by Kip Lornell
The distinctive, localized styles of rural dance and music imported from the old country inevitably evolved into Norwegian American styles. The older couple dances—springer, pols, and springleik—gave way to the more generalized European forms of polkas and waltzes. Although the use of the Hardanger fiddle declined during the twentieth century, conventional fiddles remained the lead melodic instrument. They were slowly augmented by both button and piano accordions. Greater contact with other Scandinavian Americans, particularly Swedes, and “Americans” led to a broader repertoire. A study of Norwegian American instrumental music conducted by ethnomusicologist LeRoy Larson in the early 1970s concluded that approximately 10 percent were of Norwegian origin and another 10 percent were from Sweden. Even Norwegian Americans were not immune to the process of regional adaptation, which accounts for the ability of musicians to perform music for specific ethnic groups or a more general Scandinavian American audience.
Norwegian swing
Early in the twentieth century Norwegian American folk music was still heard in informal public events, such as a barn-raising, or homes but dance halls slowly emerged as the location of choice for this music, and a semiprofessional circuit of musicians and “barn dance” halls developed during the 1920s. Thorstein Skarning and his Norwegian Hillbillies were among the bands that played for dances in barns that no longer held cattle but were specifically engaged for such events. They worked the same circuit as other Scandinavian American bands such as the Viking Accordion Band and Ted Johnson and His Scandinavian Orchestra. These small ensembles of between five and ten pieces often included not only fiddle and accordions but also a variety of reed and brass instruments that performed arrangements of older folk dance tunes.
By the late 1930s such “ethnic” bands had paralleled a trend in American country music by groups like the Hoosier Hotshots to professionalize. Both styles moved to increase the size of their ensembles by adding reed and brass players to augment the basic ensemble of stringed instruments. In this respect they became more similar to the small swing bands of Benny Goodman or Glen Miller. Their core repertoire of old-time instrumentals did not change, but it was augmented by popular dance tunes and novelty songs to appeal to a wider audience. Informal attire was replaced by either matching suits or “hayseed” rural costumes consisting of overalls, plaid shirts, and straw hats, which helped to solidify their rural, down-home image.
These tactics worked for a while; they transformed Norwegian American folk music into a format that was more palatable for a larger audience until the close of World War II, when this music faced a sharp decline and most of the bands retired. A cadre of musicians playing more traditional styles of Norwegian American music remained, though they rarely performed in public. Such musicians have become more apparent during the revitalization of old-time music that began in the middle 1970s.
Contemporary Norwegian American folk music
Twenty-first-century Norwegian American folk music, which is largely instrumental, can be heard at monthly dances held at community centers or in the homes of older musicians. It is also one of the drawing cards for the annual Norwegian festivals held in Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, and other small communities in central Minnesota. The Nordic Fest at Decorah, Iowa, hosts an annual three-day old-time music program, while in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, there is a smaller Scandinavian musical festival. Perhaps the largest such event is the fiddle contest at Yankton, South Dakota. Because the crowds can sometimes grow quite large, it is not uncommon for these bands to use amplifiers or amplified instruments. The music is presented as an important manifestation of Norwegian culture and people often ask for the old tunes, waltzes, polkas, and reinlanders (a Norwegian variant of the schottische) that they heard fifty or sixty years ago.
Accordions and fiddles have moved back to the front of the band and they are often backed up by guitars, pianos, or a bass guitar. The musicians themselves tend to be in their sixties and seventies with a sprinkling of younger folks learning the repertoire. The repertoire tends to be eclectic, mixing some older Norwegian American tunes such as “Tutlut’s Waltz” with pieces learned from contemporary visiting Norwegian musicians or from tapes of Norwegian folk music. Distinctly Bohemian, Irish, and Swedish American tunes learned from other Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin residents form another part of the repertoire. The music tends to be played in simple or compound duple or triple meter with contrasting ab sections. The texture is not very dense and the dynamic range falls into the middle and is rather narrow. The overall feeling is one of very clearly articulated and melodic playing underpinned by a steady rhythm meant for dancing, yet there is enough subtle rhythmic interest to keep even the most demanding listeners tapping their toes in anticipation of the next variation.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The study of ethnic (folk) music in the United States in not nearly as advanced as our analysis and writings about Anglo-American and African American traditions. This is partially because the work of folklorists, anthropologists, and ethnomusicologists has only recently concerned itself with the musical worlds found inside the political boundaries of the United States. The music itself is as varied as the ethnic and racial groups, but for Americans who live outside of these ethnic traditions, this music sounds fresh and new.
Ethnic music in the twenty-first century is infused by popular culture more quickly and readily than by folk culture. This results in music, such as contemporary urban manifestations like Puerto Rican salsa or South African high life, that lies on the edge of our scope. Revitalization movements that began in the late 1960s and early 1970s (which were further inspired by Roots) not only reinvigorated indigenous musical traditions, they also helped to place the spotlight on several of the ethnic groups described in this chapter. Finally, the popular and scholarly interest in “world music” has further highlighted interest in once all-but-invisible ethnic musical communities that proliferate across the United States.
KEY FIGURES AND TERMS
badkhn
Dewey Balfa
bygdelags
Cajun
Clifton Chenier
creolization
Frances Densmore
ethnic
Hardanger fiddle
hula
Joseph Kekuku
klezmer
Pan-Indian movement
peyote
powwow
revitalization
revival
slack-key guitar
swamp pop
Dave Tarras
vocables
Whoopie John Wilfahrt
zydeco
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Clifton Chenier. Live at St. Mark’s. Arhoolie 313. There are many fine Chenier albums on Arhoolie, but this live performance is particularly compelling.
Flaco Jimenez. Flaco’s First. Arhoolie 370. The early commercial recordings (1956–58) by this giant of conjunto accordion can be found here.
Kapelye. Future and Present. Rounder 249. A set of traditional and more forward-looking klezmer by one of the premier groups of the revival.
Klezmer Plus. Featuring Sid Beckerman and Howie Leess. Flying Fish 70488. A well-integrated mix of younger and veteran musicians and an interesting repertoire make this a valuable release.
Dennis McGee. The Complete Early Recordings. Yazoo 2012. The title sums it up nicely: twenty-six by one of the acknowledged masters of Cajun fiddling with accompaniment by Ernest Fruge and Sady Courville.
Andy Statman. The Andy Statman Klezmer Orchestra. Shanachie 21004. An early (1983) set by one of the pioneering groups in the new wave of klezmer music. It features a rather unusual lineup of bass, guitar, french horn (doubling on trumpet), and clarinet (with a mandolin double).
Jimmy Sturr. Come Share the Wine! Rounder 6116. Born (and still living) a mere sixty-six miles north of New York City in Florida, New York, this 2007 release underscores why Sturr (a multi-Grammy-winning Irishman) remains the king of our polka nation.
Dave Tarra
s. Yiddish-American Klezmer Music 1925–1956. Yazoo 7001. The definitive survey of this most influential of the genre’s clarinet players.
Donald Thibodeaux. Fred’s Hot Steps. Arhoolie 9006. A fun recording by this old-style Cajun accordionist.
Various. Borderlands: From Conjunto to Chicken Scratch. Smithsonian Folkways 40418. A collection that covers conjunto from the lower Rio Grande valley up through the older style of music performed by the Yaqui Indians in southern Arizona.
Various. Cajun Fais Do-Do. Arhoolie 416. An anthology of older style Cajun music by Nathan Abshire, Adam Landrenear, and others recorded in the 1970s.
Various. Cajun Social Music. Smithsonian Folkways 40006. This collection of recordings from the 1970s includes performances by Nathan Abshire, Hector Duhon, and Marc Savoy.
Various. Chicken Scratch. Canyon 6093. An anthology of Southwestern styles featuring Elvin Kelly, Los Reyes, and the Molinas.
Various. Conjunto! Texas-Mexican Border Music, 3 vols. Rounder 6023/24/30. A well-annotated, three-volume sampler featuring some of the recent masters of the genre—Flaco Jimenez, Santiago Jimenez, etc.
Various. Corridos y Tragedias de la Frontera, 1928–37 [“Tragic Corrdios of the Frontier”]. Folklyric 7019/20. A two-CD set of classic border ballads that comes with a 168-page book!
Various. Creation’s Journey: Native American Music. Smithsonian Folkways 40410. Taken from 1992 and 1993 recordings, this collection includes powwow music, Christian songs sung in Cherokee by Native Americans living in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bolivia.
Various. Deep Polka: Dance Music from the Midwest. Smithsonian Folkways 40088. Twenty-six contemporary recordings by polka bands that reflect the German, Danish, Finnish, Czech, Croatian, and Norwegian heritage of the upper Midwest.
Various. Deeper Polka: More Dance Music from the Midwest. Smithsonian Folkways SFW40140. A follow-up to Deep Polka that is well documented and delightful and that covers seven different midwestern polka traditions.
Various. Fifteen Early Tejano Classics. Arhoolie 109. A reissued sampler including a variety of styles including rancheras, polkas, and boleros that were originally recorded in the 1940s and 1950s.
Various. Hawaiian Drum Dance Chants: Sounds of Power in Time. Smithsonian Folkways 40015. A sweeping anthology of isolo chants and chants accompanied by dancers, drums, and percussion recorded between 1923 and 1989.
Various. Honor the Earth Powwow. Rykodisc 10199. Performances by Minnesota and Wisconsin Ojibewa as well as Menominee and Winnebago singers are heard on this recording made in the 1991 event of the same name.
Various. Jakie, Jazz ’Em Up—Old Time Klezmer Music 1912–26. Global Village C-101. A lively collection of vintage klezmer recordings by Abe Schwartz, Art Shryer’s Modern Jewish Orchestra, and others.
Various. Klezmer Pioneers: 1905–1952. Rounder 1089. A collection that includes some of the best recordings of Abe Schwartz and other early greats.
Various. La Musique Creole. Arhoolie 591. A sampler of creolized African American/French music from Louisiana spotlighting Canray Fontenot and Alphonse “Bois Sec” Ardoin.
Various. Louisiana Cajun and Creole Music: The Newport Field Recordings. Rounder CD 011661612129. These down-home recordings from 1964 to 1967 mark the first time that some of these folks recorded and most of them performed outside of their communities.
Various. Mademoiselle, Voulez-vous Danser? Smithsonian Folkways 40116. This set, subtitled “Franco-American Music from the New England Borderlands,” contains country dance tunes, call-and-response soiree songs, fiddle tunes, and a cappella lyric songs recorded throughout New England during the late 1990s. A helpful booklet makes this the best volume of its kind.
Various. Music of New Mexico: Hispanic Traditions. Smithsonian Folkways 40409. Ballads, lyric folk songs, and sacred selections are among the genres represented on the twenty-six-track anthology that was recorded in the early 1990s.
Various. Music of New Mexico: Native American Traditions. Smithsonian Folkways 40408. Music by Pueblo, Navajo, and Mescalero Apache are included in this set, which nicely complements the Hispanic Traditions compilation.
Various. Navajo Songs. Smithsonian Folkways 40403. This collection of songs recorded in the 1930s and 1940s surveys the rich variety of Navajo vocal music.
Various. Powwow Songs: Music of the Plains Indians. New World 80343. Performed mostly by Sioux Indians, this is a well-annotated set of functional songs used to accompany various contemporary powwow contests, war dances, and round dances.
Various. Songs and Dances of the Eastern Indians From Medicine Spring & Allegheny. New World 80337. This music is provided by two geographically disparate tribes (Oklahoma and New York) that share similar musical styles.
Various. Songs of Love, Luck, Animals and Magic. New World 80297. Native American music by two northwest tribes—the Yurok and Tolowa—that includes ceremonial and love songs as well as ceremonial music.
Various. Texas-Czech, Bohemian-Moravian Bands. Arhoolie CD 7026. An engaging and lively sampling of recordings made between 1929 and 1959.
Various. Vintage Hawaiian Music: Steel Guitar Masters 1928–34. Rounder 1052. Vintage Hawaiian Music: The Great Singers 1928–34. Rounder 1053. These two packages provide a nice sampling of commercial recordings of folk and folk-based Hawaiian music.
Various. Voices Across the Canyon: Volume One & Volume Two. Canyon 7051/2. These two compact discs offer the listener a sampling of Canyon’s extensive catalogue of Native American recordings of over four hundred albums, which they have been building since 1951.
Various. Wood That Sings: Indian Fiddle Music of the Americans. Smithsonian Folkways 40472. This is the first anthology that provides the listener with a cross-section of contemporary and traditional American fiddle music.
SUGGESTED READING
Barry Ancelet. The Makers of Cajun Music. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984. A nice overview that features wonderful photographs, plenty of primary data, and interviews.
Shane Bernard. Swamp Pop: Cajun and Creole Rhythm and Blues. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1996. The definitive history of this unique style of regional pop music that emerged in the 1950s.
Ryan André Brasseaux. Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American-Made Music. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. A thorough history of Cajun music, with a particular emphasis on the gradual expansion of this music from southwest Louisiana that began shortly after World War II.
Tara Browner. Heartbeat of the People: Music and Dance of the Northern Pow-wow. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004. This brief, utterly accessible ethnographic study explores contemporary intertribal powwows.
Tara Browner. Music of the First Nations: Tradition and Innovation in Native North America. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2009. Browner has edited an excellent and broad anthology that touches on issues as diverse as powwows and Inuit drum dance songs.
Mark DeWitt. Cajun and Zydeco Dance Music in Northern California. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2008. Through both migration and the folk revivial, DeWitt links the music and culture of southeastern Louisiana with the San Francisco Bay.
Bertha Little Coyote and Virginia Giglio. The Songs and Memories of a Cheyenne Woman. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997. An interesting collaboration that reveals the life story and music of a Cheyenne woman, which was written while Ms. Coyote was in her eighty-fourth year. The book is accompanied by a compact disc with stories and music.
Victor Greene. A Passion for Polka. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1992. Historian Greene uses polka as a springboard for a larger study of the history and development of ethnic musics in the United States.
James H. Howard and Victoria Lindsay Levine. Choctaw Music and Dance. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997. When most of the Choctaw were forced from Mississippi to Oklahoma in the nineteenth century, they brought their songs and dance with them. This handy book focuses on the social organization of
today’s dance troupes, their costumes, choreography, and music.
Charles Keil, Angeliki Keil, and Dick Blau. Polka Happiness. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1992. These authors have crafted a series of essays about polka music that examine not only musical culture but also the importance of ethnic identity in establishing that culture.
Ellen Koskoff. Music in Lubavitcher Life. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001. A close examination of the musical culture of this ultra-orthodox group, which is highly concentrated in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York.
Mirjana Lausevic. Balkan Fascination: Creating an Alternative Music Culture in America.New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. This book examines how Balkan music and culture has been transformed into a Balkan-American tradition since the 1950s.
James Leary. Polkabilly: How the Goose Island Ramblers Redefined American Folk Music. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. An important study that suggests a reexamination of how highly regional forms of folk music can be viewed in the twenty-first century.
Ben Sandmel (with Rick Olivier—photographer). Zydeco! Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1999. An extended narrative about this form of creolized African American music, which is richly illustrated by Oliver’s photographs.