Vassendgutane is a chart-topping Norwegian dansband with a country music style that made its album debut in 2000 and broke through to mainstream success in the mid-2000s with its third album. Founded in 1996 in Ørsta, Norway, the band is comprised of Sindre Aam (vocals, bass), Arthur Johan Bjørdal (vocals, guitar), Rune S. Brautaset (guitar, vocals), Ernst O. Brune (accordion), Lars Egil Vaagseter (steel guitar), Eivind Skjerdal (guitar), and Roberth Lien (drums). Vassendgutane made their album debut in 2000 with Pylse og Konjakk on the label Bare Bra Musikk, followed by Gi Clutch in 2002. The band's third album, Ungkar Med Dobbelseng (2005), was its first to attain mainstream popularity. Though it took a while to catch on, Ungkar Med Dobbelseng eventually broke into the Top 40 of the Norwegian albums chart in 2006, roughly a year after its initial release, and an in-concert DVD, Live Rockefeller (2007), was released the following year in hopes of capitalizing on the band's growing fan base. In the wake of Vassendgutane's mainstream breakthrough in the mid-2000s with Ungkar Med Dobbelseng, their follow-up album, XO (2008), was a number one smash hit that charted for more than a half-year. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi
