About 
 Renee Vaughan plays new and traditional Scandinavian music on the nyckelharpa, an instrument that has been around in one form or another for over 700 years. The sound is both rustic and ethereal. She enjoys high energy slängpolska, contemplative gånglåt and beautiful waltzes.  Renee has played for the King and Queen of Sweden, the Ambassadors to Norway and Sweden, but her most consistent and attentive audience is her dog, Goosey.    

​Renee performs throughout the midwest with many different musical constellations, and is a regular at the American Swedish Institute, Høstfest and Nisswa-Stämmän Scandinavian music festivals.

"I’m a bit of a musical late bloomer.  About ten years ago, I was learning traditional Swedish folk painting from Judy Kjenstad, when I borrowed a CD of Swedish folk music from the library to help with inspiration. There was a tune that I instantly loved and kept on repeat for days.  It was Eric Sahlström's,  “Pinntorpafrunpolska,"  on nyckelharpa.  When I mentioned this to Judy, she said she also plays nyckelharpa and would help me get started.  Within a few months she secured a Sören Åhker harpa for me, and very generously, (and patiently,) taught me how to play." 

Renee is also accomplished in the traditional Swedish art of dalmålning, more commonly known as kurbits painting.
TEN POINTS OF (SEMI) INTEREST
  1. My first paid gig in entertainment was running the Blue Light Specials over the PA system at Kmart. 
  2. I am a complete sucker for a minor key waltz or schottische. 
  3. My patronus is a buttercream cupcake.  In 2020 I had an accident that resulted in a "Harry Potter" lightning bolt shaped scar on my forehead.  Fun Fact:  One fan-theory is that the scar shape is associated with the wand movement in the Avada Kedavra curse. 
  4. I single-handedly MacGyvered a potato-gun out of PVC pipe and a lawn sprinkler motor. It could launch a hot-dog over the garage. ​
  5. I won a moo-ing contest.
  6. Aside from the fact I am a middle-aged hermit with anxiety and Crohn's Disease, I think I'd make an excellent ninja. 
  7. In addition to carrying forth the traditional ways of art and music, I am a tradition bearer of '80's hair. It's not enough to simply "tell" our children about the halcyon days of Aqua Net and back-combing. We must make time to show them and demonstrate the old ways if we want it to survive.
  8. Although I have bionic parts like Jaime Sommers, I identify more with super-hero, Andrea Thomas. 
  9. I don't like the watery stuff that spurts from the ketchup bottle if I forget to shake it, or the watery stuff on top of unstirred yogurt. 
  10. It constantly amazes me the relative ease in which I can embarrass my children. I like to think it is a special skill set that I alone possess, and employers look favorably upon. ​
Her journey began... 
when 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.