Varttina

Varttina (meaning spindle) has its origins in 1983, as the project of singer/kantele players Sari and Mari Kaasinen. The original Varttina line-up (15 young girls singing and playing kantele plus six young men accompanying them) made two recordings: Varttina (1987) and Musta Lindu (1989).

Beginning in 1991, Varttina took a startling new direction: five effervescent young women bursting with vocal energy fueled by a powerhouse acoustic band. The group's repertoire diversified, borrowing tunes, poems, songs and ideas from women's singing traditions of Finland and other Baltic regions. New, original compositions and lyrics from group members provided new dimensions and showed that Varttina had risen to a new level of sophistication. In performance, the focus shifted to a more "rock/pop" approach, presenting Finno-Ugric musical tradition in ways never before conceived. The female voices, having matured greatly since the early days, were the forefront of the group's sound, and the band delivered rousing acoustic accompaniment.

From 1991 to 1994 the band became a household name in the world music community, and toured internationally. This period produced the three albums now on NorthSide. Since that time Varttina has gone on to greater success, releasing Kokko (1997), Vihma (1998), Ilmatar and Live In Helsinki.