Multe Music: Exploring the roots, shoots and fruits of Scandinavian and Nordic traditions
Multe, or Cloudberry in English, is a rare fruit that is found through Scandinavia. It's also the name of a talented band, which plays acoustic music from the Nordic countries.
Multe, a band of five talented musicians based in Northfield, Minnesota, shares its traditional Nordic music on the web.
The band Multe takes its name from the Scandinavian root word for cloudberry, the rare slow-growing sub-arctic bramble fruit found throughout the Nordic countries. A wild plant, it needs sunny exposure and grows in acidic ground where other crops are not possible. The taste is both tart and sweet—like life itself. That’s Multe!
Multe plays traditional acoustic music from the Nordic countries and their immigrant communities in North America. It’s music with an incredible energy and drive that is different from other Northern European styles of traditional music. Most of the music they play is dance music: waltz, polka, schottis / reinlender, tango, hambo, snoa, pols, polska and more!
Multe is committed not only to sharing traditional Nordic music, but to learning it well. Some of the members have spent countless hours dancing and playing with musicians in the Nordic countries — from small huts on farms to festival hall dance floors. A number of Multe members regularly study with “tradition bearers” and master teachers through personal instruction and courses offered in Norden and North America, allowing Multe to learn and polish their material “in tradition,” adding an authenticity and ease to Multe’s performances and presentations.
Multe grew out of the rich Scandinavian music and heritage scene in Northfield, Minnesota USA. Members of Multe have performed at folk music/dance venues in Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the USA, including the American Swedish Institute, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Musik ved Siljan, Nisswastamman, Nordlek, Norsk Hostfest, the Norwegian Folk Museum, Stavanger’s Emigration Festival, among others.
Band member Ruth Marie Sylte writes and produces a weekly show about Nordic music with a heavy dose of Norwegian emphasis. The show is called “Multe Music” — exploring the roots, shoots and fruits of Scandinavian and Nordic traditions — and is available on-air, streaming online as well as by podcasts and downloadable files. In other words, 24/7 availability. If you’re in southeast Minnesota, tune into KYMN 1080 AM on Saturdays at 1 p.m., or listen anywhere in the world online at http://kymnradio.net. Downloads of past show episodes are available at http://multemusic.com.
Sylte also maintains the show’s informative blog at multemusic.com, which features videos, news stories, and more in the Nordic music scene. With its continual updates and postings, there is always something new to see on multemusic.com! Downloads of past shows can be found on multemusic.com.
To learn more about Multe, visit:
http://www.myspace.com/rmsylte
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Multe-Music/67894995399
http://www.twitter.com/multemusic
http://www.last.fm/user/rmsylte
