Supplying a "door to the Swedish soul" as traditionally Swedish as it gets—three ballad singers are planning to visit the east coast this fall. The group would like to hear from organizers of events, concerts or meetings that have an interest in their engaging performances.
Three ballad singers from Sweden, pictured here, have joined forces and are planning a tour in America this fall. Their program is called “Svenska Visor - Opening a door to the swedish soul.” To hear an example, visit www.myspace.com/swedishtroubadours. Contact: swedishtroubadours@gmail.com
Swedish ballads (Svenska Visor) have been an important part of Swedish culture and identity over the centuries. Today there is a great treasure of songs to explore for modern troubadours wishing to reveal the past. By telling these historical stories in words and music, pictures of swedish traditions, landscapes, behaviors, occupations and much more are being communicated. A door to the swedish soul is opened.
The three Västervik, Sweden based artists with a passion for this musical form are Oskar Jeremias, Jonas Pietikäinen and Oskar Larsson. They mix musical skills with the (maybe even more important) skill to convey stories and give them life for the audience.
Traditional Swedish songs or ballads, visor, mean a lot to Swedes and perhaps even more to us in the diaspora. There is a variety of visor: the seasonal ones, like julsånger and sommarpsalmer, dryckesvisor (drinking songs), folkvisor (folk songs) and skillingtryck (broadsheets). Not to mention the songs of our beloved song writers Carl Michael Bellman, Gustaf Fröding, Evert Taube and Olle Adolphson.
