Northland Hoedown Show. Duluth, Minnesota.

The late Bob Andresen of Duluth, Minnesota was a real advocate for Upper Midwest old-time music. He had an amazing radio show in the 1980's on KUMD out of Duluth called, The Northland Hoedown. Here are two of the shows that feature fiddlers. Edwin Johnson's music is currently being passed down by his family, through the ASI Spelmanslag. Archie Teigen was a fiddler from Brainerd, Minnesota.

Bob with Leonard Finseth

Edwin Johnson


Archie Teigen

Ed Quall. Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Ed was born in 1885 and was the uncle of Leonard Finseth.  Leonard at a young age started playing guitar for his uncle (pictured).  Leonard recorded Ed in the late 50's.  This tape courtesy Larry Finseth.

Leonard Finseth on guitar and Ed Quall on fiddle

Elmo Wick. Brooten, MN

Elmo Wick was the founder of the Minnesota State Fiddle Association.  He was born Aug. 27, 1924, in Sunburg, MN to Andrew and Esther (Erickson) Wick. He grew up in Sunburg where he attended school.  He carefully recorded and transcribed many of the tunes he learned over the years.  I know the MSFA is sitting on more than 600 of his transcriptions of tunes.  They are in the process of figuring out what to do with them.

Harold Sorenson. Climax, Minnesota.

I got this tape from Larry Finseth and it only said "Leonard Finseth and Harold Sorenson". I am pretty sure that this is all Harold fiddling.

Harold Sorenson was born in Oklee, Minnesota on July 3, 1917.  Harold passed away just a couple of years ago in 2008.  He was one fine northern Minnesota fiddler who never did read notes off of paper.  His father was from near Grand Forks and his mother was from Norway.

Yankton, South Dakota Fiddler's Convention. 1997.

Wilbur Foss Has been organizing fiddler's conventions in South Dakota for many decades.  He also has put out numerous tapes of these gatherings that are mostly out of print.

Sulo Hackman, Cloquet, Minnesota.

Sulo Hackman was born in 1912 on a farm near Duluth.  His father and his mother were both from Finland.  At age 8, Sulo started playing a fiddle made by his father.  His father, Charles, was also a fiddler and corrected Sulo whenever he would not play a tune in the old style.  These recordings are from an out of print cassette called Sulo Hackman and his Musiikkats.

Iva Dingwall. Elk River, MN

Iva Dingwall was born in Elk River, MN in 1877. She played the barn dance fiddle music that her father played when she was growing up.  This recording of her represents the only recordings we have of a Minnesota fiddler born in the 1800's.  Thankfully she also jotted down her accounts of her fathers playing and the tunes and dances that were used.

Detroit Lakes Fiddle Contest

I am including this in the archive just to show how much Scandinavian influenced tunes were in the Senior Division of Northern Minnesota contests, even in the 1990's.

Minnesota State Fiddle Championships 1989-90

Excerpts from the annual contests held in Cotton, Minnesota.

Archie Teigen. Brainerd, Minnesota.

Leonard Finseth. Drammen Township, Wisconsin.

Leonard Finseth was born at the same Drammen Township, Wisconsin farm where he lived all his life. Leonard's father came from Norway, and he married his mother in the early 1900's and they lived at that same farm. Leonard was born in 1911 and passed away in 1991.  He learned to fiddle from his uncle Ed Quall.

Audio courtesy of Larry Finseth and Bruce Seldoff.  Some translations courtesy of Even Traen.

Video courtesy of Larry Finseth with permission from Gary Andresen.