Rajan Parrikar Photo Blog

Goan Boy Meets Icelandic Cowboy

Last week we drove to the remote village of Skagaströnd in north Iceland to meet Hallbjörn Hjartarson, famous all over Iceland as the “Icelandic Cowboy.” Now 76 years old, he showed me around his Kántrýbær and radio studio. He spoke in Icelandic and I in Konkani, and our communication was flawless.

From Frommer’s Guide to Iceland.:
The youngest of 16 children, Hallbjörn Hjartarson developed his mania for country music in the late 1950s, while working at the American military base in Keflavík. In 1963 he returned home to tiny Skagaströnd, and in 1983, after singing in various bands, founded Kántrýbær (Country Town), his restaurant, bar, radio studio, and all-around country-and-western shrine. (He lives across the street, and is rarely seen without a ten-gallon hat.) He has only visited the U.S. once — in 1988, to record an album in Nashville — but never ventured outside Tennessee. For several years he organized a C&W festival in Skagaströnd, complete with barn dancing, rodeo stunts, and can-shootin’ competitions, but unfortunately it’s been on hiatus since 2002. Hallbjörn’s 24-hour radio show, usually hosted live from 2 to 6pm and 8pm to midnight, airs on FM 96.7, 102.2, and 107.0; it can be heard from as far as Akureyri and the Strandir coast. On air he insists on thanking Johnny Cash, Dwight Yoakam, and other favorites each time their music is played.
 

A sample of Hallbjörn‘s music –

 
Hallbjörn Hjartarson

Hallbjörn Hjartarson of Skagaströnd, Iceland
5D Mark II, 70-200L f/2.8 IS L II

 
Presenting CD of Indian Music to Hallbjörn

Presenting a CD of Indian Music to Hallbjörn
5D Mark II, 24-105L

 
Hallbjörn in his radio studio

Hallbjörn in his radio studio
5D Mark II, 24-105L

 
 
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