Kings Of Convenience On Mountain Stage

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The Kings of Convenience performed on Mountain Stage in 2000.

Courtesy of the Artist

The Kings of Convenience performed on Mountain Stage in 2000.

This special flashback performance from the Mountain Stage vault features Norway-based indie pop duo Kings of Convenience- Erik Glambek Bøe and Erlend Øye. Originally broadcast in August 2000 as part of a raucous lineup that featured largely honky-tonk and swing music of Hot Club of Cowtown, Junior Brown, Asleep at the Wheel, and Joe Ely. With that in mind, host Larry Groce introduced the Kings of Convenience as "the calm eye of a hurricane."

The Charleston, W. Va., crowd quickly warmed to the Kings' gentle harmonies and intricate, fluid, finger-picking. Following the uproarious applause, the duo, who had just begun their first ever American tour, proclaimed, "this is the biggest audience we've ever played to — and by far the best."

Kings of Convenience's 2000 appearance on Mountain Stage was in support of the band's (then unreleased) self-titled debut. Two of these songs would also appear on its first Astralwerks release, Quiet is the New Loud. The duo have since released three more recordings, the most recent being Declaration of Dependence in 2009.

This segment originally aired on April 1, 2011.