Day 80: Music to my ears

Day one of the Stockholm Folk Festival at Hesselby Slott drew to close for me a couple of hours ago with a great blues trio (two Americans and a Swede, mandolin, guitar and harmonica) who sang blue grass blues, both old time and original. The party continued for everyone else and as I stood on the subway platform 3/4 of a kilometer away, I could hear the fabulous Latin band that was playing on the main stage.

It was truly terrific to spend the day immersed in music. My favorite (although not the best musically by a long shot) was UFIS (Ung folkmusik i Stockholm), a group of 20 or so youngsters playing authentic Swedish folk tunes on fiddle, cello, guitar and horns. They were inspired and inspiring. It made me so happy to see youngsters who were interested in making this kind of music together. And it turns out that they'd been playing as a group for fewer than 48 hours! Their performance was the culmination of a course that began at Hesselby Slott on the day before the festival. Amazing what they were able to achieve in such a short time.

If you're in town tomorrow, you should stop by. Tomorrow's line-up looks very promising. Here is a link to the schedule: http://hesselbyslottstockholmfolkfestival.se/program-2

And here is UFIS: