have previously had bands such as DDR, the East German cover band who translated DDE songs into German, as well as American Hayseed Dixie who sang in broken Norwegian. But Rackstead beats them all, both in terms of translator quality and effort.

With him in the team, next to Morty Lions, he has Sunny Johnsen on drums and Torsten Spitzcorkhaüser on bass.

There are many Norwegian artists who have something to learn from Charlie in terms of cover versions. First and foremost this with interpreting instead of planking, and secondly respect for the original version. There, Racksted and his cronies from thickest Minnesota are unique! This is the first step towards a bright career both here and at home in the USA for Mr. Rackstead!