Julane Lund
Mooresville, Indiana, United States
Music
Press
This review, written by Bill Hicks (who was one of the original members of the Red Clay Ramblers), was in the Old Time Herald music magazine, and it was also included on Bill HIcks website on December 15, 2006. The text below is copied and pasted from his website: www.williamhicksmasonry.com.
Julane Lund & Friends: Looking Back at Norwegian-American Old-Time Fiddling in the Heartland
Julane Lund: fiddle, Norwegian Hardanger fiddle; Beth Hoven Rotto: harmony fiddle, pump organ; John Rotto: guitar, jaws harp; Leroy Larsen: tenor banjo; Bill Musser: upright bass
Candlelight Waltz, Alfred Blagen’s Hoppwaltz, Lomis-Jakup Waltz, Swamper’s Revenge on the Windfall, Old C Waltz, Napoleon’s March, Farewell Whiskey, Ole Johnson’s Waltz, 50/50 Polka, Aften Paa Aalhus, Norwegian Polka, Vossarull, Gus Pederson’s Waltz, South Dakota Schottische
(Photo of Julane Lund by Libby Hicks)
Libby and I had the good fortune to work for a week this past summer with Julane Lund. Julane and I team-taught a very small fiddle class at the 25th Northeast Dulcimer Symposium in Blue Mountain Lake, NY. Mostly, I’m afraid, we had a week long conversation about fiddling, fiddlers, fiddles, tunes, collecting, sources and influences—with the shared hope that our generous students would find all of this as interesting as we did. And yes, we taught some tunes, Julane the Norwegian American old-time ones, me the plain old old-time variety that I know. As someone who learned, long ago, that Appalachian fiddle tunes were mostly brought over from the British Isles with the earlier settlers and then evolved on their own for some 200 years whilst the same melodies went their separate ways in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and the far-flung Commonwealth as well, I was more than a little interested to learn from Julane that this same story can be told about Norwegian fiddle music. Not that it doesn’t stand to reason of course.
But Julane, like Alan Jabbour, Malvin Artley, the Lomaxes, and a handful of other collectors back in the day, has actually done the field work, learning tunes from old Norwegian-American fiddlers in the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Canada—some in her own family--and also studying for a number of years in Norway, where she could find the sources and the evolutionary directions of the Norwegian musical heritage that was brought here by Norwegian settlers starting about 1825. And just as you might find a Scottish fiddler here and there who scoffed at the cross-tuned West Virginia variant of something we Yanks call “Old Mother Flanagan,” whereas he knew—knew mind you—that the closest thing to that thin gruel was “Mrs. Carlyle’s Farewell to Troon,” and in proper G-major mind you! So Julane discovered that in Norway the American evolutions were sometimes viewed as “devolutions,” and moreover, that as the American-Norwegian culture here became interested in rediscovering their European roots, often the weathered tunes that the old folks had nurtured through many a blizzard and flood and blue norther were becoming misunderstood and uncherished. Julane understood, then, the Jabbourean concept of the hour-glass. And like Mr. Jabbour, Ms Lund can also play these melodies! (If Alan and Julane turn out to have the same birthday, this old Humean empiricist might even take up the Charts and Signs and hang a red hand out by the road.) Her style is clear and precise—a pleasure to listen to, but a great aid to learning a tune as well. She hits each note with neither hesitation nor hesitance, and she can play a fine double-stop, climb the neck with the agility of an urchin in a green apple tree, and knows the bow.
And so we have here what I hope is a mere beginning, a CD with fourteen sparkling Norwegian-American old-time fiddle-dance tunes, properly sourced to old Norwegian fiddlers from the upper mid-West, a few played on that spectacular Norwegian instrument the Hardanger Fiddle, the rest on the regular fiddle; all played with verve, with delight, with “lilt,” plus Julane has written a highly informative booklet explaining the place of this music in the history of Norwegian immigration to America. All of these tunes are fresh and new to most old-time ears, and well worth learning. And once learned, the hour-glass will have been tipped, and none too soon, for some of the last sources for these melodies have already passed away.
It would be fairly silly of me to pick out favorites. They’re all real tasty tunes, with very listenable arrangements by Julane and her ensemble of backing players. One though, I do want to mention: “Swamper’s Revenge on the Windfall.” Julane did her best to teach this one to me last summer, and I’m more than delighted to have a “hard-copy” here at home that I can work at some more. Probably this tune’s title, in Norwegian, is shorter. But what a great title it is nonetheless, a veritable moving picture with the tune as its score. I can see the flying double-bitted axe, the white chips clattering like hail on the frozen bog, the mist in the dark trees. Ahh, the perfect moment. Winter it is, and a tune about firewood! The CD is too short, like winter days. All the more it must be savored.
--Bill Hicks
To Order: www.julanefiddle.com
- Old Time Herald
Discography
Julane's solo cd is called: Looking Back at Norwegian-American Old-Time Fiddling in the Heartland. Some tracks from this cd can be heard on www.myspace.com/julanelundmusic, and all tracks are available for purchase at cdbaby.com/cd/julanelund.
Julane's music is also featured on "That Old Time Norwegian Song and Dance," released by the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum.
Various radio stations in the U.S., Norway, Quebec, France, and Russia have played Julane's music. Listen to an interview and live music recordings of Julane on The Back Road Radio Show, hosted by Andrew Funke. The program can be heard on WITT, 91.9 FM and WRGF, 89.7 FM in Central Indiana. To hear the interview and music, visit www.backroadradioshow.com
Photos
Bio
Julane Lund sings and plays violin, viola, fiddle, the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle (an eight stringed, highly ornamented instrument), piano, and a number of other instruments. She has performed a variety of styles of music, including but not limited to: Julane’s own compositions, country and western, classical, old-time fiddle music, cowboy tunes, ragtime, music from theatre and film, Celtic, Scandinavian, French Canadian and more. However, she is known by many for playing traditional and contemporary Norwegian-American music. She has performed in Eastern and Western Europe, Canada, and the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan.
Julane has a master’s degree in Norwegian traditional fiddling from Telemark University College, in Norway, as well as a bachelor degree in Norwegian Folk Music from Telemark University College, and a music education degree from Ball State University, in Indiana.
Before her formal schooling Julane learned about Norwegian-American fiddling and dancing from her grandfather, Gehart Lund, who was a fiddler and farmer. He was known as an excellent dancer within the Norwegian-American community. She learned about classical violin, and old American melodies from Una Hazen Beetham, her paternal grandmother who was a professional pianist, organist, and violinist. Una stayed with Julane’s family for a few months each year, and Julane often heard her play music from a bygone era. Una played music from her youth when she had accompanied silent movies of the 1920s. She also knew many melodies, both traditional and from American composers, that dated from the late 1800s.
Julane also was greatly influenced by Stanley Nosal, a violinist who led the Tremper Strings High School Orchestra in Kenosha, Wisconsin during the 1980s. When Julane was 16 years old she was asked by Nosal to join another group of his; the Golden Strings Orchestra, which consisted of strolling musicians that toured internationally. While touring throughout Europe, Nosal exposed Julane to the folk music of various other countries, while demonstrating how to truly connect with an audience.
There have been many musicians who Julane has learned from directly. Some have been great tradition bearers. A few of these include Norwegian and Norwegian-American fiddlers Harold Sorenson, Beth Hoven Rotto, Vidar Lande, Jens Nyplass (of Roros), Aanon Egeland and tenor banjo player LeRoy Larson.
Many styles of music influence her. Country and western, old cowboy tunes, jazz ballads from the early and mid 1900s, classical music, and traditional music from various world areas all contribute to Julane’s creative palette. She is influenced by many styles because she has had many opportunities to interact with traditional musicians throughout the world.
In Norway she was a member of the Norwegian folk band, Totak, in Russia she performed with the Bashkirian Folk Instrument Philharmonic, and in Quebec she joined with the Quebecois folk band, Cordaphone. In the U.S. she has played in the Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis as well as performing in ensembles consisting of members of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
In 2006 Julane won the Traditional Arts Indiana State Fiddling Contest at the Indiana State Fair, and she has since judged the contest. Also in 2006 she released her first solo CD, called "Looking Back" which is a delightful assortment of Norwegian-American old-time music. (The CD is available at julanelund.com.) In 2008 and 2009 she performed with the Celtic ensemble, Alair, played with the country-rock band Red Eye Max, and taught Music Appreciation at Indiana State University.
She has been a featured performer at Scandinavian Fest, in New Jersey, which is the largest Nordic event in the East, having thousands of attendees. She also has performed at other well attended festivals, including the Scandinavian Folk Festival in Jamestown, New York, Indy Irish Fest, the Louisville Irish Festival. the Cincinnati Celtic Festival, and at Nordic Fest, which is held in Decorah, Iowa.
In 2010 she was the featured performer at “Norway Day” in San Francisco, North America’s largest completely Norwegian festival. In the same year her music was included on a CD called "That Old Time Norwegian Song and Dance," released by the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. She also toured the United States as a member of Lingonberry Jam with Goril Ramo Haave, a zither player, singer and guitarist from Norway.
In 2011 Julane has been busy for a different reason. She gave birth to her son, Jens-William, in August. In addition to her new role as a mother she began managing a concert series that features musicians who play various genres of acoustic music. Called "Lund's Concert Series," the performances take place at the Art Sanctuary of Indiana, in Martinsville, Indiana. Julane often performs with the musicians who play in the series, which opens up new and exciting musical projects.
Julane is fir
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