Renee Vaughan is a Minnesota-based artist who brings Sweden’s folk traditions to life through music, dance, painting, and storytelling. Rooted in history and guided by curiosity, she connects old ways to new spaces and communities, inviting people to explore their ideas of culture and home. Her primary form of expression is the resonant nyckelharpa, the national folk instrument of Sweden. For almost two decades, Renee has performed at venues like the American Swedish Institute, Norsk Høstfest, and the Minnesota Orchestra’s Nordic Soundscapes Festival. She is a teaching artist with Minnesota Public Radio Class Notes and with COMPAS, bringing Swedish folk traditions to classrooms, libraries, and community events. In 2024, she served as Musician-in-Residence at UW-Madison’s Nordic Folklife Department, where she researched the musical lives of 19th-century Swedish immigrants and launched Nordic Newcomers a free online educational resource. In 2022, Renee was awarded a fellowship from the American Scandinavian Foundation to study with nyckelharpa master Cajsa Ekstav in Sweden deepening her understanding of the Swedish polska as it relates to regional folk dances. Renee’s folk journey began with studying Swedish folk painting (dalmålning) with artist and musician Judy Kjenstad. Wanting to feel more immersed in the culture while painting, Renee borrowed a CD of traditional Swedish music from the library and she was captivated by the nyckelharpa, specifically, Eric Sahlström playing "Pinntorpafrun" polska. Judy, also a skilled nyckelharpa player, soon became her mentor and guided her in learning the traditional Swedish way: by ear, and understanding how the rhythm connects to the dances. Today, Renee shares this tradition through teaching, performing, and mentoring, creating welcoming spaces where Swedish folk music, dance, and stories come alive for all ages and backgrounds. |
|
Renee Sunflower Vaughan was born in a VW van headed for Woodstock. Members of the commune doted on the budding musician and encouraged her interpretation of Tracy Partridge’s game-changing tambourine work. Young Renee had a difficult transition to life on the outside. At the impressionable age of 16, she hitchhiked along the famed Route 66, when the first car to stop for her was a lime-green 1972 Ford Pinto--and inside, Sammy Davis Jr. and Carol Channing. The trio toured the country playing their vaudeville revival act to second-rate hotels and casinos. At some point during their journey, Carol began the daunting task of taming and refining the free-spirited young lady. She instructed Renee in the art of social graces, teaching her how to dress gorgeously and walk steadily. Carol also shared her unique lipstick application techniques with the yet-to-blossom-beauty. Sammy's role in Renee's education was more simple, yet immeasurably more difficult--he instructed the young beauty in the tender arts of love. At last, when they could teach her nothing more, Renee, Carol, and a broken-hearted Sammy parted ways the best of friends. Renee traveled to the Land of 10,000 Lakes to see if it was indeed as unforgettable as her future musical trophy husband, Prince (RIP) had described. Once in Minnesota, she learned how to make a Swedish nyckelharpa from an old tree stump, goat entrails and a discarded typewriter. This new instrument allowed Renee to further pursue her creative vision. She forged ahead into the wild of her new home state, armed only with a nyckelharpa, and an abundance of confidence. Success came quickly and she found herself overwhelmed by the enthusiastic, and slightly aggressive nyckelharpa aficionados. Renee had no choice but to retreat into the woods, broken in body but happy in spirit. Renee can be found in her home, (which she made entirely out of pine needles, including the indoor plumbing,) biding her time quietly playing polskas, a subdued and thoughtful woman. |
