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Pula & Around Sardinia, Italy

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The small town of Pula, outside Sardinia’s capital Cagliari, would be my home while on the island. I took day trips into the mountains (where a plane had crashed in 1979 and I was greated by mountain goats). In order to get return to mainland Italy, I had to drive the length of the island back to the ferry, bringing me along coastal roads, cork trees, and by ancient spiritual sites.

 
 
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Sardinian National Anthem • with Elena Ledda & Mauro Palmas

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Sardinian National Anthem • with Elena Ledda & Mauro Palmas

My first trip to Italy kicked off on the island of Sardinia where I met Elena Ledda and Mauro Palmas, two of the most respected musicians in traditional Sardinian music.

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Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

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Immediately after landing in Genoa, Italy, I boarded a ferry and headed south to the island of Sardinia. My home base would be the small town of Pula, not far outside the capital of Cagliari. I ventured into the city for my first collaboration with soprano Elena Ledda and mandola player Mauro Palmas.

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Hutsul Warrior Song for Ukraine • with Nikolaj, Marian, Martin & Michal

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Hutsul Warrior Song for Ukraine • with Nikolaj, Marian, Martin & Michal

While in the Czech Republic a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine, a group of musicians from different cultures within the Carpathian Mountains (Valach from the Czech side and Hutsul from the Ukrainian) came together to play a Hutsul warrior song for Ukraine.

Covid Mashup • with Antti Järvelä, Esko Järvelä & Maija Pokela

Covid Mashup • with Antti Järvelä, Esko Järvelä & Maija Pokela

Here’s a Finnish/American musical mashup of traditional tunes from my final Otherlands collaboration of this first year. Lockdowns hit hard around the world while I was in Finland and the gigging landscape changed in a big way. Testing the waters with Antti Järvelä (guitar), Esko Järvelä (fiddle), and Maija Pokela (kantele, voice).