in english

Ninni Poijärvi is a talented 33-year old singer-songwriter from Helsinki. She has released three solo albums, Viideltä (2002), Vapaapäivä (2005) and Virta (2008). Ninni also sings and plays the violin and accordion in the great country & roots music band Hoedown.

Ninni's biggest influence are singer-songwriters such as Julie Miller, Jackson Browne, Carole King, Kasey Chambers, Lyle Lovett, Rickie Lee Jones and J.Karjalainen.

*Ninni is an artist who believes that listening to your heart is the most important thing when making music and this alone makes her a respected artist at a time when so many people are only interested in record sales." (Blues News/Kai Engren)

 Interview with Ninni Poijärvi
(Six Degrees 1/2008)

 By Katarina Boijer

With the Finland’s legendary J. Karjalainen, Ninni has brought back the traditional Finnish folk music to the mass audience. ‘Pelimanni music’ is so popular that the sell-figures of banjos has risen dramatically!

Music is your life. You breathe it, it’s in your body and soul. Do you feel that you had no choice when it comes to your career?

-When you come from a musical family, music is part of your life from early on. I didn’t choose music, it chose me. Even my earliest memories are connected with music and instruments. I used to have naps under our grand piano! It’s such a luxury when your greatest passion becomes your career.

You play violin and you sing as well. Was violin always your first choice of instrument?

Yes, I was completely fixated with it! I wanted to have my own violin when I was about three! But I had to wait until I was mature enough-I was four when I got my first violin. I started group lessons then. At that age, lessons are supposed to be fun, so we run in circles quite a lot as well! At five I had my first private lessons, and I’ve been having them ever since.

You are so versatile. You’ve been playing classical-, pop- and country music. And you sing in Finnish and English.

It’s always good to try different things in performing arts. You don’t get bored and you find out what your strenghts are. I’ve had a classical training at the Sibelius Academy. My professional brake came when I was chosen to sing at the ‘Les Miserables’. It was fun at the time, but I also found out that doing musicals is not my thing. After that I was experiencing with different fields; I did a solo album, I sang soul and pop music, played violin...

During that time I fell in love with country-and roots music, but funnily enough, I joined an a cappella band! That Club for Five combo took five years of my life. It was a successful group, yes, but I wanted to do something different.

And then you met J.Karjalainen?

I was already singing and playing violin at the Hoedown band, where my boyfriend, Mika Kuokkanen also plays guitar when we met J. Karjalainen through our mutual friend. We started jamming together, and everything just clicked! That’s when the idea of ‘Lännen Jukka String Band’ band started. We all shared the passion for the old Finnish and international roots music, and now we play traditional Finnish pelimanni folk music. I play violin and sing, Mika plays guitar and sings, and J. Karjalainen obviously sings and plays banjo. It’s been such a success-story, and the audience around the world loves it! It doesn’t matter if we are in Finland or in Canada, the feedback is fantastic. The audience is so varied as well, anybody from pensioners to goths!

You had some difficulties in America though?

We’ ve had two recent trips there, and the first one was a nightmare at the customs and immigration. Maybe they got a hint about drug smugglers, but they chose us to be their victims. It was so horrible and humiliating. They didn’t give us any chance, and they called us liars.  We finally got through but it was such a devestating experience that it took a while to get back to the happy, music mood. We met wonderful people on that trip, including some third generation Finns in their 80’s and it made it worthwhile. We also stayed in lovely cabins in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but wilderness. You see the stars, you go to sauna and hear the wolves howling...that environment really makes Hiski Salomaa songs seem so appropriate! It was magical.

On our second trip to America, immigration people were actually nice! And the trip altogether was amazing. We went to record an album at the legendary studio on Woodstock. Eero Raittinen was recording there as well. It was so dreamlike to be there, and to meet the Band’s drummer Levon Helm and play at the Midnight Ramble. The concert was sold out, and it was so unbelievable to be on the same stage where the American roots-veterans have been playing. These kind of things make all the sufferings at the immigartion worthwhile! As a country, I really love America. It’s beautiful and people are warm and open. I’ve left pieces of my heart in so many places there!

So what does the future hold for you?

We carry on playing with the ‘Lännen Jukka String Band’. We play at the festivals in Finland in a summer, and hopefully we go abroad again. I’m so glad that I can be part of this all; being a part of a big, musical family. We all speak the same languge. It doesn’t matter where you come from, we all speak the language of music. (Six Degrees 1/2008 By Katarina Boijer)

About her album Vapaapäivä:

"Even though Poijärvi sings in Finnish, the emotional roots of her songs are strongly rooted in the tradition of anglo-american folk music. If Patty Griffin or Emmylou Harris are close to your heart, you’ll fall in love with this album. " 
- Rytmi/Jean Ramsay

"Club for Five’s acappella virtuoso and the singer who has trained in Hoedown’s roots music has made her second album, which has an extremely pleasant unplugged mood with its soft folk tones mixed with calm blues and beautiful ballads. The songs are mainly the artist’s own, shortly named but melodically delicatelly enriched impressions. Influences from both Club for Five and Hoedown can be heard. The sensitive singing voice has a central space and a wonderful echo. Hoedown’s more quiet sound played by well known musicians can be heard on the background. This rich album can be classified somewhere between Emmylou Harris or Norah Jones. J. Karjalainen’s beautiful Myrskypääsky-contribution reveals a kindred spirit. The power of Ninni Poijärvi’s own songs has been cleverly taken care of and the album has a great chilling out vibe." 
- Soundi/Asko Alanen

-Vapaapäivä album was voted as number 8 on the ”the best country album of the year 2005” by Finnish Radio Suomi’s Country programme.

You can buy Vapaapäivä and Virta albums: 
»» www.aitorecords.com
www.epes.fi
www.fennicakeskus.fi
www.fmmusic.fi
www.levykauppax.fi
www.aironmusiikki.fi
www.aitorecords.fi