Hole in the Wall -

Hole in the Wall was a Norwegian rustic folk-rock band that made a 1972 self-titled album on Sonet, followed in 1978 by Rose of Barcelona on Mercury.

Members: Erik Moll (vocals, guitar), Rune Walle (guitar, vocals, piano), Trygve Thue (guitar), Harald Dyb (accordion), Kaare Øivind Moldestad (bass), Gunnar Bergstrøm (drums), Lasse Berntzen (guitar, accordion), Inge Glambek (mandolin, banjo, vocals), Carmen de la Nuez (vocals, percussion), Bjørn Aarland (bass), Stein Nilsen (fiddle), Kåre Sandvik (piano), Hans Petter Gundersen (guitar), Atle Mjørlaug (bass)

Background

Hole in the Wall formed in 1971 around a Bergen hippie collective, where singer-guitarists Erik Moll and Rune Walle assembled guitarist Trygve Thue, accordionist Harald Dyb, bassist Kaare Øivind Moldestad, and drummer Gunnar Bergstrøm.

Moll was born in 1948 to Norwegian parents in Wisconsin. He grew up in Pullman, Washington, until age thirteen when his family moved to Bergen, where he switched from cornet to guitar and took up English-language songwriting. By the mid-Sixties, he played at local folk clubs, including Boot Hill Saloon on Nordnes. In 1968, Moll enrolled as an art major at Manger Folkehøgskole, where he met Walle. He joined the 1970 Bergen production of Hår at Den Nationale Scene.

Also at Manger, Walle met singer-guitarist Nina Johansen, his partner in Oriental Sunshine. In autumn 1969, the duo expanded with flutist and sarod player Satnam Singh. Oriental Sunshine won the NRK Talent 69 competition with “Mother Nature” and recorded Dedicated to the Bird We Love for Philips under producer Mikkel Aas.

Thue was an original guitarist-vocalist in Saft, which debuted in Bergen in October 1970 and made the Polydor albums Saft and Horn.

In July 1971, Hole in the Wall appeared at Vise- og lyrikkfestivalen in Haugesund, where Polydor recorded the Moll-Walle number “Ten Thousand People” for the festival double album. The core of Moll, Walle, and Thue recorded an album with singer-violinist Anne Bolstad, accordionist Arve Håland, bassist Jens Braarvig, drummer Leif Jensen, cellist Elisabeth Braarvig, and guitarists Ketil Sand and Tom Sætre. Thue co-produced the album with engineer Harald Are Lund and Nils Bjarne Kvam.

Discography: