Atlantica - 01.10.2006, Page 68

66 AT L A N T I CA
ICELANDa
Almost every track on every disc is labeled with
one, two or three dots. The tracks labeled with
three dots are “very good,” those with one are
“not so good.” Dwight Yoakam gets three dots
consistently.
“I never prepare for my shifts,” Hallbjörn says.
“The music just comes as I go along. I try to play
different music, but there are six or seven tracks I
play every day.” Which includes “Country Town,”
one of his own, that he plays every time he begins
a shift.
“But I hate playing my own music,” he adds.
His studio is his ashram, his place of worship,
his coveted four walls that face the sea and give
him comfort. Hallbjörn’s chair is on rollers so
that he has quick, nimble access to his equipment,
which includes three CD players, two mini-discs,
double tape deck, two burners, a record player
and a mixer, all of which he paid for himself. He
also has a phone for call-ins and requests – not that
there are many, usually ten to 15 a week. “There
used to be a lot more,” he says. The number of lis-
teners who tune in is unclear. “Some won’t admit
they listen,” Hallbjörn says.
While in some ways a country music scene
makes sense in Iceland – a place where sheep
graze freely and riding horses is a historical tradi-
tion – it’s a dying subculture here. There’s only
one country station in Iceland, Hallbjörn’s, since
“no other radio station has been willing to show
country music proper respect,” he says. And while
some Icelandic bands will occasionally play some
country riffs, there are no real country bands.
The epicenter of this niche is small – and its
heralded leader is slowing, largely due to a severe
car accident in 1985. Winters, he admits, are
especially rough for him. Kántrýbaer is closed for
three months in winter, and the town is empty.
“But I survive,” he says. “It’s music that carries me
through the season.”
Hallbjörn has said things over the years, both
on the air, on his website, kantry.is, and in previ-
ous interviews, that have been critical of the local
government. Which in a town of only 550 people
is bound to agitate a few nerves. But he continues
to make himself heard because he wants to keep
bringing good to the community.
“Some people have difficulty understanding
my ideas. If I want to do something, I do it, no
matter what people think. I almost never open my
mouth without making someone angry, but in my
old age I’ve been a bit more careful.”
“There’s an old saying, ‘No one is a prophet in
his own land,’” Hallbjörn continues, as he fades
into a new track on the air. “I think that applies
to me.” a
“I almost never open my
mouth without making
someone angry, but
in my old age I’ve
been a bit more
careful.”
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