Kallomäki combines dark folk elements with a modern rock/metal sound, using an electric bowed lyre, which gives a special sound to their songs. Kallomäki was founded in 2018 and has since released three albums: “Roka Ukri (2018)”, “Uuden kuun aika I & II (2020, double album)”, and “Huunpurema” (2023). So far, the band has performed live in their native Finland, Germany, Ireland, Estonia, and Lithuania.

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Formed by Marouf Majidi, Esko Grundström and Tomi Saikkonen, Mood Suprim blends Sufi musical traditions, Finnish folk music, hip hop, electronic music and Middle Eastern rhythms into a distinctive contemporary expression in their dance-oriented live performance. The trio's main songwriter and vocalist is Marouf Majidi, also known from his solo career. Mood Suprim's 2026 album "Mustien perhosten silta" brings Kurdish and Sámi musical traditions together with Sámi artists Ulla Pirttijärvi, Ulpu Mattus and Hanna-Maria Kiprianoff, representing three Sámi languages (Northern, Inari and Skolt Sámi).

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On her latest album "Surun synty" (The birth of sorrow), singer/songwriter Emmi Kuittinen deals with the theme of sorrow: ”I wanted to explore the nature of sorrow in music and what different kinds of sounds melancholy has”, she explains. Her music contains layers all the way from old runosongs and laments to more modern songs and schlagers. Beside Kuittinen’s own compositions and lyrics, the album includes material from Karelia, Ingria, Finland and Sweden. The album's music was performed by Kuittinen (mandolin, accordion, kantele, vocals), along with Antti Rask, Mimmi Laaksonen and Kirsi Vinkki.

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Aizhan Sultan’s performances weave the traditional throat-singing style of Kazakh Terme with jaw harp and frame drum, enriched by the atmospheric live electronics of Finnish musician Saku Liimatainen. Her music reflects an extraordinary journey: from northern Kazakhstan and early studies in piano, pop and jazz to television exposure on X-Factor Ukraine, classical vocal training in Italy and Lithuania, and doctoral research at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy. Today, Sultan explores the decolonisation of her artistic identity, examining how racism, sexism and ableism shape artistic expression, accessibility and inclusion.

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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.

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The singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Vilma Jää mixes hundreds-of-years-old stories with today’s electronic music. She combines ancient instruments such as the kantele and harmonium with synthetic beats, sometimes more clubby and sometimes more chilled-out. She is also known for her breakthrough role in "Innocence," an international opera phenomenon by the late Kaija Saariaho. Vilma Jää's second solo album, "Loitsui ja taikoi," was released in 2026 via the Lördag record label.

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Kajos is a contemporary folk trio drawing on mythology, nature, and ritualistic Nordic traditions to create an immersive, cinematic sound. Their music blends primal vocal expression, soaring cello melodies, pulsating rhythms, and ancient incantations into a live experience that feels both timeless and immediate. The group features vocalist-composer Sini Koskelainen, known from Tuuletar, alongside cellist-composer Susanna Syrjäläinen and drummer Oskari Lehtonen. Together, they merge folk, classical and contemporary influences into immersive performances that connect tradition with a contemporary sensibility.

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Huippu (stylized in all caps) is a fresh six-piece band that composes and performs contemporary folk music. Influenced by Nordic and Irish folk traditions, the band creates a sound that combines melody and rhythm in a modern approach. Huippu debuted with "Haikankärki" in 2025 and quickly followed up with their 2nd full-length album, "Huiputusta," in 2026.

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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.

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Jenni Venäläinen is a versatile kantele player and singer specialised in the Karelian kantele tradition and improvisation. In her project Melkutus Party, the old dancing tunes played by kantele are transformed into modern dancing party tunes with EDM influences. Venäläinen graduated from the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts in 2019 and has performed internationally, e.g., in Nordic and Baltic countries.

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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.

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Ykspihlajan Kino-orkesteri transports listeners into the smoky atmosphere of Finnish schlager and film music from the 1950s and 1960s. Originally founded to compose and perform the score for Juho Kuosmanen’s films, the three-part vocal group is made up of three sisters: actresses Anna Airola and Oona Airola, and their sister Laura Airola. The ensemble performs Finnish-language songs inspired by the style and spirit of Italian schlager music of the 1950s and 1960s. Ykspihlajan Kino-orkesteri has performed everywhere from under the bridges of Helsinki’s Hakaniemi district to the Cannes Film Festival, with their travels taking them as readily to Karkkila as to California.

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Big and dazzling new Finnish folk ensemble, Folk All FIN Band features a line-up of familiar names from the top of the Finnish folk music scene. Following in the footsteps of their Swedish friends Folk All-in Band (FAB), Folk All FIN Band brings megalomaniac versions of Finnish and Nordic folk tunes. Their debut single, "Wirtaa Tilkka", is a medley of two tunes – arranged by Aili Järvelä – bringing together the traditional Wirtaan polska from Lohtaja and Tilkkapolkka, composed by Timo Alakotila and familiar to folk music fans from the repertoire of the legendary JPP.

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Folk duo Cienna was founded in 2020 by Kaisa Leskinen and Senni Eskelinen. A dense interweaving of human vocal and electro acoustic kantele, Cienna can sound like an entire orchestra. You may hear echoes from folk and country of the 1960s and 1970s in their music. Singer Kaisa Leskinen became widely known after her success in Voice of Finland competition in 2021, while Senni Eskelinen is one of Finland’s leading kantele players.

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Viivi Maria Saarenkylä is an award-winning Finnish accordion artist. The luminous musician and music creative has toured and collaborated extensively around the world in solo as well as with her signature groups Northflip and VILDÁ.

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Fresh and young folk-fusion band from Kaustinen – where else – combines Finnish traditional folk fiddling, pop-friendly melodies, and an energetic sound that at times even draws inspiration from classic/hard rock. The six-piece released their first singles in 2025, and the following year they were chosen for the showcase program at Kaustinen Folk Festival.

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Uni uni is a duo specialized in "energetic ambient and dreamy electronic pop" with archaic instruments such as the jouhikko (bowed lyre). Emerging in the Finnish folk scene in early 2023 with their debut single "Pyöriäinen", the Helsinki-based duo consists of Ella Isotalo (violin, bowed lyre, viola, ilimba, live looping) and Mikko H. Haapoja (synths, programming, bowed lyre, vocals).

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Maria Kalaniemi, a master of free-bass button accordion, is also a doctor of music and a long term instrument pedagogue, who has performed with numerous bands, released nearly twenty records and played on many more. Kalaniemi has also collaborated with the best folk musicians in the North.

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South-Karelian-Helsinki music collective Dänkki Briha – self-proclaimed "synergistic connection of nostalgic longing and modern expression" – is inspired by Finnish-Ingrian-Karelian folklore, myths, and cityscapes. Passionate about art and folk poetry. The "anti-folk" band fuses theatrical expression, Baltic Finnish cultural heritage, and an ultra-modern soundscape. The 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 Ingrian, with some original lyrics and some directly from folk poetry archives.

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The collaboration of Halme Prospekt, the band of famed Finnish saxophonist, flutist, and composer Hepa Halme, and Togolese singer Queen Djenny Djella (Djanei Angele Toyisson, pictured) started accidentally in Benin in 2023. After one single release in 2024, Halme and Queen Djenny Djella started producing and recording more music half in Finland and half in Benin, leading to the release of the album "Music Is My Truth" in 2026. The album has been called an amalgamation of styles as varied as afrobeat, jazz, blues, rock, Beninese vodún, and even tango.

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Based in Kokkola, Antti Paalanen combines diatonic accordion, rowdy throat singing, and electronic influences in his solo work. His musical background spans folk music studies at the Sibelius Academy and doctoral research focused on developing new music for the diatonic accordion. Paalanen has released five solo albums, most recently "Haitarimarinadi" (2026), in addition to recordings with various ensembles. His performances have taken him across Europe, North America, China, Russia, and Japan. On his wild live shows, Paalanen creates layered arrangements of bass, harmony, melody, vocals, and percussion as a solo performer.

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Helsinki-based electro-folk band Okra Playground was formed in 2010. On this musical playground, the kantele and bowed lyre, both ancient folk instruments, coexist in a new, exciting symbiosis with modern instruments and soundscapes. In 2016, the group played the official showcase of WOMEX and released their debut album "Turmio", which received a five-star review from Songlines Magazine. Okra Playground's sophomore album "Ääneni yli vesien" (My Voice Over the Water) was released in 2018, and their 3rd one, "Itku", saw the light of day in 2022.

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Matias and the Canyons is better known as the solo project of Herman, the banjo guy of Steve 'n' Seagulls. His debut album, "Echoes of the Canyon," was released in May 2026 with nine cool, laid-back Americana-style folk-pop tunes.

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Finnish singer-songwriter Silja Palomäki makes her solo debut with an album that brings together contemporary folk, rock, elements of symphonic progressive music, and poetic storytelling. The album's songs explore enduring themes of love, death, and the fragility of human life through a collection of dark narratives. The album features contributions from several Finnish musicians, including folk artist Pekko Käppi on vocals and jouhikko, guitarist and producer Tapio Ylinen (Mortality, 5th Season), bassist Jukka Haavisto, and drummer Jaakko Pöyhönen, known from the band Tinyhawk & Bizzarro.

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Loimolan Voima writes contemporary Karelian folk music with roots embedded deep in the soil of the Border Karelian region. The two man band is composed of brothers Mika ”Miša” Saatsi and Niko ”Miikkula” Saatsi. Miša is the bands’ composer and Miikkula writes their lyrics in Karelian. The Saatsi brothers descend from the Karelian commune of Suistamo and are on a mission to sing the endangered Karelian language into public notice. Loimolan Voima released their award-winning debut album "Ruttomuzikan kyynäl" in 2020.

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Blues singer, guitarist, harmonica player, and author Jantso Jokelin's music combines acoustic blues with contemporary folk songwriting. His songs draw on atmospheric storytelling, blending traditional blues themes with literary influences, personal experiences, and fictional narratives. Alongside his solo work, Jokelin has performed with a range of bands and ensembles, exploring musical traditions including Middle Eastern music, klezmer, jazz, and beatboxing. He has received several international and national recognitions, including third prize at the World Harmonica Contest in Germany and a special prize for his solo performance at the 2025 European Blues Challenge in Split, Croatia. Jokelin has also written several books, including the first comprehensive harmonica guide published in Finnish.

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Suistamon Sähkö performs new Karelian dance music with electronics, Russian toy accordion, power of song, rap and manic moves. Crazy music scientists Anne-Mari Kivimäki and Eero Grundström create new Suistamo dance music with a Notka accordion and electronics. Add two dancing vocalists Reetta-Kaisa Iles and Tuomas Juntunen and this visual folktronica act will make you dance yourself into a trance.

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Fiddler and composer Veera Kuisma describes her music as "rhythmic Nordic folk music and hypnotic soundscapes". Her debut album "Rautavuo" was released in 2026.

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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.

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Surento is a vocal ensemble consisting of three singers and practitioners of the Karelian lament tradition: Liisa Matveinen, Emmi Kuittinen, and Emilia Kallonen. Specializing in Karelian and Ingrian folk music, the trio performs both traditional lament songs and newly composed works inspired by the tradition, alongside runo singing and vocal improvisation. Their performances feature vocal harmonies accompanied by kantele and ukulele.

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Slack Bird is a punk folk band as well as the solo vehicle for singer-songwriter Dave Klas. During their existence, Slack Bird has toured abroad with various lineups, the most active of which has been the duo version with accordionist Susanna Leppänen and Klas. Thus far, Slack Bird has released four albums: "Let's Start Wearing Capes" (2016), "Aleta Au" (2018), "Hämärään" (2021), and "Jos emme saa tanssia" (2025).

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Ida Elina has demonstrated the versatility of the Finnish national instrument, the kantele, in the 2010s. She is a skilled singer and pop kantele performer, gaining attention on YouTube with her covers of popular songs by artists like Michael Jackson, Adele, and Toto, which have accumulated hundreds of thousands of views. In addition to her cover songs, she has developed her own style as a songwriter, incorporating gospel influences alongside pop elements. Trained in classical music, Ida Elina developed her distinctive playing technique after observing slap guitar players on YouTube.

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Vilma Talvitie is a singer, composer-lyricist and multi-instrumentalist who creates bridges between pop, global and folk music. In her music, Finnish folk aesthetics and acoustic instruments (piano, accordion, strings) exist in harmony with electronic beats and catchy pop melodies. Having lived in several different countries and continents – Europe, South America and Asia – the nomadic lifestyle has left a distinctive mark on Talvitie's music.

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Tytti Metsä ja Hyypiöt is a trio that gave its first performance at the Midnight Sun Film Festival in 2024. The group's debut album "Yhteistä rytmii" was released in 2026. Frontwoman Tytti Metsä is a singer, songwriter, and jouhikko player whose work has helped bring the traditional bowed lyre to new audiences. The trio brings together experienced musicians with long careers in Finnish folk, roots, and popular music: Janne Haavisto on drums and percussion, and Miikka Paatelainen on double bass & steel guitar. The group's sound combines the raw timbre of the jouhikko and Metsä's vocals with double bass and percussion, drawing on Finnish folk traditions as well as American roots music.

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Finnish singer-songwriter Aaron Barone writes and performs contemporary country music with influences from traditional country and rock. Raised in the small town of Hollola, he developed an early interest in the genre through artists such as Toby Keith, Eric Church, and Chris Stapleton, which led him to begin writing songs on acoustic guitar. His first four singles were written solely by him and produced by Finnish country artist and producer Jyrki "Jykä" Sirainen. His debut full-length album is scheduled for release in summer 2026.

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