Norden Folk

From Sweden and England, Swåp means to exchange, or swap. Swåp's music translates to PRECISION, precision in mixing Scandinavian and Gallic sounds, exchanging the melodies and interweaving the themes between the two area cultures--Nordic and Gallic. And the individuality of their music remains very apparent in this internationally renowned group. Their easy playing style belies many hours of playing diligence with years of trying to get it right and rewarding the audience by now having exceeded that goal by far. Swåp probably brought us the most diverse sound we've seen in western Wisconsin. The unique character of each artist was apparent in the extremely high quality entertainment the gave us.

Music From Scandinavia Scandinavian Artists We've Sponsored
	From Sweden and England, Swåp means to exchange, or swap. Swåp's music translates to PRECISION, precision in mixing Scandinavian and Gallic sounds, exchanging the melodies and interweaving the themes between the two area cultures--Nordic and Gallic. And the individuality of their music remains very apparent in this internationally renowned group. Their easy playing style belies many hours of playing diligence with years of trying to get it right and rewarding the audience by now having exceeded that goal by far. Swåp probably brought us the most diverse sound we've seen in western Wisconsin. The unique character of each artist was apparent in the extremely high quality entertainment the gave us. .
	Frifot means to be a bit footloose...and this Swedish group certainly are, touring the world and winning an Emmy in 2003 for best folk music album. When Frifot visited Eau Claire, they came a day early, so we hastily asked for a concert for the EC area school music students and Frifot good naturedly obliged. Springing a surprise, Monday morning (8:00 a.m.) assembly on students is not exactly an unrewarding task. Per Gudmundson led off with his Swedish säckpipa, a single drone bagpipe, followed by Lena Willemark 's kulning (singing to the cows & goats) and Ale Möller gave them a sample of his multiple instruments skill. It was hard to tell who enjoyed THIS concert more, Frifot or the students. And Gratulera on that Emmy...well deserved Guys!
	Flukt come to us via the Nisswa-stamman, in Nisswa MN, direct from Norway. They are by far the youngest group we've ever brought to EC, but were the most energetic of our visitors. Possibly because of this, they elicited some great audience response with their energetic playing. Youth and professionalism CAN go together as we heard when the trio let go.
	The Odén Family---Lena, Agnes and Christer are from southern Sweden and are probably best known in our Scandinavian community for their specialization in slängpolskas, a form of old dance/playing style. They brought the dance/music to the midwestern Scandinavian community for the first time with a concert at the Nisswa-stamman and have since come back a second time. Though they never actually performed in EC, they were scheduled to play at Heyde Center for Culture, but had to cancel because of illness. All's well now and we look forward to bringing them over, for real, sometime soon.