Melodic Rock / AOR artist VENKE KNUTSON, (Venke Knutson Lyodden) hailing from the southern Norwegian town of Birkeland, scored a major label deal with Universdal Records for her debut album 'Scared'. She would spend her teen years in Texas but upon her relocation back to Norway began to actively engage in the music scene, working with guitar player Dan Sundhordvik in late 1998 and acting as backing singer for the band S.P.O.O.N. It was whilst with this band Venke's talents were spotted by producer Jorn Dahl in 2002, this union resulting in the Universal deal shortly afterward.

Knutsen's impact on the Norwegian charts was instantaneous, with both singles 'Panic' and 'Scared', giving her major hits and the album selling over 40.000 copies domestically. Musicians for this opus comprised guitarists Dan Sundhordvik and Truls Hval, bassist Kjetil Daland, keyboard players Jonas Theys and Jorn Dahl with Bjorn Sæther on the drums. Knutsen, despite her heady success, maintained her day job as head teacher of class 2A at Bryn School in Oslo.