Since moving to Nisswa, she's gotten very involved with this little town Up North, working in a flower shop and at a food co-op, as well as reconstructing a small house with her boyfriend, Joe. This weekend was Nisswa's Stamman, a big annual Scandinavian Music festival we knew nothing about. So we googled "Stamman" and before long we knew why she was having so much fun this weekend.
Dozens of fiddlers and musicians take over the town. Norwegians, Swedes having fun. Uff Da. We expect more details soon. Jennifer and Joe are having a great time in the middle of all this commotion and fiddling. Here's a sample of the dozens of performers and groups from the official Stamman web site:
Ole Olssons Oldtime Orkestra
Who is Ole Olsson? Ole Olsson, of Snoose Boulevard fame, is the supposed leader of the group, but he has yet to turn up at any gigs. Folklore has it that he once owed someone a musical favor, so he was forced to scour the entire state of Minnesota looking for musicians to make up a band. In the end, he managed to put together this all-star cast. Olsson was quoted by Lutefisk Today to say: "Ya, dey sure can play dose old time dance tunes, and dey work real cheap too." Olsson was particularly pleased that half the band is composed of females."Der is a lot less snoose chewing on stage," he noted. "I yust hate it when dey dribble tobacco yuice on my microphones!" Nothing has been heard from Ole since, but the band carries on, wondering if one day he may appear......
Ole Olsson s Oldtime Orkestra (usually referred to as O.O.O.O.) is a fun loving group of musicians who first met each other at Dick Rees Sunday Evening Social dances at the Good Templar Hall in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Nowadays, they still play some pretty darn good Scandinavian music for oldtime dancing and/or just plain enjoying. They play fiddles, accordions, pump organ and guitar, and sing some funny Scandinavian vaudeville songs that may occasionally make Lutheran ladies smile. They play for festivals and lutefisk feeds all around Minnesota and even make it out of the state once in awhile in their old yalopy to perform in far flung places like North Dakota!
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And, while we're at it, here's a clip from Hutenanay: (Sorry. Don't have any omlauts on this keyboard. ed.)
