Frode Haltli

Avant Folk

with Sam Amidon & Helga Myhr

In historic notes on folk music in Appalachia, Frode Haltli has discovered American relatives of Norwegian medieval ballads. The stories from 1916–1918 revolve around everything from sibling rivalry and knights to highway robbery and the pursuit of honour and eternal love.

In this new work, Avant Folk trails the musical family tree across the Atlantic. They are joined by American singer and multi-instrumentalist Sam Amidon, and fiddle player and singer Helga Myhr from Hallingdal. Amidon often works with traditional American ballads, hymns, and work songs, with The New York Times writing that the musician "transforms all of the songs, changing their colors and loading them with trapdoors."

Since its inception in 2017, Frode Haltli Avant Folk has played music somewhere in the triangle between jazz, contemporary music, and folk music. The collective of soloists spans generations and genres, and they have three releases under their name: Avant Folk, Avant Folk II og Avant Folk Triptyk.

Photo: Knut Utler.

Contributors

• Frode Haltli Avant Folk:

• Frode Haltli accordeon

• Erlend Apneseth Hardanger fiddle

• Hans P. Kjorstad fiddle

• Rolf-Erik Nystrøm saxophone

• Hildegunn Øiseth trumpet, bukkehorn (goat horn)

• Ståle Storløkken organ, synthesizer

• Juhani Silvola guitars

• Oddrun Lilja Jonsdottir guitar, voice

• Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson double bass

• Per Oddvar Johansen drums

• Sam Amidon voice, fiddle, guitar, banjo

• Helga Myhr voice, Hardanger fiddle