At the very first Nordic Roots Festival, Stefan Brisland-Ferner of Garmarna approached his long-time mentor, Totte Mattsson of Hedningarna with an idea: a project which would just be about their hurdy gurdies.

The two started to work on the project a short time later, and then returned to the 2001 and 2002 festivals to perform as (appropriately) "The Hurdy Gurdy Project." These few festival performances have become legendary, and finally, after years of cajoling, the duo collaborated on their first recording as Hurdy-Gurdy in 2004-2005.

Long-time fans of these musicians in their main bands know that they are both adept at taking ancient instruments and using them in a contemporary context. Here, they've shown how one of the oldest instruments of Europe (referred to as "the medieval synthesizer") can be relavant to modern music (and downright sexy!).

Every sound heard on Hurdy-Gurdy's recordings originate from a hurdy gurdy!