ArtistInfo

Paul Dahlin

vn, *1954 SE
Folk

Swedish-American fiddler, born April 14, 1954, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He took up the fiddle in 1963, when he was nine. He was heir to a rich tradition of music from the Swedish province of Dalarna. His maternal grandfather is Ivares Edvin Jonsson. His uncle is Bruce Johnson (5). By the time he was 17, Paul was performing regularly with his elders at Swedish American events. As he mastered the idiom, he moved into the lead role while playing with his grandfather, who had Americanized his name to Edwin Johnson, and Uncle Bruce. The three fiddlers called their group the American Swedish Spelmans ("folk instrumentalist") Trio. Dahlin began teaching Swedish instrumental music at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. In 1985 he developed his class into the ASI Spelmanslag ("fiddlers' team"). When the group performed in 1989 at Sweden's largest folk music festival, Musick vid Siljan, Dahlin was hailed by his Swedish colleagues as an important keeper of a deep musical tradition that includes wedding tunes and dance melodies that are more direct and less ornamented than some strains of contemporary Swedish fiddling. His original composition "Danielpojkens Polska" was selected from 40 entries as the most outstanding composition in its genre at Sweden's Dalarnas Hemygdsrings competition. The tune is in the traditional polska form. Not to be confused with the polka, it is the "oldest dance rhythm in Sweden" and is considered by some scholars as a predecessor of the triple-meter waltz.

Plays With

ArtistInfo App

Acknowledgements

ArtistInfo for Mac, iPad, and iPhone