Jonathan Rundman: Nordic

Minneapolis-based songwriter Jonathan Rundman has traveled and performed in the Nordic countries and central Europe throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

Jonathan spent his childhood and youth in the Finnish-American communities of Michigan's Upper Peninsula; born in Hancock, raised in Ishpeming. Jonathan's great-grandparents immigrated to Northern Michigan from Finland in 1903. The surname Rundman comes from the Swedish-speaking communities in Finland.

The Rundman family in Upper Michigan was active in the former Suomi Synod of the Lutheran Church, now merged into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Jonathan represents the third generation of Finnish-American Rundman family musicians playing in Lutheran congregations.

From rock clubs to medieval church sanctuaries, ethnic folk festivals to university classrooms, Jonathan Rundman's music has been acclaimed by audiences, press, and radio in North America and Europe.

introducing KAIVAMA:

In 2010 Jonathan teamed up with virtuoso fiddler Sara Pajunen to form the acoustic Finnish-American folk duo Kaivama.

This new band performs music drawn from the traditional “pelimanni” fiddle-tune repertoire of Western Finland, Nordic hymnody, and the aggressive prog-folk attitude of contemporary Scandinavian roots music.

In the Summer of 2010 Kaivama was invited to perform as the headlining musicians at the Finn Fest in Frederick, SD, and were immediately played on folk radio shows from Helsinki to Sioux Falls, including the YLE Radio Vega program "Lira" broadcast in Finland.

Listen to Kaivama songs and watch a performance video at their MYSPACE PAGE.

Become a Fan of Kaivama on FACEBOOK.

Recent travels:

Jonathan Rundman toured in Finland in January 2010! He was a guest musician at the parish workers' convention for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in Jyväskylä, and played concerts in Helsinki and Saarijarvi.