Frigg return with their third studio album, advancing their place as young leaders of the Nordic roots music movement.

After two appearances on “A Prairie Home Companion,” and numerous international tours including four in North America, Frigg continue to forge a unique concoction of string music from many cultures through the filter of their native traditions of Finland and Norway. With elements of Appalachian, Celtic, and Eastern European folk influences, this is fiddle music both fresh and familiar, cleverly arranged and expertly played.

“To understand power-string band Frigg, you must take a mental journey to the small Finnish village of Järvelä. “The joke is that if your name is Järvelä, you were born with a fiddle in your hand. So they always ask, ‘Are you one of those Järveläs?’” explains band leader and bass player Antti Järvelä, who like many people in this Western region of Finland carries the surname of the village in which they were born. But Frigg is not just rehashing traditional tunes. Just as the world’s ice caps are melting from global warming, Frigg’s humorously-named new album, Economy Class, presents a groove and swing of original music that thaws unexpected melodies and rhythms. Audiences here will have a chance to witness these tectonic shifts during their USA tour, September 26-October 19, 2008.

While listeners of bluegrass and Celtic music will find some similarities in Finnish and Norwegian string music (two of the founding band members hail from Verdal, Norway), the melodic twists and turns are an aural reminder that things are just different up north where the sun disappears for months at a time. But Frigg takes that one step further
with the energy of a rock band, off-kilter rhythms and missing beats that accentuate the unexpected reserved-meets-over-the-top sense of humor common in Finland.

Economy Class follows in this tradition of messing with tradition. Most of the pieces are originals based on traditional tunings and rhythms, and using all acoustic instruments (including fiddles, mandolin, the lute-like cittern, a Finnish bagpipe, a jaw harp, and uncharacteristically, a dobro), but with unexpected compositions or consciously powerful arrangements. The band emphasizes creating a specific ambience with each piece, which requires intense discussions about the exact ornamentation and bowing style they use on a given tune. This gives them a very tight sound rare in any traditional string style. The themes of traveling, drinking, and collaborating are woven throughout, usually with a dose of humor thrown in.”

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