Öj Pojkar

Best greetings to you from the happy fiddler's lag - Öj pojkar of Rättvik, Sweden. We are really looking forward to the Nisswa stämman!

The members are pictured above, from left, Monica Sommarström, Anders Gudmundsson, Stefan Steger, Jonny Bäckström, Stig Ivars, Andreas Bäckström, Hans Ehrling, Kalle Eriksson and Lars-Gunnar Björklund. Two members are missing from the photo - Maria Lärka and Jonas Holmén.

The group "Öj-pojkar!" started to perform around 1990. The group consists of fiddlers from Rättvik who have known each other for a long time and often played together in different groupings. Their spirit from the beginning was to have fun together and play good tunes for people who like dancing. "Öj- pojkar!" means "hi boys!" and is a common local greeting when fiddlers in Rättvik meet. It does not matter if you are 10 or 85 years old, because you always feel young when you play this kind of music.

on a personal note: Öj pojkar is appearing at Nisswa-stämman and in Minnesota sponsored by the ASI Spelmanslag. This is no small endeavor, as the group consists of 11 musicians! The ASI Spelmanslag is celebrating their 20th anniversary year in 2005 and they wanted to do it with panache. Thank you, thank you, tack så mycket ASI Spelmanslag for bringing these fine musicians to our festival!....Paul Wilson