Norway - Vestland Part II & Møre og Romsdal

 

Next on our virtual journey we are doing a bit of fjord hopping along the west coast of Norway to the municipality of Jølster.  This is where multi-award winning Hardanger fiddle player Erlend Apneseth was born in 1990, whom we have already met duetting with Margit Myhr.  He performs solo or as part of his trio and his written music for cinema, theatre, dance performances, poetry and musical ensembles and orchestras in different genres.  His latest 2022 solo album Nova was recorded in the Vigeland mausoleum in Oslo, giving the sound an eerie reverberation.  Here is a tune from the album called Speglingar:

Staying in Jølster, which by all accounts is a bit of a hotspot of traditional music, we meet another Hardanger fiddle player in Gro Marie Svidal.  She started on the instrument aged 5 and has 2 solo albums to her name to date, plus various collaborations.  Her 2016 album Eilov is pure unadulterated Hardanger fiddle playing traditional tunes from her home region.  Here are a couple of tunes from the album, beginning with the opening track Håstabøen:

We head on further north to the municipality of Hornindal, where we meet yet another Hardanger fiddle player in Britt Pernille Frøholm.  She combines traditional Norwegian folk tunes with some contemporary and jazzy notes, adding her own compositions.  In her latest 2021 album Årringar (year rings) she collaborates with bass player Sigurd Hole, which is themed around the harsh seasons of western Norway.  Here is a tune from the album called Elerida:

Also from Hornindal is singer Unni Løvlid.  She is also rooted in Norwegian folk, but combines it with jazz, experimental sounds and influences from other parts of the world.  In her latest project she combines with Japanese musicians playing traditional Japanese instruments such as the sho, a free reed instrument, and the shakuhachi, an end blown bamboo flute.  Together they explore the classcial Japanese gagaku tradition of imperial court music and dances, together with definite Nordic inspirations.  This is a live version of a track from the resulting 2017 album Hymn called Vind, kom, which is inspired by the northern lights:

We continue our journey north along the west coast to the county of Møre og Romsdal to the small community of Mauseidvåg near Ålesund, where perhaps the most famous Hardanger fiddle player of all, AnnbjørgLien, grew up in a musical household.  She initially learned the instrument from her father, then went on to study under various masters, eventually achieving a PHD in 2019 in Hardanger fiddle at the University of Agder.  During the early part of her career she played with folk group Bukkene Bruse, whom we already covered in Oslo.  She has since a number of solo albums and has collaborated with folk musicians from all over the world, crossing musical borders on her way.  This a tune called Inoque from her 2002 album Aliens Alive:

Also check out her latest album Janus.

We conclude our tour of the west coast for the time being in the municipality of Kristiansund, where singer and composer Lynni Treekrem grew up, although she was born in Seattle in the USA in 1958.  There isn't much information out there about her, except that she won a Spelemanprisen award for her 1995 album Haugtussa, which is based on a selection of poems by  Arne Garborg.  So here is a song from the album called Den Snilde Guten:

That's it for today, next we are heading back inland to the appropriately named county of Inlandet.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual route on my tripline map as usual. 

Dublin, Ireland

Our journey continues south, crossing a bit of County Meath again to Dublin, which is both the name of the city and it's surrounding county.  The Greater Dublin area is home to almost a quarter of the population of the Republic of Ireland, so no wonder it is home to many great musicians.  The obvious place to start would be the Dubliners' version of Molly Malone, arguably the anthem of Dublin, but it is too obvious really and there is too much other good music to get through, so I'll just put a picture of the statue of Molly Malone up.

A lot of the music coming out of Dublin predictably has distinctly urban influences. Kila have been playing their contemporary interpretation of traditional music since 1987, mixing it with elements of rock and world music.  This one is a collaboration with Japanese musician Oki Kano and can be found on the 2006 album Kila and Oki.  The track is called Ní Liom Féin

A more recently formed outfit, Lankum are, according to their own description 'a four-piece group from Dublin, Ireland with an alchemical ability to combine traditional folk roots with contemporary undercurrents to forge music that is dark, mysterious and transcendental.'  Many of their songs have social issues as their theme.  Now I always like a drinking song, even if this is a sad one: Drinking Song from the Tomb from their album Cold Old Fire:

*edit: We went to see them on the 12th of July this year at the Earagail Festival in Letterkenny, County Donegal.  I highly recommend you see them if you get a chance:

Former electrician Daoirí Farrell has made a name for himself with his beautiful traditional singing style culminating in him winning the BBC Folk Musician of the year award in 2017.  Here's a wee set together with Blackie O'Connor from Co. Clare on Uilleann pipes.  Blue Tar Road can be found on his album True Born Irish Man: 

Glen Hansard started playing music on the streets of Dublin and shot to international fame playing guitarist Outspan in the 1991 movie The Commitments.  This song McCormack's Wall is from the album Didn't He Ramble:

The next song by Dublin born duo Niamh Parsons and Graham Dunne I got from a compilation Rough Guide to Irish Folk and laments the futility of wars.  The Men That God Made Mad:

Mary Black has been a fixture on the Irish music scene for over 25 years.  This song, The Holy Ground is off the 1993 album of the same name.

This post could go on for a quite a while, but with a tear in our eye we will depart Dublin with a song by John Doyle, Bitter the Parting from his album Wayward Son: 

As usual you can follow my journey on this map.  Next stop County Kildare