Frigg has been conquering the world with their fusion of western folk music styles leaning strongly towards Nordic folk music. To describe Frigg's music, the world music media has coined the term nordgrass – referring to the bluegrass influences of the group. So far, Frigg's over 20-year career has taken the band touring around the world, and their discography is already 11 albums deep (including one live album), with 2023's "Perintö" being the latest addition.

Read more

Maija Pokela is a kantele player, singer and folk musician who has toured around the world with her bands. Pokela has an extensive discography with different groups (e.g. Kardemimmit and Enkel) along with other studio work as a guest musician. She has also composed music for the Star Stable Online game. Pokela's debut solo album "Lohdun sanoja" ("Words of Comfort") will be released in April 2025.

Read more

Ánnámáret is Anna Näkkäläjärvi-Länsman, Sámi musician who lives and whose work is based in Nuorgam, northernmost Finland. Her music is inspired by the life and the nature in Sápmi. Ánnámáret’s strength as an artist springs from having grown up between two cultures and, thus, in understanding these cultures and their collisions and similarities. Näkkäläjärvi-Länsman's new band Ánnámáret Luohteilbmi performs traditional Northern Sámi joiks or luohts with fresh global electro arrangements.

Read more

Gulf Stream Riders is a folk/country rock duo with one foot in New York and the other in Turku. The band is an American-Finnish-Swedish collaboration that, in addition to Ahlstedt, consists of the American singer Chris Anderson. Anderson and Ahlstedt have played together since the early 90s, when they had a band called Wighthouse Wanderland. Still these days, the band's multi-instrumentalist and producer Nalle Ahlstedt can be associated with many different music projects.

Read more

Kukka Lehto (violin, keyboards), Tero Pennanen (Hammond B3, keyboards) and Janne Haavisto (drums, percussion) form Pauanne, whose music combines compositions with archived tapes. The trio draws influences from old beliefs and traditions. Their self-titled debut album was released by Nordic Notes in 2019, which was followed by the collaborative album "Barely Ann-Mari" with singer-songwriter Irina Björklund in 2020.

Read more

Minsku Tammela is a storyteller and singer-songwriter with a bluesy voice making Nordic folk with mythical stories in sumptuous layers of organic sound. Tammela's debut solo album Valkoinen hevonen (”White Horse”) (2023), introduces Finnish traditional instruments like kantele and jouhikko (bowed lyre) and brings together a group of top musicians and producers. The music explores the relationship between human and nature.

Read more

Country singer and songwriter Larry Peninsula has been performing extensively in his native Finland while expanding his reach further to perform shows in the USA, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Bulgaria. So far, Peninsula has opened for the likes of Drake Milligan, Ward Hayden & The Outliers, Doug Seegers, Steven 'n' Seagulls, and Grammy Award-winning Redd Volkaert. Following his 2018 debut album “Country Music Only”, Peninsula released two singles in 2024 to build anticipation for his upcoming sophomore full-length.

Read more

Pekko Käppi is a visionary Finnish folk music composer, ethnomusicologist, runo-song researcher, member of e.g. the groundbreaking revivalists Jouhiorkesteri, his own blues-rocking combo K:H:H:L, and folk quartet Ne Lintuizet, and album-award-winning solo artist. His oeuvre revolutionized the standards of playing the ancient Finnish instrument jouhikko, a bowed lyre, by plugging it into an amplifier.

Read more

Markku Lepistö is a folk accordionist with over 30 years of music career. His skills on both diatonic and chromatic accordions have been recognized worldwide. In addition to Lepistö's solo albums, his playing can also be heard on many tracks by Finnish artists. Markku Lepistö's 2024 collaborative album "Duos" made it to the Global Music World Chart's pole position in January 2025.

Read more

Hildá Länsman is a joik singer and songwriter hailing from Ohcejohka, now based in Guovdageaidnu. Immersed in the ancient traditions of reindeer husbandry, artistic handicraft (duodji), and joik (luohti) from a young age, Hildá seamlessly blends her rich cultural heritage with contemporary music and visual arts. Currently, Hildá is immersed in the creation of a pioneering debut album that is set to redefine the boundaries of Sámi music; a collaboration with Tuomas Norvio that fuses artistic electronic joik and dance music, resulting in an unforgettable sound.

Read more

Ne Lintuizet, loosely translating to "The Byrds" – or something similar – is a new Finnish folk supergroup, comprised of Kielo Kärkkäinen, Laura Moisio, Lauri Myllymäki, and Pekko Käppi, out of whom Käppi, Kärkkäinen and Moisio are all successful artists, musicians, and songwriters. Ne Lintuizet's sound combines Finnish and American folk and country traditions, with a strong emphasis on vocal harmonies, fiddles, and acoustic guitars.

Read more

Electro-folkers Hittawanin – described as a kind of "outlaw Kalevala" – released their debut album "Vaka Vaka" in 2024. Some of the album's lyrics originate from the regions of present-day Estonia and Russia. In them, you can hear echoes of wars, longing for love — and the mysticism of the Kalevala. Musically, Hittawanin combines Finnish traditions with electronic sounds, Arabic influences, and Turkish rock psychedelia. The band, founded in 2021 by Mikael Vehkaoja, has already garnered critical acclaim for its danceable and wild tunes. The album was released in collaboration with KordAva Production, which focuses on the music and culture of the Middle East and North Africa.

Read more

Nathan Riki Thomson is a double bass player, multi-instrumentalist, composer, researcher, and educator with a core focus on intercultural dialogue and collaboration. He was born to parents from Aotearoa / New Zealand and raised in Australia on the traditional unceded lands of the Yugambeh and Bundjalung peoples. Nathan has collaborated and performed internationally with musicians from many parts of the world during the past 34 years, including an extensive period of living and working with musicians and dancers in Tanzania and Zambia. After a 10-year period teaching at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, Finland is now his new home, where he leads intercultural arts, research, and community-based initiatives at the University of the Arts, Helsinki.

Read more

In 2012, three Finnish musicians travelled to Cotonou, Benin, discovered a shared musical language with local players and voilá: the critically acclaimed and dancefloor grooving ensemble was born. ”Weather Report meets Fela”, a reviewer from fRoots described Helsinki-Cotonou Ensemble’s debut album Beaucoup de Piment (2013), hitting the nail on the head: jazz, funk, and afrobeat are the main ingredients in the band’s ferocious groove. So far, the infectiously groovy ensemble has released four studio albums and one live offering.

Read more

Désirée Saarela is a Finland-Swedish singer-songwriter and folk singer whose vocal expression is strongly rooted in the folk tradition. The lyrics, the stories and the mood they convey are at the core of her music. Désirée is inspired by her surroundings, by people, relations, the forest, sea, open landscapes, nature itself – and all of this becomes songs. The experience of having moved several times between city and countryside has left its mark on Désirée’s life and also influenced her songs and lyrics.

Read more

Jake and Rambling Blade is an acoustic Americana band with influences from bluegrass and country. Gathered around singer-songwriter Jakob “Jake” Frankenhaeuser (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo) – a founding member of the Nordic folk group Gjallarhorn in the nineties – the group consists of Anders “Asa” Nyman (acoustic guitar, lap steel) – also known from thrash metallers Final Assault and Jukka Puurula (double bass) known from the locally popular rock band Don Huonot. J&RB started playing gigs together in 2022 and quickly became known for their lively and energetic live appearance.

Read more

Acoustic guitarist Soul Traveler combines his atmospheric fingerstyle guitars with ritualistic percussion, poetry, and imagery to tell stories inspired by life, death, and the journeys within, falling under the Nordic folk umbrella.

Read more

Päivi Hirvonen is a Helsinki based musician and composer – violin, voice and bowed lyre as her instruments. During her career as professional musician she has played music from folk and popular to classical and performed both solo and with different ensembles and bands touring in Finland and abroad. Päivi’s debut solo album “Alku – The Beginning” was released in 2018 by Nordic Notes. It was followed by "Kallio" (2022), which pushed Hirvonen's international and domestic career further.

Read more

Salamakannel made three albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which were at the forefront of Finnish contemporary folk music at the time. Salamakannel's personal sound is created by a chorus of various stringed instruments. The band's new, fourth album, released in 2024, ranges from heart-wrenchingly beautiful melodies to church bells, Chicago waltz, polska, and Finnish popular dance music oompah, humppa.

Read more

A Finnish mainstay, Tallari has been active in the folk scene for 40 years already with shifting lineups. Some of the most famous Finnish folk musicians – Arto Järvelä, Esko Järvelä, Katri Haukilahti, and Sampo Korva – are in the latest incarnation of Tallari, which was presented in 2019. Their instruments include the ubiquitous fiddle and 2-row accordion, but also nyckelharpa and its Finnish versio, the esseharpa. The band's constantly changing repertoire covers a wide range of domestic folk music with an emphasis on the western Finnish violin-driven tradition, including the evergreens of the Kaustinen tradition, as well as originals.

Read more

Sinimuso brings together five female musicians from different ethnic groups of Mali as well as two Finnish musicians, Jenni Hanikka and Marjo Smolander. Sinimuso's music fuses Malian and Finnish traditions. Finno-Ugric Kalevala poem songs and old kantele melodies meet with Sahara blues, groovy Bambara beats, wild dance, and soulful Peul melodies. A central person in Sinimuso is the Malian musician Salome Dembélé, whose wide networks and expertise in old Malian music traditions are a significant resource for this project.

Read more

Jaakko Laitinen & Väärä Raha's music is an interesting combination of Balkan Roma grooves, Russian romances and old Finnish tango and humppa. The group, established in 2009, has won recognition and released six critically acclaimed albums, and also become very on-demand live act due to their wild live performances.

Read more

Venla llona Blom is a multi-award-winning vocalist, composer and beatboxer from Finland. She has toured around the world with her internationally acclaimed band Tuuletar and worked as a soloist in various projects with big bands, symphony orchestras and choirs. Blom is specialised in extended vocal techniques, vocal percussions and traditional singing styles deriving from Scandinavian and Slavic folk music and also trained as a classical singer. Venla Ilona Blom’s debut solo album “Nevrak” is slated for release in September 2024.

Read more

Wishamalii is set up by three adventurous musicians from very different geological and musical backgrounds: Award-winning Finnish composer and pianist Kari Ikonen, an original in today's music panorama, who on this project uses the Maqiano™ Microtuning System, that allows him to play the Arabic maqamat on acoustic piano; Palestinian-Jordanian singer, oudist and composer Nemat Battah, an active and appreciated musician in the creative Global Music scene in Finland and Sweden; and Ethiopian-born Abdissa "Mamba" Assefa is by far the most prominent percussionist in Finland. The name Wishamalii refers to the Nordic way of interpreting the Arab-Andalusian Muwashah-songs, yet most of its repertoire is original music specially written for this band.

Read more

Folk quintet Kasvu (which translates to "growth") present themselves as "a love letter to biodiversity". While the band plays contemporary folk music, their lyrics draw from ancient Finnish folk poetry, as well as the contemporary poetry of Henriikka Tavi. Kasvu consists of Lotta Hagfors (vocals), Vesa Norilo (cello), Olli Kari (accordion, mandolin), Oskari Lehtonen (percussion) and Kirsi Vinkki (violin, bowed lyre).

Read more

Marianne Maans is a versatile professional folk musician who performs both solo and with various ensembles. Her specialty is Finnish-Swedish folk music, and his interest extends to contemporary music styles, improvisation and Argentine tango. Maans works actively in many different music projects, courses, workshops etc. She graduated with a Master of Music from the folk music department of the Sibelius Academy and is also a trained community musician who specializes in healing music.

Read more

Duo Emilia Lajunen & Suvi Oskala duo is comprised of two fiddle players, both established and widely renowned Finnish folk musicians, who combine their knowledge of Finnish folk tradition with masterful fiddle playing. Their repertoire offers powerful playing and visionary interpretations of both traditional tunes and commission compositions combined with the duo’s rich and unique sound. During their career, the two fiddlers have played in Finland, China, South Korea, India, and the Nordic countries, among others. In 2019, they were one of the showcase artists at WOMEX. The duo has also been noted for their cycling tours. The duo’s 3rd album "Toisjalkainen" was in spring 2024 by Nordic Notes.

Read more

South-Karelian-Helsinki music collective Dänkki Briha – self proclaimed "synergistic connection of nostalgic longing and modern expression" – is inspired by Finnish-Ingerian-Karelian folklore, myths and cityscapes. Passionate about art and folk poetry. The "anti-folk" band fuses together theatrical expression, Baltic Finnish cultural heritage and an ultra-modern soundscape. The end result of Juho Liira's vocals, Matias Kontula's electric violin and Manu Penttilä's production is a "unique ethno-futuristic banger machine" that works on stage as it does on record. Their music is sung in Finnish, Karelian and Inger, with some original lyrics and some directly from folk poetry archives.

Read more

Accordion experimentalist Antti Paalanen has created his own sound with his diatonic instrument, which he uses to weave hypnotic and minimalistic tunes that tell stories about the world of today. On his songs Paalanen screams at his accordion, kicks the floor and hits the bellows. Alongside his solo career, Antti Paalanen is a member of several folk music line-ups such as Hehkumo, Hyperborea, Laitakaupungin- orkesteri, Kiharakolmio, Trepaanit and Turkka ja Paalanen.

Read more

Many were surprised when 22-Pistepirkko's PK Keränen – one of Finland's most respected rock musicians – joined together with Leija Lautamaja, a Helsinki-based artist and musician specialised in Finnish and Nordic folk music. On the duo’s new Moontwins project Keränen's stomp blues and piano ballads meet Lautamaja's melodeon playing.

Read more