This is Mäd Fiddlu, an American trio blending Nordic folk music and original compositions in the old style. It’s folk music, freshly wrapped – Music that may stir your old soul from hibernation – and hopefully your dancing feet.
Local friends may remember that we recorded an album in 2010 that went unreleased. After the very untimely passing of Bart in 2021, John and Anna are working on reviving the project to finally publish it. In the meantime, we want to share a few recordings as a memory of Bart’s playing and his friendships with so many people in the Scandinavian community.
Finalen (By Bart)Je Tenker (Trad)Tussa Lulla / Säbb Anders Polska (Trad)Övadersvalsen (By Bart)Fan På Grasö (Trad)Polska till Wik (By Viksta-Lasse)
You can also find a few other old tracks over at ReverbNation
Hej,The Name
The origins of the name Mäd Fiddlu are from an ancient Swedish legal text called Västgötalagen, in a section on Lekæræ rættær (the rights of traveling musicians/performers).
With some creative retooling of the 1200’s-era Swedish words, the phrase defining a musician as “[one who goes] with fiddle“, becomes Mäd Fiddlu.
If you’re curious, here’s the entirety of the text, translated into modern English:
“If a musician is wounded — one who goes with fiddle, or travels with a viol, or drum — then one shall take an untamed heifer and lead her up onto a hill. There one shall shave all the hair from her tail, and then grease it. Then one shall give him freshly greased shoes. Then the musician shall take hold of the heifer by the tail, and a man shall strike her with a sharp whip.
If he can hold on, he shall have the good animal, and enjoy it as a dog enjoys grass. If he cannot hold on, let him bear what he got — shame and injury.“
Click here to see high-resolution scans of the original book!
