A VERY SPECIAL FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE. At Tønder Festival, "handmade music" is at the center. Music with roots in folk, roots rock, country, blues, cajun, world and much more!
Jim Lauderdale @ FROG
Tønder Festival is known for its very special atmosphere, where musicians and audience have close incounters, and where grand concerts go hand in hand with spontaneous jam sessions. The atmosphere at the festival site is intimate and full of danish 'hygge' and, in addition to the music, offers art, events, artist talks, food stalls, restaurants, bars and much more.
Treats in store for you include Jim Lauderdale & The Game Changers, The Wood Brothers, Jeffrey Martin and Niels Hausgaard. Plus: Guldimund plays at the time-honoured schools concert during the festival. Several Danish daily papers have already crowned this year's Tønder Festival programme with five star reviews. And that was even before the programme was rounded off. Now the last contracts are signed, the final names are on the poster, and there is good news from home and abroad.
American roots music has distinguished representatives in the form of the Wood Brothers trio, who delighted Tønder audiences last time they were here. The same can be said of songwriter Jim Lauderdale, who is returning, this time bringing his band, The Game Changers. Songwriter Jeffrey Martin, too, can look back on previous successes at Tønder Festival, where he appeared in 2022.
The grand youth orchestra, the FolkBALTICA Ensemble, with musicians from the Dano-German borderlands, has regular slots at Tønder Festival. They play their own concert, and they give a huge schools concert, where around 5000 pupils are invited to Tønder Festival. An exciting special bonus awaits these young festival guests, as the popular Danish singer and songwriter Guldimund with band will perform at the schools concert.
Will Hausgaard be here? Yes. Of course he will. Niels Hausgaard, who turns 80 at the end of August this year, has appeared at Tønder Festival almost every year since the sixth. So it is natural he's here for the festival's 50th anniversary.
Two younger, prize-winning Danish musicians will also be here: Justine Boesen, winner of this year's Catapult prize, and Sylfide, who took two Danish Music Awards Roots awards in 2022.
Among other gems at this year's Tønder Festival are morning sing-alongs with the Kunsten at glædes i kor (The Joy of Singing Together) project, the up-coming talent concerts showcasing Danish and Nordic musicians under the aegis of musicians' initiative Folk Spot, the two popular songwriter concerts, Women’s Circle and Gentlemen’s Circle, interviews and chats with musicians by Henrik Queitsch & Klaus Lynggaard, Gaffa Talks and Jydske Vestkysten Talks and a massive jubilee concert in Tent 1.
Folk Spot Denmark 2024 (DK)
Since 2012, Folk Spot Denmark, an initiative by SPOT Festival and Tønder Festival, has been presenting Danish folk and roots bands with national and international ambitions. This year, seven Nordic folk and roots bands have been chosen by a qualified music jury to take part in Folk Spot Denmark 2024. Come and hear: Maja Kjær Si Orkester, Simone Tang, Som Os, Svøbsk, The Mukherjee Development, Trio Mio and Twang. Folk Spot concerts are audience favourites, as they present newcomers from the Nordic folk roots scene. The concerts are also showcases aimed at the invited international music business and media professionals, who can open international networks for the bands.
Brunch with the Bros – Radio Mars (DK)
For several years now, the two radio hosts, Søren Rebbe and Alex Nyborg Madsen, have been regular fixtures at Tønder Festival, broadcasting their successful programme The Brothers live on Radio Denmark. In 2023, Tønder's audience were delighted to hear them again, and this year they're back at full volume with their very own radio station, Radio Mars. It opened in April this year to impressively postive reactions. Meet Søren Rebbe and Alex Nyborg Madsen live on stage on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the Bolero Tent, where the two hosts celebrate the Tønder Festival jubilee with informal interviews with – and live music from –current Tønder musicians. Brunch with the Bros, the're calling it, as the audience can buy a modest brunch to start the day, while enjoying Radio Mars. Brunch with the Bros is on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Bolero from 11 am until 1 pm.
Women’s Circle (USA, CAN, SCO, DK)
The special afternoon events, Women’s Circle and Gentlemen’s Circle, have been a popular success for many years. Both concerts are on this year's programme. The US songwriter Mary Gauthier, a familiar favourite of Tønder festivalgoers, will be here with her colleague, songwriter Jaimee Harris. From Canada it's Candace Lacina of the Hello Darlins, here for the first time. The Scots singer and multi-instrumentalist Julie Fowlis adds Gaelic folk song, and finally we see the return of Signe Svendsen, who has harvested critical praise for her latest album Hvem vil ikke elskes igen (Who Doesn't Want to be Loved Again.) The Songwriter’s Circles arose from Tønder Festival's relaxed, unfettered approach, musicians from across the globe meeting, creating magic moments on stage, swapping roles, now leading, now backing on each others' songs, and spicing the whole thing up with illuminating chat and stories.
Gentlemen´s Circle (USA, CAN, NL, EAU)
This year's Gentlemen’s Circle has six songwriters on the roster, from USA, Canada, Holland, USA and Uganda. The latter is songwriter Jon Muq, who was born and brought up in Kampala in Uganda then moved to USA, where his career really took off. Also from USA we have Tim O’Brien, songwriter, master of bluegrass and a beloved veteran of Tønder Festival's stages. Another dear veteran is the Dutch-born blues and roots guitarist Hans Theessink, who has been appearing at Tønder Festival since the 1970s. From Canada, the songwriter and excellent slide guitarist Joey Landreth is back, with two musicians from the super group The Hello Darlins, Mike Little and Brett Ashton.
Jiggy (IRL)
Jiggy, from Ireland, more a musicians' collective than a band, have been showered with recognition round the world in recent years. Jiggy blend traditional Irish folk music with inciting grooves and inspiration from the diversity of world music. In 2017 Jiggy released a debut album Translate, which Folk Radio UK Magazine called "an exceptional and intoxicating album." The video to the song Silent Place, a paean to dance as global communication, achieved over 65 million hits on line. A huge audience discovered Jiggy and the album Translate topped World Music hitlists in Ireland, USA, Canada, France, Australia, Poland and the UK. Their calendar filled with festival gigs, and Jiggy have performed in USA, India, Kazakhstan and several European lands. In 2020 the band put out the album Hypernova, which inspired The Living Tradition magazine's praise: "New and old, freshly ancient and anciently refreshing."
Gangar (NO)
The Norwegian band Gangar (not to be confused with Danish Ganger) are from Oslo and played their first concert in 2021. Their sparkling version of nordic folk roots music hasn't taken long to accrue a fine reputation both in Norway and abroad. Gangar's five musicians launch from traditional Scandinavian folk music, then rearrange it inspired by rock, metal and jazz improvisation. In 2022 Gangar released the EP Tre Danser (Three Dances), and in autumn 2023, the album Stubb appeared. Gangar's five members are Mattias Truell Thedens, Hardanger fiddle; Oskar Goedvriend Lindberget, saxophone; Richard Max, guitar; Jonas Thrana Jensen, bass; and Henrik Dullum, drums.
Folk Tales with Klaus Lynggaard and Henrik Queitsch
The two hosts Klaus Lynggaard and Henrik Queitsch covered a lot of ground in their popular podcast Rockhistorier (Rock Tales). From lullabies to raging rock, from rebellious soul to heartbroken country, from musicals to metal. And just about everything in between. Their mantra is, there are only two kinds of music: good music and bad music. Simple, when they get to decide which is which. Guests drop in occasionally to give the broadcasts a selection of their favourites, music that has influenced them as people and as musicians. That's the format now. Folk Tales will invite musicians from this year's Tønder Festival in for a chat on stage about the music that changed their world.
GAFFA Talks at Tønder Festival
This year once more you can hear GAFFA Talks at Tønder Festival. Journalists from Denmark's biggest and oldest music magazine, GAFFA, which turned 40 in 2023, interview some of Tønder Festival's current musicians. The chats will take about 45 minutes and will focus on the artist's career and songwriting, followed by questions from the audience. Perhaps the musicians will play a song or two.
The Family Universe
In the Family Universe, children and their parents can find space and time to play in many creative, entertaining and amusing ways with a variety of recycled materials. Design and make your own festival T-shirt, read a good book or throw a wobbly on the grass. In the Family Universe you will meet a group of playful and creative play-group students from the Young Years College in Tønder. The activities are aimed at children from 0 to 12 years of age accompanied by a grown-up. On Saturday, the Jam Tent has a family concert, where old and young can meet Hoppeline, Frække Frø and Pernille Germansen and her band.
Tønder Festival 2024:
Rickie Lee Jones (USA), Rodney Crowell (USA), Skerryvore (SCO), Brent Cobb (USA), Asleep At The Wheel (USA), The Bros. Landreth (CAN), The Wood Brothers, (USA), Jim Lauderdale & The Game Changers (USA), Niels Hausgaard (DK), David Ritschard (SE), Vincent Neil Emerson (USA), Capercaillie (SCO), Katie Pruitt (USA), True Heart Troubadours: Tim O’Brien with Jan Fabricius and Mary Gauthier with Jaimee Harris (USA), Leftover Salmon (USA), Albin Lee Meldau (SE), Melissa Horn (SE), Dan Sultan (AUS), Elephant Sessions (SCO), Hush (DK), Jacob Dinesen (DK), Jonah Blacksmith (DK), Jake Vaadeland (CAN), The Hello Darlins (CAN), Xabi Aburruzaga (EUS), Folkeklubben (DK), S.G. Goodman (USA), Julie Fowlis (SCO), Foy Vance (UK), Sivert Høyem (NO), The Southern Jutland Symphony Orchestra feat. Bjørn Eidsvåg (NO, DK), Kassi Valazza (USA), Elles Bailey (ENG), Hans Theessink & Blue Groove (NL, USA, UK, GRN), Phosphorescent (USA), Fara (SCO), Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors (USA), The McCrary Sisters (USA), Jon Muq (EAU/USA), Kinnaris Quintet (SCO), Skipinnish (SCO), Kellie Loder (CAN), Peatband Faeries (SCO), Big Bike Orchestra (PL), Sebastian Wolff (DK), Jeffrey Martin (USA), FolkBALTICA Ensemblet (DE, DK), Justine Boesen (DK), Sylfide (DK), Kunsten at glædes i kor (The Joy of Singing Together)(DK), Schools concert 2024: Guldimund with band plus FolkBALTICA Ensemble (DK, DE), Folk Spot 2024 (DK).
It's birthday time. And not just any birthday: it's our 50th. You are invited to a grand concert on Thursday 22nd August. It will be an evening to be remembered, since you will be meeting a series of popular musicians and songwriters from home and abroad. Some of them have helped create the atmosphere and the musical high spots that Tønder Festival is famous for. Others are the distinguished inheritors, the next generation of songwriters and story-tellers in the folk roots tradition.
Tønder Festival 2024 Anniversary Concert Thursday 22nd August with: Harald Haugaard & Helene Blum Poul Krebs Niels Hausgaard Jacob Dinesen Allan Taylor Jonah Blacksmith med (cousin) Dina Dánialsdóttir of Northern Assembly Signe Svendsen Rikke Thomsen Kellie Loder Hans Theessink Kajsa Vala Candace Lacina of The Hello Darlins Albin Lee Meldau Mary Gauthier Jaimee Harris Tim O´Brien Jan Fabricius Eleanor Shanley …
The concert will focus on Tønder Festival music, including interpretations of songs by Derroll Adams, Bruce Guthro, Woody Guthrie and many more.
Photo Credits:
(1) Tønder Festival,
(2) Jim Lauderdale,
(3) Gangar,
(4) Xabi Aburruzaga
(unknown/website).
