Harv

The Swedish duo Harv took an unexpected path from performing Jimi Hendrix covers to exploring traditional Scandinavian fiddle traditions. Magnus Stinnerbom and Daniel Sandén-Warg first connected in 1992 at age fourteen while studying at a musicians’ high school in their native Karlstad. In those initial days Stinnerbom handled drums and Sandén-Warg played guitar as the pair worked through classic Hendrix material with rock-star ambitions. One year later the notion of shifting toward folk material surfaced. Stinnerbom, whose father had played fiddle in the influential Swedish group Groupa, introduced his friend to the older repertoire, and Sandén-Warg embraced it at once. Public appearances nevertheless remained several years away. Harv—whose name means “harrow”—made its debut in 1996 by supplying music for a Västanå Theatre production of Hamlet, followed a year later by the self-titled debut album. Stinnerbom later described it as “just the two of us, and it was just tunes from our part of Sweden, our chance to show people where we're from, and explore on our tradition. Then we could build on that.” Further development was delayed when Stinnerbom joined forces first with former Hedningarna singer Sanni Kurki-Suonio and subsequently became a full member of Hedningarna, while Sandén-Warg devoted himself to archival research into traditional tunes and their histories. The pair reunited in 2000 for the album Must, which featured guitarist Roger Tallroth of Väsen and percussionist Björn Tollin of Hedningarna. That recording broadened their scope beyond strictly regional material to include original compositions by Stinnerbom. After completing their first North American tour in 2001 they returned to the studio and issued Tost on North Side Records the following year.