An evening with Väsen (CD Release Concert)

Everyone's favorite tall Swedish acoustic trio with their new CD Väsen Street being released on the fabulous NorthSide label! There’s a place where wild-eyed farmers whip through fiddle tunes with a yelp; Japanese Celtophiles jig and reel to Swedish dance numbers in a Tokyo basement; And, the nyckelharpa (a fiddle with a keyboard) becomes a deadly weapon, as tuned-down, spiced-up guitars give a sly wink to Turkish ouds. Here, brand-new tunes sound achingly ancient. Welcome to Väsen Street, a playful global byway that traverses the planet’s folk scene, passionately laid down by three friends from the Uppland region of Sweden, acoustic folk icons Väsen.

The Swedish trio brings together a smorgasbord of personal tributes and Swedish folk gems that reflect the band’s international scope and impact and that honor the group’s many connections to friends and fans around the world, from cheeky Japanese managers (“Yoko”) to Swedish-Italian percussionists (“Asko Pasko Polska”) to bosom Bay Area botanist buddies (“Botanisten”). It even gives a shout out to fans in Indiana who spurred a local campaign to get a street in their town named after the group (“Väsen Street”).

Tickets are on sale now from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), Cedar outlets, and online at Ticketweb.

Väsen

Olov Johansson and Mikael Marin started playing together as teenagers around 1980. During the early 1980's they would regularly visit Curt and Ivar Tallroth and Eric Sahlström, older musicians who lived nearby in the Uppland region, where they would play and...