Per Midtstigen: Håslåtten

Per Midtstigen burst on to the Norwegian folk music scene in 1977 when he, together with  Ånon Egeland, received a Spellemannpris (Norwegian Grammy Award) for the album “I heitaste slåtten” (which literally means ‘During the hottest days of haymaking’, but which also alludes to ‘The hottest tunes’).

Since then, Per has always been my benchmark for good dance music on a diatonic accordion, and it was therefore a great pleasure to get Per to record an entire album. Incredibly, it would be more than 40 years from that first album until he released his own solo album.

“Håslåtten” is a kind of encore – when you capture that which you did not get in the first cut (the word håmeans grass that grows after the first cut, and slåttis cutting of grass for hay; but slåttalso means a melody or tune, so it’s a play on words. Again). Per thought it was a suitable name for this album, being an opportunity to present some tunes that were not among the first ones – along with some of his signature tunes.

You can read more about Per’s sources and inspiration in the comments he has prepared for each tune. Per mastered several instruments but he is perhaps best known for his work in raising the profile of the traditional seaman’s flute. His repertoire on the diatonic accordion is also taken from tunes that are more usually heard on the fiddle and seaman’s flute.

The heart of the matter for Per is drive and pace, and most of the album consists of tunes that are good to dance to. Typical for Per is also that the inspiration for the tunes he uses are that they are taken from several instruments.

Hi-res audio files and booklet (in Norwegian) with Per’s comments on each tune, are available at BandCamp.