Leonard Finseth was born at the same Mondovi, Wisconsin farm where he lived all his life. Leonard's father came from Norway, and he married his mother in the early 1900's and they lived at that same farm. Leonard was born in 1911 and passed away in 1991. He learned to fiddle from his uncle Ed Quall and other fiddlers from Eau Claire, WI. area which once had a wealth of old-time fiddlers.
A lot of time and effort went into the liner notes of this disk and an internet audio and video archive. We worked closely with Leonard's nephew, Larry Finseth, to make sure that we were headed in the right direction. It is important to remember the great Upper Midwest folk musicians that time and the internet have mostly forgotten.
We hope you enjoy these 20 tracks of schottische's, waltz's, mazurka's from the hills of old Wisconsin. I know we lost a little sleep trying to make music that would make both us and Leonard proud. Hopefully this will serve as a current testament to not only the rich unheralded fiddling tradition of the Upper Midwest, But to the rural Wisconsin farmer who brought so much music to the people.
Late around the campfire one night a while back an old man told me "the dead live in our hearts and in our bows". As we bring this project to fruition I have had that thought had on my mind.
Leonard Finseth archive link
Buy the digital copy here
Buy the physical copy here
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