Hot fiddles from cool Scandinavia

FRIGG (Finland)        FIZZING FINNISH FIDDLE SEPTET TUNE UP FOR FIFTH UK VISIT Hot fiddles from cool Scandinavia Songlines’ Top Of The World choice 2014 Folklandia’s Folk Album of the Year 2012 Sat 2 May GATESHEAD Sage, Fiddles on Fire 0191 443 4661 Named after the Norse goddess of love and fertility, this freewheeling, feelgood septet have created their own captivating style of music  –  Nordgrass  -  fusing Nordic folk and American bluegrass. Frigg, a leading act on the Nordic scene, played their first tours here in 2013. They played several main-stages and there’s now a steadily growing appreciation of their blistering Nordgrass, fiddle-founded sound. Possibly the most exciting, uplifting, gut-wrenching & hip-twitching band in the Northern Hemisphere. Don’t miss this blizzard of jigs, reels & bluegrass inventions! ‘high-energy, full force fiddle attack to pastoral chamber-folk … a thrilling performance from start to Finnish and the audience Lapped it up!’ Peter Cowley, Fatea Magazine ‘Embracing everything from Nashville to Nordkapp, Salzburg to Stornoway, this Helsinki septet manages to sound like a polka band, a rock group, or a Riverdance ensemble, while remaining purely acoustic and firmly string-powered. Four fiddles, an upright bass, guitars and mandos: that's all there is, but Frigg fill the air, live or on CD.’ Alex Monaghan, Folkworld Reeling from their UK debut year  -  they dazzled Celtic Connections, The Scots Fiddle Festival, The Sage Gateshead, Bury Met, Bury St Edmunds Apex, Wiltshire Music Centre, Cambridge Folk Festival & many more…  -  this young international fiddle septet return for more. Featuring the premier talents of a young generation of folk musicians, Frigg has developed a blend of their own called Nordgrass, a mix of Nordic folk and American bluegrass. A hair-raising, voice-losing, heart-burstingly beautiful gig full of traditional Finnish tunes with Norwegian detours. Energy, fun, humour and interaction are Frigg’s most important virtues on any gig. Powerfolk and perfect! Cd Polka V www.frigg.fi ‘You can put me down as a fan’ Simon Nicol, Fairport Convention ‘five-star’ Fiona Talkington, Songlines ‘irresistible’ The Herald ‘Nordgrass rocks!’ Alex Monaghan, The Living Tradition Antti Järvelä double bass Einar Olav Larsen / Esko Järvelä fiddle Alina Järvelä fiddle Tero Hyväluoma fiddle Tommi Asplund fiddle Tuomas Logren guitar Petri Prauda mandolin, cittern ‘This is Blazin’ Fiddles on steroids!’ Jim Byrne Frigg’s globetrotting has seen them complete six extensive tours of North America, together with tours of Australia, Japan, Germany, Austria, the Benelux countries, appearances in Malaysia, Spain, Portugal, France and several tours of Switzerland. ‘Their superbly matched four fiddle frontline, buoyant string rhythm section and dynamic arrangements, complete with humorously choreographed movements, proved irresistible’ The Herald 1.2.13 ‘A wonderful outfit – seven artists and when they combine their talents the music is stunning. Amazing - I can’t help but sit back and throw up my arms in admiration – fabulous stuff’ Frank Hennessy, BBC Radio Wales ‘I don’t often get the shivers when I hear a new album but this did it for me’ Chris Haigh, Fiddling Around ‘the tunes are a non-stop whirlwind’ Phil Brown, The Drift, BBC Radio Lancs ‘absolutely marvellous’ The Durbervilles, BBC Radio Leeds In 2004, American folk music magazine Sing Out! reviewed Frigg’s debut album, exalting them as “The second coming of JPP”, a reference to the legendary Finnish group that for 20 years had carried the torch for Nordic string bands. "There aren't many bands who can better a perfect album, but Frigg has done it with Polka V. Their playing is as exquisite as always and there’s a greater depth of invention, fun and beauty than ever. Frigg has done it again!" - Fiona Talkington, BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction Now, with five successful albums, a folk music “Album of the Year” nomination and ‘Top of the World’ features in Songlines magazine, Frigg have firmly established themselves as the leading act on the Nordic scene. Fast, furious and fun, the innovative young combo features the virtuosic talents of three members of the famed Jarvela family from the central Finland village of the same name in the municipality of Kaustinen - siblings Alina and Esko Jarvela and their cousin Antti, the band’s frontman. The three are from the family’s fourth generation of famous fiddlers though Antii turns his hand to the double bass in this unstoppable, high-energy line-up. Boasting several multi-instrumentalists, the four front-row fiddles and double bass are complemented by Petri Prauda’s cittern, mandolin, bagpipes and Jew’s harp and Tuomas Logren’s guitar and dobro. Drawing first and foremost on the folk music heritage of their homeland, their fjord and forest-imbued Nordic tunes are peppered with innovative infusions of world music styles from Celtic to Balkan and Americana, making for a truly distinctive, irrepressible and life-affirming sound.

www.frigg.fi