Some years ago I have discovered a band from Finland named Band’o. I liked the sound of this trio immediatly, a mix of bluegrass, country, american roots and traditional folk music from the north of Europe.
Seppo, Jemina and Selina Sillanpä have played together since they were childs, and began to play as a trio in 1995. They have made several tours to the USA, and also published CDs in English and also Finnish language.
I was mainly impressed by the fantastic fiddle sound and the harmony singing of Jemina and Selina. Selina does also play the mandolin and the guitar and other instruments. And Seppo is adding some interesting flatpicking solos on his guitar.
Here is a quote from their myspace page:
Seppo, Jemina and Selina Sillanpää are famous for their fresh new attitude of playing a mixture of folk music from various countries and original songs and combining it all in their own original way.
Back in Finland, the family has been steadily developing their professional, educational, and musical endeavors. Sillanpääs first started performing as a folk trio in 1995 but their musical co-operation goes back to playing and recording original childrens music in the early 90s.
Jemina Sillanpää , vocals, fiddle, viola
Selina Sillanpää , vocals, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, tin whistle, recorder
Seppo Sillanpää , guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo
Oskari Hannula , bass, viola da gamba
Janne Viksten , banjo, mandolin, mandola, guitar
The Sillanpää Family Band – “Different Past”
Here are some videos with Seppo Sillanpää (youtube playlist)
And here are some videos with Jemina & Selina Sillanpää (youtube playlist)
Seppo Sillanpää and his mandolin can be seen on some of the videos too!
Seppo Sillanpää is the author of the Finnish mandolin method Mandoliiniopas. The following blog post shows the cover of this method:
http://mandoliini.blogspot.de/2009/03/seppo-sillanpaa-mandoliiniopas.html
This mandolin method is available online on the website of the Kansanmusiikki-instituutti – I have bought it some years ago.
http://kansanmusiikki-instituutti.valmiskauppa.fi/mandoliiniopas-p-850.html