Andrea Hoag, Loretta Kelley and Charlie Pilzer are a trio in love with traditional Nordic folk music. Their latest CD, Hambo in the Snow, is a winter celebration in song, featuring acoustic melodies from Scandinavia.
Most of the tunes on Hambo in the Snow come from the ancient bygdedans (village dance) tradition. Each location had its own form of polska or springar, with its unique rhythmic variation of 3/4 time. There are also walking tunes and bridal marches and the relatively new (19th century) dance forms of waltz, hambo and polka.
Hoag, Kelley and Pilzer have been performing across the U.S. and in Europe for more than 25 years. Hoag is a graduate of Malungs Folkhogskola's Folk Violin Pedagogy course, and has studied with elder fiddlers Pakkos Gustaf and Nils Agenmark. On her own, she performs and records music ranging from Cajun to southern Appalachian and Irish.
Kelley is a master of the Norwegian hardingfele (Hardanger fiddle) and has studied extensively in Norway. Since the 1970s, Pilzer has been a member of Spaelimenninir, a Scandinavian folk band based in the Faroe Islands.
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