​

In 2021 the Swedish-Norwegian trio Ævestaden received Folkelarmprisen (open class) for their debut album Ingen Mere Gråter. With the traditional and the modern combined in a seamless way, the group quickly gained a place on the international folk music scene. In 2022 they released a collaborative EP with the indie band Benedikt, "Jag är sen igen". Ævestaden has been heard at, among other places, By:Larm, Førdefestivalen, VillVillVest, Festspillene i Bergen and at Midgardsblot. In the last year, they have also played outside Norway; in Sweden, Poland, France and Scotland, and in 2023 they will play concerts in England, Germany and Denmark.

 

Ævestaden is long psalms, modern lyrics, pop songs and a sound that doesn’t fear the clear, the dirty, the electronic nor the traditional. Their varying instrument combinations, with lyres, fiddle, kantele, vocals, mouth harp and electronics, open up a unique soundscape when timeless harmonies, and layers of simple motifs, create an open and atmospheric world.

The songs are about the conscious and the subconscious — the secular and the sacred — about life and death. It’s about the big feelings; from an intensive prayer to enter the kingdom of heaven to a heartfelt wish that someone, sometime, will think of you when they go to sleep.

 

The trio is currently the recipient of a NOPA grant 2022 and is also to be seen on the Norwegian television program NRK-Scenen. In September, they will release their second full-length album "Solen var b¨ttre där" on the record label Supertraditional.

 

-”Neither pop nor jazz. Only modern, good and exciting folk music.” - Arild Rønsen (PULS)

 

 

Kenneth Lien - kraviklyre, mouth harp, vocals

Levina Storåkern - kows horn, fiddle, vocals, kantele, electronics

Eir Vatn Strøm - vocals, kraviklyre, electronics