The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc

From the moment Kevin Henderson, Olav Luksengård Mjelva and Anders Hall of The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc first played together in 2009, they felt a particular chemistry in the sound they created.

Some seven hundred concerts later, across Scandinavia, mainland Europe, the U.S. and the UK, that chemistry continues to draw the trio together.

Passion is a word that comes up often when talking to Henderson, Mjelva and Hall. It lies behind their determination to find exactly the right tunes, the right arrangements and the right way to shape a phrase. Henderson has even been known to have forty different recordings of the same motif from rehearsals stored on his phone.

That same commitment has seen the trio endure journeys of more than forty hours to reach concerts that should have taken only a fraction of that time, rather than let promoters and audiences down.

Hundreds of tunes have been tried, reshaped and sometimes set aside in The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc’s search for the music that best suits their unique sound. Across their three albums – their self-titled debut from 2011, Deliverance from 2016 and Bonfrost from 2020 – they have captured the same warmth, energy and interplay that has become the hallmark of their live performances.

In the beginning, they were fascinated by the differences between their respective traditions. Henderson grew up immersed in the fiddle-rich culture of the Shetland Islands and has played with Fiddlers’ Bid since his teens. Although that group is known for its rich four-fiddle harmonies, the Scandinavian approach – particularly the Swedish tradition of pairing a melody with a closely woven harmony line – opened up a different musical world.

The early jam sessions that eventually led to the trio becoming a band showed them that they could create not only a distinctive sound, but also an unusually rich one. Using standard fiddles alongside octave fiddle, viola and Hardanger fiddle, The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc can at times sound closer to a string quartet than a conventional fiddle trio.

Promoters and festivals around the world have embraced that distinctive sound. The trio has appeared at major events including Tønder Festival in Denmark, Celtic Connections in Scotland, Celtic Colours in Cape Breton and A Celtic Christmas Sojourn in Boston.

Recognition has followed. Their debut album received a Norwegian Folk Award and was selected for Songlines magazine’s Top of the World. Collaborations and invitations from musicians such as Dutch jazz violinist Tim Kliphuis have also encouraged the trio to explore new possibilities beyond the traditional folk scene, including elements of jazz and classical music.

At the same time, Henderson, Mjelva and Hall remain deeply rooted in the traditions they represent. As dedicated tradition bearers, they have created their own annual Nordic Fiddlers Bloc Fiddle Camp in Norway, bringing together players to share tunes, techniques and music from Shetland, Norway and Sweden.