Pekko Käppi

Pekko Käppi’s recent albums lean toward poignant ballads, often with a subversive twist – and the eerie, unsettling sound of his electric jouhikko.

"The JuuriJuhla-RotFest (Roots Festival) takes place in Espoo each year and says it has its own roots in the pelimanni folk dance music, although most of the concerts range much wider. It featured top names on the Finnish roots music scene."

"With everything else removed, the most distinguishable elements of his music remain: his unique voice and brilliant jouhikko playing."

“The music of Arctic Fire concert at the WOMEX 2019 was brave and contemporary, yet all of them drew in some way on archaic traditions in Finnish music.”

A small country must learn how to adapt, cooperate and innovate. Agility is key. Finland has a high degree of social equality, and in music this means that basically anyone can do anything. Creativity and curiosity are the wellspring of the vitality of contemporary Finnish folk music.

The kantele is seen as Finland’s national instrument and its mythological history is often reinforced: how Väinämöinen, a hero and the central character in our national epic, the Kalevala, builds the first kantele. The jouhikko is another instrument with a long history, known previously by the name jouhikantele (bowed kantele). Its living playing tradition gradually died down but was actively revived during the 20th century.

"Pekko Käppi and K:H:H:L's new album Matilda is both a sophisticated and raw continuation to its predecessor, the brilliant Sanguis Meus, Mama!"

The accordion queen Maria Kalaniemi has been around for 30 years but still continues to impress, now by singing as well.

The nature of folk music has always included the shameless borrowing of refreshing material from elsewhere – right now Baltic Finnish influences are rising to the top in Finland.

From the 1950s through to the 1980s, Russian songs in Finnish translation made their way into Finnish ears through record players and radio waves. Today, it is possible to dance to live Russian-language music in Finland, partly thanks to the Tusovka Association, established in 1998.

"He’s more pop than ever, bringing to mind especially Finnish singer-songwriters from past decades. But he has not forgotten who he is: a modern runo singer, a storyteller knowing well the musical tradition of his country and playing his bowed lyre, jouhikko, brilliantly."

Singing with the voice of old men and playing the jouhikko, an ancient bowed lyre, Pekko Käppi is hot stuff in Finland and abroad with his band. The archaic boogie performed by K:H:H:L seems to resonate with an incredible variety of audiences. Käppi is on the front line in the resurrection of one of Finland’s oldest instruments.