"What the heck
is Nisswa-stämman?"
Nisswa is an Ojibwa word and, of course, the
name of one of the prettiest little hamlets in northern Minnesota.
Stämman is a Swedish word for a "bunch of people
playing music together". The conjunction of the two words
is almost poetic!
Nisswa-stämman is a gathering of fiddlers,
nyckelharpers, hardingfele
players, accordionists, guitarists, vocalists, (you get the idea),
dancers, and general aficionados of Scandinavian folk music here
in the "new world". Folk musicians love to have an
audience for their art,and a "spelmansstämma"
provides the natural canvas for this happy co-mingling of folks.
See our Performers page for a complete
list.
Paul
Wilson is a Scandinavian folk musician and the leader and
chief bottlewasher of a couple of folk music groups in the area
called Skålmusik and Skål Klubb.
Paul and his wife Mary Abendroth spent 6 weeks bumming around
in Scandinavia in the summer of 1999, attending "spelmansstämmor"
and musician's gatherings wherever they could find them.
They had so much fun that Paul thought, "You know,
I know lots of Scandinavian folk musicians right here in Minnesota
and nearby! Why can't we do something like that here?" Paul
approached the city of Nisswa with the concept of hosting the
event. Their response was unanimous... "Great! - you do
it."
So it's full speed ahead....
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