Woodsongs 512: Peter "Puma" Hedlund, Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers

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DATE : Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:26:18 -0500
Entered in Database : 2009-01-21 04:26:18
length : 111566000
Link to the Show / Show Notes

The nyckelharpa is a traditional Swedish instrument that has been played for more than 600 years. It has 16 strings: 3 melody strings, one drone string, and 12 sympathetic vibration (or resonance) strings. It has about 37 wooden keys arranged to slide under the strings. The player uses a short bow with the right hand, and pushes on the keys with the left. The instrument almost died out during the first part of the 1900's, but it has made quite a come-back. There are about 10,000 nyckelharpa players in Sweden today. PETER HEDLUND is considered Sweden’s leading traditional player of the modern chromatic nyckelharpa, having won the title World Champion twice, in 1992 and 2000. He earned the designation Riksspelman - Fiddler of the Realm - while still in his teens (1975). Peter's technique is unsurpassed. A current venture close to Peter's heart is his collaboration with Rita Leydon in the development and production of a three volume interactive Nyckelharpa Workshop in DVD format.
BLUE MOOSE AND THE UNBUTTONED ZIPPERS are dynamic young string band based out of Boston. This quartet takes from the rooted traditions of many cultures and translates including the nyckelharpa. Bronwyn Bird plays the traditional bowed stringed instrument from Sweden, where she lived and studied the instrument for a year. The evocative sound of Bronwyn's nyckelharpa and Mariel Vandersteel's hardanger fiddle, the traditional string instrument of Norway, is held together with the fiery tone of Andy Reiner's fiddle and the dynamic force of Stash Wyslouch's guitar. The band’s latest CD is The Antler Sessions.

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