Travellin' Strawberries is a Norwegian group mostly known for their perform… Read Full Bio ↴Travellin' Strawberries is a Norwegian group mostly known for their performance in a Norwegian Christmas series known as The Julekalender. The lineup consists of Ivar Gafseth, Tore Johansen and Erling Mylius. The group's name is a reference to the supergroup Traveling Wilburys and the song "Strawberry Fields Forever" by The Beatles.

Based in Trøndelag, Norway, Gafseth, Johansen and Mylius were the principal songwriters of the freakbeat group Difference, which reached the height of its popularity in the late 1960's. In the early 1990's, the group wrote and performed in a stage show called Strawberry Fields Forever, a "rock fable" concerning The Beatles, Difference and John Lennon at Trøndelag Teater, which became a huge local success. In 1993, they began performing an abridged version of the show on tour, and from then on, the group became known as Travellin' Strawberries.

The band's success and talent was brought to the attention of entertainment industry executives, and they were hired to star in a Norwegian localization of the Danish Christmas series known as The Julekalender, which had become something of a national success in Denmark. The series was practically a carbon copy of the Danish original, down to the sets, costumes, and script. The songs for the original Danish version were written by De Nattergale; Travellin' Strawberries re-used the original instrument tracks recorded by the Danish band, and recorded their own vocals. In the show, the protagonists of the story, three nisser (a Norwegian equivalent to Santa's elves) spoke a language that was a blend of English and Norwegian, an element that was also written into the songs.

First shown in 1994, the television show itself became a huge success, as did the accompanying soundtrack: the song "The Støvel Dance" ("The Boot Dance") became an oft-requested radio single, and the soundtrack album Songs from THE JULEKALENDER eventually gained the #1 spot in the Norwegian album charts and eventually became a triple Platinum record, by Norwegian standards. The group would later tour Norway with a stage show based loosely on the series.

In 1997, the group's second television series, Prinsesse Gullhår og de tre omreisende trubadurer, an entirely original production, was released; however, it did not become the success that The Julekalender had been. Its accompanying soundtrack album spent one week on the official album charts before disappearing. Subsequent repeat airings of The Julekalender has resulted in the soundtrack album occasionally resurfacing on the album charts.