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Bands and Performers
North State
Wasel Arar, lead vocals, guitar
Jonni Kuutsa, mandolin
Kukka Lehto, fiddle
Tauri Oksala, vocals, banjo
Hannu Vanhatalo, upright bass Performing Area: Europe
This is the general performing area of this band.
They may perform in other areas as well.
The Bluegrass band Wasel Arar & North State hail from northern Europe from the land of a thousand lakes, evergreen forests and snowy winters. Finland, being the most northern country of the European Union and, as some say, musically situated on the so-called "Celtic Rim", makes the bands Nordic state-of-mind go well with Bluegrass music. Hence the name of the band "North State".
The bands signature style is an eclectic blend of original material and traditional bluegrass roots. While keeping to Bluegrass traditions their original bluegrass songs and instrumentals contain a strong touch of Nordic winters and Scandinavian atmosphere.
Acoustic Guitar says of the band in their January 2003 issue:
A.G. LETTER Sue Thompson checks out the European bluegrass scene.
..."The biggest delight of this [European World Of Bluegrass] festival is the unmistakable ethnic flair that the musicians bring to their music. This is not a bunch of wannabe Americans. These bands are invigorating bluegrass with their own language and culture. Wasel Arar & North State from Finland start their set with a dark and distinctly Nordic tinged tune of their own composition called Wild Cherry. Their introspective stage demeanor and occasionally suprising chord progressions remind me of another Finnish band, World Music supergroup JPP. "...
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