Old Town School – On The Road
Dispatches from the road from our wayfaring travelers.
Finnish Americana, Part II
As I mentioned in my previous post, Finns are often described as reserved and quiet. But that is only part of the story. They also show a lot of fire and passion. It helps to know the word they use to describe their spirit as a people: sisu. There is no exact English translation for sisu, but the term suggests strength, courage and Finnish soul.
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Ruotsinpyhtaa fire house and an iron works building (click to enlarge)
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Their character was reflected in the music we heard performed by the local bands in Ruotsinpyhtää. In my humble opinion, with a admitted bias for old-time music, the best were the Virtual Reality Boys, a band with two fine fiddlers, Ville and Patrik. Our host Wasku (aka Wasel) played guitar and an English immigrant, John Sheppard played a fine clawhammer style banjo.
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Fiddler Patrik Weckman in 19th century dress (click to enlarge)
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The Clayhill Boys do solid bluegrass, with true singing and clean picking that falls on the reserved side of the Finnish character.
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Matti Lehtola with the Clayhill Boys (click to enlarge)
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The Blue Velvet Band plays and sings with more fire. Wasku’s mandolin picking is much closer to the Bill Monroe sound than anything I’ve been able to generate. Both of these bands were enjoyable to listen to, and we had a good time jamming with all of them.
Wasel ‘Wasku’ Arar with the Blue Velvet Band on the main stage (click to enlarge)
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Wasku also presented a band of Workshoppers, he has been working with for the last couple of years. Don, a techie from Texas and a good singer, played some fine guitar in the Carter Family style, and a young 15-year-old banjo player showed that Scruggs style is thriving here in the Northland.
When we got back to Helsinki on Monday night, we did some Old Town School style classes for a dozen fiddle students, a half dozen mandolinists, and a handful of guitar and banjo pickers. Through the equivalent of two class sessions, we taught each group two old-time tunes from the Songbook, “Waterbound” and “Goin’ Down to Cairo,” plus a fiddle tune I learned from my southern Indiana mentor, Lotus Dickey. We invented a new kind of Second Half by bringing all the students back together to play all three of the songs, first slowly and then more up to tempo.
A Second Half at the Kansanmusiikkiopisto in Helsinki
(right click title and choose ’save link’ to download file)
For more about the Kansanmusiikkiopisto, check out the resources posted on the Flog (Fiddle Blog)
Filed under: DMT in Finland, Finland 2009, Notes from Paul by Paul | June 9, 2009 | Comments (2)
2 Comments so far
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[...] To learn more about our visit to Finland, and to hear our 2nd Half with the students at Kansanmusiikkiopisto, visit the Old Town School On the Road blog and scroll to the bottom of Finnish Americana, Part II. [...]
I’m listening to Waterbound right now. That is so awesome, Paul. Thanks so much for sharing. I love listening to everyone sharing the space so well. Beautiful.