ABOUT THE NORDIC ROOTS FESTIVAL (1999-2008)

The Nordic Roots Festival ran for 10 years, between 1999 and 2008, presenting roots music from the  Nordic countries. It was a co-production of the Nordic folk record label NorthSide, and the non-profit  music presenter The Cedar Cultural Center (“The Cedar”), both based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.  

The festival, as well as the NorthSide label, was inspired by the tremendous revival of folk and roots music  which took place in the Nordic region in the 1990’s, especially in Sweden and Finland, which saw scores  of accomplished young musicians embracing traditional music and instruments, and adapting them to  modern relevance.  

The Cedar is located in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, also known as the West Bank  Arts District of the University of Minnesota, an area which has served as the gateway for many generations  of immigrants over the centuries.

While it is now known as the central hub for Somali immigrants, in the early part of the 1900’s it was the cultural magnet for the newly arrived Scandinavians.

The particular section of Cedar Avenue where The Cedar sits was, for many years, nicknamed “Snoose Boulevard” in  reference to the chewing tobacco popular with Scandinavian immigrants at the time.  

Each year 8-12 roots bands from the Nordic countries were selected to be brought to Minneapolis to  perform concerts and conduct music workshops in various venues in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood,  primarily The Cedar, over the course of a long weekend. Most of those performances were preserved via  standard definition video as well as multitrack digital audio. In 2022, thanks to a grant from the Barbro  Osher Pro-Suecia Foundation, The Cedar was able to up-convert a selection of the videos, and then mix  the corresponding audio, into these two 1-hour performance videos. 

Learn more about the NorthSide label.

PART 1

1. Swåp (Sweden/U.K.), “Master Åslund” (Bäckström), recorded 9/18/2004. Swåp were a Nordic-Celtic cross-cultural quartet, featuring two Swedish fiddlers and two British musicians. They played a mix of traditional and original tunes. This one’s an original by Bäckström, with a very clever group arrangement.

2. Hedningarna (Sweden/Finland), “Täss'on nainen (Here’s A Woman)” (S. Kurki-Suonio, text Trad.), recorded 4/4/1999. Hedningarna were one of the most popular bands to emerge from the 90’s Nordic folk revival, a core Swedish trio with Finnish singers. Their set closed the first Nordic Roots Festival, and midway through the concert the sold-out audience spontaneously got on their feet, folded all of the chairs, put them to the side of the hall, and danced for the remainder of the night.

3. Den Fule (Sweden), “Pål Karl Vals” (Trad.), recorded 9/30/2007. Den Fule means The Ugly One, and this ensemble took traditional (often ancient) music from the woods of western Sweden, and arranged them with jazz, funk and R&B elements. Those old tunes, such as this waltz, can be major earworms!

4. Mari Boine (Sápmi/Norway), “Sielu Dálkkas (Soul Medicine)” (Anthi/Holmberg), recorded 9/18/2004. Mari Boine has been one of the most outspoken and important representatives of Sami culture since emerging as a forceful singer in the 80’s. Her band brings some of the most talented (mostly) Norwegian musicians together to provide often cinematic landscapes to her singing and joiking.

5. Frigg (Finland), “Toulpagorini/Halling” (Ankarblom/Larsen), recorded 9/28/2008. Frigg is the next generation of Kaustinen fiddling, adding influences from Norway, the U.S., and beyond.

6. JPP (Finland, “En till Sven (One for Sven)” (Arto Järvelä), recorded 9/29/2007. JPP is one of the oldest, continuous folk bands in all of the Nordic countries, dating back to the early 80’s. Their style is representative of the Kaustinen fiddle tradition, which has been recognized in UNESCO’s National Inventory of Living Heritage. Here’s an instant classic composition by Arto Järvelä, featuring a strategic double bass bow drop!

7. Maria Kalaniemi (Finland), “Napoleon” (Trad.), recorded 9/30/2006. Considered the Queen of Finnish accordion, Maria Kalaniemi has toured internationally for nearly 30 years. Here she performs one of the most beloved traditional tunes from her repertoire.

8. Bukkene Bruse (Norway), “Maria, Hun er en jomfru reen (Virgin Mary)” (Trad.), recorded 4/22/2001. Bukkene Bruse was a traditional Norwegian supergroup, whose members were all quite famous traditional musicians in their own right.

9. Loituma (Finland), “Ievan Polkka” (Trad.), recorded 9/30/2006. Loituma is a vocal and kantele quartet which was born in the Sibelius Academy’s folk music department. This particular tune became one of the original internet memes when part of it was set to a looped flash animation in 2006 (“Leek Spin,” now with over 13 million views on YouTube), and the tune has subsequently become an international symbol of Finnish music.

10. Värttinä (Finland), “Pihi Neito (Stingy Maiden)” (Trad.), recorded 4/22/2001. Värttinä took Finnish Karelian rune-singing to great international success. Their distinctive vocal sound, accompanied by accomplished instrumentalists who bring many other elements to their arrangements, have been used in such diverse places as the children’s TV show Arthur, and a staged musical adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.

11. Hurdy-Gurdy (Sweden), “Maran” (Trad.), recorded 9/28/2008. This was a project which was initially conceived at the first Nordic Roots Festival in 1999, when Stefan Brisland-Ferner (of Garmarna) and Totte Mattson (of Hedningarna) talked about their shared enthusiasm of the ancient drone instrument, and committed to a project which would explore all of its possibilities. Every sound emanating from the stage (including all of the samples used) come from a hurdy gurdy. Their performance from the final Nordic Roots Festival in 2008 opened the set with this newly arranged piece.

12. Harv (Sweden), “Vandringjen/Fiskaren (The Walker/The Fisherman)” (Trad.), recorded 4/23/2000. Harv started as a duo of the multi-instrumentalists Magnus Stinnerbom (here playing overtone flute and viola) and Daniel Sandén-Warg (here playing moraharpa). This is from their first of many Nordic Roots Festival sets in 2000, where they were joined for this set of tunes by Björn Tollin of Hedningarna on tambourine, and Roger Tallroth of Väsen on guitar.

13. Väsen Quartet (Sweden), “Bambodansarna” (Johansson), recorded 4/22/2000. Väsen could be considered the “house band” of the Nordic Roots Festival (and for that matter, The Cedar itself), having played at 6 of the 10 festivals. At the first two, they performed as a quartet, with the core trio of Mikael Marin (viola), Olov Johansson (nyckelharpa), and Roger Tallroth (guitar) joined by André Ferrari (percussion). Their main set at the 2000 festival was released as an album, “Live at the Nordic Roots Festival.”

PART 2

1. Ranarim (Sweden), “Höga berg och djupa dalar (High Mountains and Deep Valleys)” (Trad.), recorded 4/20/2001. Ranarim were a Swedish quartet centered around the magical duets of singers Ulrika Bodén and Sofia Sandén. They managed to find ancient Nordic folk music with happy endings, something most people don’t associate with this music!

2. Swåp (Sweden/U.K.), “Fiskmås (Seagull)” (Ian Carr), recorded 4/21/2001. Another great original tune from Swåp.

3. Troka (Finland), “Aamu Seksmanninkankaala (Morning in Seksman's Meadow)” (Ojanen), recorded 4/2/1999. This is from the very first set of the first NRF, an exciting young quintet which brought diverse influences into their take on Finnish traditional music.

4. Triakel (Sweden), “Gamla Sara/I Himmelen (Old Sara/In Heaven)” (Trad.), recorded 9/27/2008. Triakel are a trio who specialize in the folk songs of the Jämtland region of Sweden. Singer Emma Härdelin is best known from her work with Garmarna.

5. JPP (Finland), “Hale-Bopp” (Timo Alakotila), recorded 4/3/1999. Another original JPP tune, this one written by Alakotila from their landmark album “String Tease.”

6. Knut Hamre & Steve Tibbets (Norway/U.S.), “Olav Bergsland” (Trad.), recorded 4/3/1999. Hardanger fiddle master Knut Hamre joined forces with Minnesota-based guitarist Steve Tibbetts for the Hannibal Records recording “Å” the same year of the first festival, so of course it was a natural to feature this music at the first festival.

7. Ellika & Solo (& Bruce & Bill) (Sweden/U.S./Senegal), “Poor Man’s Troubles” (Trad.), recorded 9/30/2005. Swedish fiddler Ellika Frisell was a frequent Nordic Roots Festival performer (and remains a living legend). She had also previously appeared at the festival with Solo Cissokho when their duo, called Ellika & Solo, started to record and tour. American multi-instrumentalist and Appalachian old-time music specialist Bruce Molsky started to regularly fly himself in to the Nordic Roots Festival as a fan and student of Nordic music, and Ellika invited him to join her and Solo for their 2003 festival performance. Then, Cedar E.D. Bill Kubeczko had the inspiration to

introduce American jazz guitarist Bill Frisell to Ellika (they actually determined that they were most likely related), and his schedule allowed him to come to Minneapolis for the 2005 festival. The result was this one-time meeting of very diverse musical cultures.

8. Väsen (Trio) (Sweden), “Björkbergspolskan/Hasse A's” (Johansson/Marin), recorded 9/26/2008. Here’s the core Väsen trio showing their extraordinary ensemble playing, a unique blend of structure and improvisation.

9. Garmarna (Sweden), “Min Man (My Husband)” (Trad.), recorded 10/02/2005. Garmarna were another festival favorite who combine medieval ballads with rock. They continue record and tour.

10. Hedningarna (Sweden), “Bulldog” (Trad.), recorded 4/21/2001. This was an instrumental configuration of Hedningarna.

11. Detektivbyrån (Sweden), “Nattopet (Open All Night)” (Molin), recorded 9/27/2008. Detektivbyrån were a trio from Karlstad, Sweden who created a unique sound akin to the folk music of a lost French tribe that emigrated to the Värmland region of Sweden. The creative force was Martin Molin, who would later build a magical musical “Marble Machine” and post a YouTube video of it, which has over 200 million views (and still counting).

12. Hoven Droven (Sweden), “Vasen” (Eriksson), recorded 10/1/2006. We close with a tune from the last set of the last festival, by the only logical choice for a closer, the hard rocking Swedish folk band Hoven Droven. This tune is an original written by fiddler Kjell-Erik Eriksson which sounded to him like a tune that Väsen would play (spelled the way Americans often mispronounce it). This was their second encore closing the 2006 festival. Folk on!