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t’s a deliberately ambitious record, one that crosses lines
I
between the tradition and the modern, and acoustic and
electric music. If anything, it’s reminiscent of the Spirits CD
he made with drummer Anders Mogensen, although, he
claims, “not as jazzy, but open-minded, playing around with
the music. It requires good musicians for recording and for tour-
ing. I had some rules and one was not too much in the way of
guitar/ fiddle duos. I could have just not used guitarists, but I
wanted something different.”
Indeed, one of the gems is a sparkling duet on a traditional
tune with guitarist Roger Tallroth, but there’s plenty to love in
Haugaard’s own expansive material, especially the five-part title
suite that closes the album. “I chose to put the suite at the end. It’s
a description of a state of mind. I think everyone knows the burn-
ing fields state of mind. The feeling of it is familiar, you know you
have to go on. The suite was very ambitious and very important to
me. I just enjoy playing music.”
Burning Fields announces where he is now, looking very firmly
ahead and playing the music that’s important to him, as well as
creating pieces he cares about, whether he’s working with a trio, a
larger band, or together with Blum in an even bigger outfit. “It’s
the same man and the same music, but it’s nice to squeeze music
into new configurations,” he explains. “I like playing festivals with
a big band, but it’s also good to tour with a trio. My music is devel-
oping all the time as I play for different audiences and different
cultures. It’s fantastic to tell stories through my fiddle.”
It’s a declaration of music independence, one that’s backed up
by the formation of the new label, although that was a decision
that simply made business sense, and which appears to be paying
off. “In this music you sell 90% of your CDs at gigs, and we wanted
to run with that. Also, we’re control freaks! We hired promoters,
which worked out well, we got on TV. You need to take a step in
another direction, but it needs money and resources.”
But, although his focus is very firmly on making music under
his own name, that doesn’t mean he’s ignoring everything else. He
remains a member of Serras, although they’ve scaled down their
ambitions in the last few years. “We started out wanting to be big,
to have radio hits,” Haugaard recalls. “We played a lot of festivals.
Now we play 15 concerts a year, and we meet on an island just to
make music. It’s a musical brotherhood. We love to tour, but it’s
not money-making. We have a good time together, it helps us all.
It feels like going into a great old car, but you have to develop it.”
The last time they came together, which resulted in the album Ø,
“we were only allowed to bring equipment. Everything was done
on the spot, with head arrangements.”
In his own small way, Haugaard has also become an in-
demand producer. Not only was he behind the board (and in front
of it) for much of his wife’s album, he’s also claimed production
honours for recent CDs by a couple of young fiddlers, Denmark’s
Henrik Jansberg and Norway’s Ragnhild Furebotten.
“It’s fun to work with young musicians, like Ragnhild. She’s
great, and it was the same with Henrik – he’s very open-minded.
Being in the studio is just another part of being a musician in 2009.
Working with Helene is wonderful, we’ve known each other since
we were 11. It feels right for us to be together as musicians and as
human beings. But musically we challenge each other. We com-
pose, play and tour together, we have similar opinions. After tour-
ing separately it’s always nice to be together.”
Ultimately, he says, “the biggest thing in art is to get out on
the mountain and be scared. It’s important to be innovative. I’m
proud of my roots, but tradition has to be developed. I’m living in
2009, and my music is about my life. The Academy, the Danish Folk
Council and the [big Danish] Tønder festival have all helped me a
lot, but I’ll go where it takes me. I don’t want artistic goals, other
than to keep searching.”
While Haugaard is a known quantity, Helene Blum is just
beginning to establish herself as a solo artist outside Denmark.
However, her ‘real’ solo debut, En Gang Og Altid, should quickly
make her beautiful, sensitive voice known.
I first saw her at Tønder in 2003 (as part of an Academy class,
directed in performance by Haugaard), and was immediately
struck by her singing. But since then, recorded glimpses of her
have been few and far between. There was a glorious duo disc,
Solen, with Karen Mose, the vocalist from Phønix, and then an
album of Christmas songs, En Sød Og Liflig Klang, which seemed
like a strange step into solo work.
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