The author with Pekka Kuusisto at the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival 2016. Photo by Risto Savolainen
Written by Tove Djupsjöbacka
Quite often people ask me how I discovered folk music. The question is, was it ever lost, did I really have to find it separately? My own answer is that, although folk music has always been part of the picture in some way, it had to be discovered and appropriated separately and actively.
For example, I had to learn some of the names of the authors, so that I knew who was making the music and where to find it. Once you get hold of one thread, you can unravel it and find others like it. Do you like About Pekko Käpinen? Then you'll probably find Peko's own albums first, then all the other albums Pekko is involved with, then all the albums of Pekko's partners... And the journey never ends!
For me, three things were decisive in my active discovery of folk music. The live band, whose enthusiasts actively listened to folk music (Garmarna was the number one band at the time), and the choirs, which sang everything from Gjallarhorn to South African folk songs.
What about the third and perhaps most important? Well, of course, the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival! Without Kaustis, I would definitely not be working with folk music. In Kaustinen I have experienced everything from poetry singing to Guinean national ballet, and everything in between. Once upon a time, there was a teenage girl who experienced the Taraf de Haïdouks in Kaustie, with the result that she had to go home, remove the strings from the bow to get that famous, impossibly cool coiling effect on the violin...
In the beginning, it was all about following certain bands, but nowadays it also tries to leave room for surprises. Who knows when JPP will get up on a milk dock and play a surprise acoustic gig in broad daylight? When you finally get a coffee break, you might find a top band with a coffee cake next door. Sometimes it's dizzying to scroll through the programme, because there's so much on offer. My personal tip for handheld programme navigation: try to see as many different stages as possible. The same performer can be completely different at Café Mondo than at Pelimannitalo. The intimate, acoustic venues are unrivalled for atmosphere. Last year, the new Mauno Macaque made a particular impression.
For a first-timer, the journey to Kaustinen can be mentally long. ”It's so far away,” people say, wondering how to get there or if there's anywhere to stay. But if you dare to make the trip, you risk a bad addiction - after that, you're bound to go to the folk music festival every year. There you can throw yourself into the good vibes for a whole week, because for once, the folk music lover is by no means marginalised. But among their own kind.
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The author is the Information Manager of the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival 2017, a Helsinki-based music journalist and mixed cultural worker. His own cultural blog can be found at www.pinnanalla.fi And as you might guess from the surname, the roots are in the village of Djupsjöbacka, 7 km southwest of Kaustinen.