“Two tradition bearers taking care of old melodies and stories from archive, making them tradition of this day with fiddle, kontrabasharpa and electronics”.
See also: Juuri & Juuri
Emilia Lajunen, 5-string fiddle, nyckelharpa, kontrabasharpa, vocals
Eero Grundström, harmonicas, electronics, vocals
Emilia Lajunen and Eero Grundström have almost 25 years history of playing together. This musical duo expresses and communicates themselves through playing and singing. Music which comes has both historical roots and layers from archives but also deep knowledge of these days folk music. There would not be trees without roots. As a duo Lajunen and Grundström are tradition bearers but they are building and continuing it where fiddlers left it on the archive recordings, keeping it alive and having and finding new forms.
Photo by Maarit Kytöharju (Oulun Musiikkijuhlat 2024)
Legacy of the Dead: Deep in the Dregs raises a whole village full of possessed fiddlers from their archival graves. Their age-old craft is combined with Emilia Lajunen’s unique style and electrified by Eero Grundström, Lajunen’s musical partner of two decades.
The two title songs were recorded from two fiddlers from the old days, Jalmari Siiriäinen and Juho Laitila. The legacy of the dead is the dregs of folk music that stay at the bottom even if new performers stir things up by creating something new. The sediment of folk music, the unique playing styles, stories and fates recorded in the archives – all of it matters.
The music on this record is included in Emilia Lajunen’s doctoral degree in music at the Sibelius Academy of Uniarts Helsinki. The material for Lajunen’s musical research grew and evolved during the recording process, but the core, the impact of movement and dance on the music, remained. Movement soothes, excites, unites – it can be heard and felt.
In the old days people lived slow and indulged in quiet raptures. This music reaches towards that world through centuries of forgotten tales. Because of the distance, we must give music our imagination, and, above all, our time.
Legacy of the Dead: Deep in the Dregs
Vainaan perua -concert (YouTube link)
Photo by Jani Snellman 2023