root salad Nordic Fiddlers Bloc

Norway, Sweden and Shetland meet together in an international trio. Cara Gibney is our envoy.

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t all comes down to common sense according to The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc. The melding of virtuoso fiddle play- ing from Norway, Sweden, and Shet-

land to create a very specific, unique sound, that at the same time illustrates their own individual musical traditions.

The three fiddle players involved are Olav Luksengård Mjelva from Norway, Anders Hall from Sweden, and Kevin Hen- derson from Shetland. Each one in their own right internationally regarded for their fiddle playing, but when the three come together to form that Nordic trio, things take off on a fresh path.

Apparently it was Anders Hall who had the idea to bring together not just the three historically-linked Scandinavian Scotland fiddle traditions, but also three of the circuit’s finest players. “There are a lot of connections between the three countries music-wise,” Hall told me. “We wanted to bring the three traditions together, but it’s fun playing together, and that’s the main thing.”

Hall is acclaimed as one of Sweden’s foremost fiddlers, and is a member of well- known Nordic folk band Sver, along with fellow Fiddlers Bloc member Olav Luksen- gård Mjelva. He comes from a family of musicians and started playing at the age of seven by attending music school in his home- town of Arbrå. “I tried to learn classical music a little,” he explained, “but I didn’t like it, I couldn’t play the tunes that I want- ed to so I skipped it.” That is something he regrets. “It would be fun to have that skill as well, to play classical music. When you play fiddle for many years you get interest- ed in how some cultures play the fiddle, the different techniques and the different tools to make different sounds.” He paused slightly. “The craft of fiddling… there are great skills in classical musicians; little tricks.”

Fellow Sver member Olav Luksengård Mjelva is also one half of the unique folk duo Rydvall/Mjelva (fR398/9). He started fid- dle lessons at the age of six in his home town of Røros in Norway. “I played 25 minutes every week and it was quite boring,” he laughed. Later on though he “got some fid- dle friends” and that social element made all the difference. By eighteen he was drawn to the hardanger fiddle, Norway’s national instrument. “The hardanger is usually tuned a bit higher and the most difficult thing is to find the right key to play tunes in,” he point- ed out. “I could just tune it down like a nor- mal fiddle, a lot of hardanger fiddlers do that, but it doesn’t sound the same.” Further adding to the rich sound of the trio, Mjelva

also plays the octave fiddle, which, strung an octave lower than standard fiddle tuning, he describes as “quite a rusty sound as the body is too small for the low tones”.

Kevin Henderson, from the Shetlands, comes from a family of fiddle players. His grandfather was “a huge fan of fiddle music and that kind of gave me the bug”. He attended private classes for a while but they came to a natural end. “I was keen to start with,” he laughed, “and then com- puters and football took over for a while.” Luckily the Shetland school system provid- ed classes with Willie Hunter, the renowned folk fiddler who was pivotal in rekindling the fiddling traditions of the Shetland Islands. “He was an amazing teacher and just an amazing man,” Hen- derson said fondly of the man who passed on those traditions to his pupil. “It wasn’t just about the fiddle; he was quite a life coach… a kind of father/grandfather-type character in my life I would say.” With Hunter’s help the die was cast. The teenage Henderson went on to found folk group Fiddlers’ Bid, and nowadays can be found playing with eminent folk bands Boys Of The Lough and Session A9.

the gauntlet of sorrow, beauty, and joy. It offers traditional polska, folk renditions, and original takes on the trio’s musical her- itage. For example, the gorgeous title track celebrates the return of the sun, written by Mjelva after spending some weeks in the north of Norway – “and it’s very, very dark there in the winter”. Then there’s Da Scal- lowa Lasses / Lorna’s Reel, a traditional tune that runs into an exuberant reel penned by Henderson’s mentor Willie Hunter.

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They also have 25 songs gathered for a third album, but between touring and all of their individual projects, Nordic Fiddlers Bloc need to plan well in advance to bring this to fruition. “We have some rehearsal time booked in the calendar,” Hall told me, “but we really need to book more.” Mean- while they will “probably be touring the States in March or April”, and UK residents are advised to keep an eye out in the spring, as May could be bringing another wave of Nordic fiddle back to these shores.

www.thenordicfiddlersbloc.com F 23 f

ordic Fiddlers Bloc have two albums under their belt. Their lat- est, Deliverance, was released in the UK last April and its tracks run

Photo: © Judith Burrows