The country of Norway is well regarded for its rich diversity of musical genres. Norway has produced some excellent guitarists and a range of great progressive rock bands over the years. One genre always in motion in Norway is the blues, a musical style fully explored on Nights At The Surf Motel, from guitarist and singer-songwriter Håkon Høye. For non-Scandinavians, the name may be hard to pronounce, (try: Ho-ken Heh-yeh) but his music is open and compelling and the whole album will blow away fans of the blues and blues-rock. Contrary to the humorous title of the album, and its "Surf Motel" theme art, the ten track set is pure blues. One instant reference would be to the early 1970s sound of The Band, with guitarist Robbie Robertson and blues fans will note that Håkon’s vocal delivery (in English of course) sounds influenced by blue-eyed rock soulster, and guitar legend, Steve Miller. For the songwriting, Håkon has joined forces with songwriter and co-producer William R. Troiani (electric bass, backing vocals) while the core band featured backing up Håkon’s vocals and electric guitars includes Per Tobro (electric bass), Vetle Larsen (drums, percussion) and on a few tracks, Kasper Skullerud Vaernes (sax), while a number of players add in various sonic seasonings. Recorded during the summer of 2019, Nights At The Surf Motel sounds great and was superbly engineered and co-produced by Kim E. Bergseth (organ, backing vocals, acoustic guitars, loops) with mastering by Paul Grundman of Bernie Grundman mastering in L.A. giving the sound a rich, clean depth. Additionally, the CD packaging is first rate and seals the deal on  what will surely become one of the most appealing and diverse blues-rock albums of the year.