This is a selection from my book of Swedish Fiddle Tunes (available from www.rowanpiggott.com/books ) For the past 8 years since its release, I have received numerous requests for an accompanying recording which has always proved daunting considering there's almost a hundred tunes in the book! However, here I have finally chosen two dozen tunes from the first half of the book. And who's to say there shouldn't be "another selection" at some later date?!

I have tried to make this album both a learning resource but also a pleasant album to listen to... it would have been a bit of a hard listen if I played each tune through solo, then with harmony, then with chords etc, so instead I just arranged the tunes in a manner which hopefully makes them come alive and perhaps demonstrates what you can do outside the restriction of the notation.

I am honoured to be joined on a couple of tracks by my friend and musical hero, Ben Paley. The two tunes he features on were tunes that I originally learnt from him in sessions at the start of my foray in Swedish Traditional Music as a teenager.

If you come to this album as someone who doesn't already have a copy of my book, I'll advertise it here...

Containing a variety of polskor from all over Sweden, the arrangements provide chord suggestions as well as second voices to every tune. There is even a section dedicated to tunes associated with folklore, beautifully illustrated by Frances Marriott.
Appendices give information and photos of famous spelmän and their playing styles as well as a map of Sweden's provinces so that you might have an idea of where each tune comes from. Available from www.rowanpiggott.com/books