Geirr Lystrup - Prestegard [Vicarage]

Geirr Lystrup’s bird’s eye view on life in the vicarage

New CD: “Prestegard” (Vicarage)

Geirr Lystrup grew up at Vinje vicarage in Telemark county. On his new CD, he sings his own songs that paint a vivid image of the many lives lived on Norwegian vicarages throughout the years. With him he has the musicians Kjetil Bjerkestrand, Germund Silset, Pål Hausken and Espen Leite.

In the old days vicars recieved part of their pay in kind from operating the farm where they lived. With his bird’s eye view, Lystrup embraces both the old days and the realities of our modern age, with vicars who certainly are not at all part of the district’s gentlemen of stature, but perhaps a woman cohabiting with the female sexton, or a single curate, pondering how to fill all the rooms of his spacious vicarage with life. Geirr Lystrup also looks at what makes a hospitable home, which vicarages generally have been at all times. He describes the challenges and joys of the vicar’s wife, calling coffee “the third sacrament”.

This vicar’s son and troubadour was the first choice when a song was needed to mark the 200th anniversary of Opplysningsvesenets Fond (The Enlightement and Education Fund, OVF). Until recently this institution owned all the vicarages in Norway, which in their various ways were power centres in their parishes. Erik Hillestad from Kirkelig Kulturverksted invited Geirr Lystrup to write a song or three for the anniversary. After giving it some thought, Lystrup opened the poetic gate wide into the vicarage through memories and stories, and then things really started rolling. Now 16 songs have been recorded. The album “Prestegard” (Vicarage) will be released on the 7th of October.

The album was recorded and produced by Erik Hillestad in Kulturkirken Jakob. Geirr Lystrup has written all of the lyrics and most of the melodies. On the album you can also hear Kjetil Bjerkestrand, the arranger, pianist and band leader, Gjermund Silset on the double bass, Pål Hausken on the drums and Espen Leite on the accordion.

The OVF is the co-releaser of the record, which has also been funded by the Audio-Visual Fund and released by Kirkelig Kulturverksted.