The Band
Himmerland blends Nordic and Celtic folk traditions into something distinctly their own. Five musicians united by deep roots and restless curiosity.
Eskil Romme
Saxophone & Clarinet
Kirstine Haugaard Sand
Fiddle
Donald Hay
Percussion
Andrzej Krejniuk
Bass
Guest, Nuala Kennedy
Flute & VocalsHimmerland — The Start
From first, Himmerland was a result of musicians getting together from basically different genres as Folk, Jazz and AfroWorld music. The musical vision has always been to play and compose with respect for the different genres and cultures which the band members are bringing into the band, and out of that create a unique musical expression and narrative. We compose most of our own music. The first line up came together in 2010, — played the first concerts at festivals and venues at the Faroe Islands; Then in Hungary and Bulgaria in 2011, and released the first album, "New Roots Music from Denmark", in august 2012. The band celebrated this album by planning a busy "CD release week", featuring concerts at the Danish Tønder Festival, at Alkantara Fest in Sicily, Koktebel Jazz Festival in Ukraine, and finally at the Harvest World Music Festival in Moscow, all in one week, — and from there the band went on playing 40–50 concerts a year during the following years.
Album Releases
The first album had very good reviews, and in 2013 it was nominated for a Danish Music Award (Danish "Grammy") as Folk Album of the Year. Second album release was "The Spider in the Fiddle" that came in 2014, and again in 2018 Himmerland went into recordings and released "Folktone From A Global Corner" in 2020.
"…this version of the band makes a glorious and very varied noise…variety spicy, and the musicianship throughout is impeccable, with some superb, complex arrangements that still flow quite organically. This third release has been a while coming, but it was definitely worth the wait." — Chris Nixon, fRoots
Touring Activities
Edinburgh Folkclub: "Himmerland live act:.. among Top Ten acts at Edinburgh Folk Club...as voted for by our members." Since 2010 Himmerland has toured intensively in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Faroe Islands, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Greece, England, Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, Canada, South America, Australia and New Zealand, visiting a mix of gigs at Folkclubs, Village Halls and Major Festivals.
Chris Nickson, fRoots: "They're a bit of a multi-genre, multi-culture supergroup."
Himmerland has often been heralded as too Folk'ish for the World Scene and too World'ish for the Folk scene. We are actually proud about that being a Roots band.