Håkon Høgemo & Erlend Viken | Norway

Håkon Høgemo and Erlend Viken first met as teacher and student at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. Høgemo comes from Årdal, and according to reliable sources – he himself – has over 1000 songs in his repertoire. Viken grew up with the traditions of Oppdal, but immediately caught the rawness of teacher Høgemo's playing, and especially the Eldegard songs. The two have continued as a duo, and played in various contexts, and they also play together in Karl Seglem's band.  

Now they are releasing their first album, where they have collected a good collection of parish songs, and especially by the siblings Sigurd and Johanna Eldegard. The slåttespelet from indre Sogn is known as simple and powerful, with strong rhythm, or as folk music collector Arne Bjørndal writes: 'Melodically, the parish song has its own way of tumbling through large intervals, and the final cadence often comes somewhat abruptly and unexpectedly. The melodic element is particularly strong in these songs.'  

Håkon Høgemo and Erlend Viken stick to traditional playing, but like to take harmony and rhythm in unconventional directions, and you just have to secure a ticket for them to put each other in tune and keep releasing albums in style. Trapp Ned in Førde . Here the space becomes tight. The duo will also be heard at the opening concert, where they will bring the dancer Vilde Westeng, and on Saturday evening they will play for dancing in the Festsalen in Førdehuset . 

Håkon Høgemo - Hardanger fiddler

Erlend Viken - Hardanger fiddler