Spælimenniinir

The folk group Spælimennir from the Faroes has just celebrated its 50th anniversary with concerts in Denmark, USA, Italy and on the Faroes. The band continues touring this year in Shetland, Scotland and Denmark.

In August, 1974, music teacher Kristian Blak started a folk band in the secondary school in Hoydalar, just north of Tórshavn. Soon dubbed “Spælimenninir í Hoydølum” (Eng: “the folk musicians from Hoydalar”), the band included teachers and students from the school, as well as other interested musicians in the area.

During the first few years, Spælimenninir í Hoydølum played at weekend dances in towns and villages all over the Faroe Islands.

In January, 1977, the group made its first recording, Spælimenninir í Hoydølum (SHD 1), and played abroad for the first time in the summer of 1977. “The Great Faroese Road Show”, including Spælimenninir í Hoydølum and a group of traditional Faroese dancers, performed in Caithness, Orkney and Shetland.

In 1978, four members of the band - Janne Danielsson, Sharon Weiss, Ívar Bærentsen and Kristian Blak – continued touring abroad as a quartet: Spælimenninir. This smaller band toured regularly for years in all the Nordic countries and neighboring Scotland, Shetland and Orkney, as well as USA and Canada.
Soon, Spælimenninir had become a sextet, including fiddler Erling Olsen and American bass player Charlie Pilzer. These 6 musicians – Janne, Erling, Sharon, Ívar, Kristian and Charlie - were the regular line-up of Spælimenninir for many years. A highlight of the group’s USA tours were several appearances on the live radio show “A Prairie Home Companion”, which was broadcast from St. Paul, Minnesota, with millions of listeners world-wide.

Since 2014, Janne has been unable to travel away from his home in Sweden, and Danish fiddler Lars Kristensen has played with Spælimenninir on tours in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Italy and the USA.

Over the years, Spælimenninir’s repertoire has grown from the strictly traditional Scandinavian, British and North American tunes played in the 1970’s to include tunes composed by active Faroese folk musicians. Now, in 2025, there is a specifically Faroese instrumental repertoire of folk music tunes for listening and dancing.

Spælimenniinir is part of the Traverse's £1 Ticket Project.
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