Renee Vaughan is a passionate about traditional Swedish folk arts: music painting and storytelling  With one foot firmly planted in tradition and the other stepping with care and curiosity she brings Scandinavian folk art traditions to life.   

Her primary form of expression of the resonant voice of the nyckelharpa, a medieval instrument from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. With a deep understanding of rhythm, history, and folklore, Renee captivates through blending the past with the present.  
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For over a decade, Renee has engaged audiences at notable venues like the American Swedish Institute, Norsk Høstfest, and the Minnesota Orchestra’s Nordic Soundscapes Festival, among others. She is currently a 2025 MPR Class Notes Teaching Artist.  In 2024, she served as Musician-in-Residence at UW-Madison’s Nordic Folklife Department, where she explored the musical legacies of first-generation Swedish immigrants. During her residency, she launched the online collection Nordic Newcomers and began an archive of Upper Midwest Scandinavian Allspel tunes to preserve and share these melodies.  In 2022, she received a fellowship from the American Scandinavian Foundation to study with master nyckelharpist Cajsa Ekstav.

A passionate collaborator, Renee is involved in intercultural and intergenerational music ensembles, blending Scandinavian traditions with various cultural influences. She organizes concerts, workshops, and folk dances to foster the growth and preservation of the Nordic folk scene. 

Renee discovered Swedish folk traditions in 2009 while studying folk painting with Judy Kjenstad. Seeking inspiration, she borrowed a Swedish folk music recording from the library and was captivated by Eric Sahlström’s nyckelharpa playing. Judy, also a skilled nyckelharpa player, soon became her mentor in traditional Swedish music.

Renee has also studied extensively one-on-one with Cajsa Ekstav during her American Scandinavian Fellowship, exploring the polska in its many forms--bondpolska, slängpolska/polonaise, Bodapolska and Bingsjöpolska. Through this work, she developed a stronger understanding of the rhythm and phrasing that uniquely define Swedish folk music
  1. My first paid gig in entertainment was running the Blue Light Specials over the PA system at Kmart. 
  2.  Sören Åhker made both of my nyckelharpa.  His #45 is named "Vild Gås" and #145 is named "BjörnTiger."  #145 won first prize at the 2022 Nyckelharpa Luthier Competition in Sweden. 
  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.  In Potterlore, a lightning scar shape is caused by the wand movement used in the Avada Kedavra curse. 
  4. I 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. For over a dozen years, I worked with seniors in long-term-care, many with dementia, for the past decade.  It's was a lot of hugs and non-sequitur conversations.    
  7. I never corrected Bob Dylan's mom when she called me "Rachel" for five years.  Instead, I made a "Rachel" nametag to wear  when I saw her walk in to the restaurant. 
  8. I played for the King and Queen of Sweden, but my most consistent and attentive audience is my dog, Little Miss Lady Punkin' Donuts. 
  9. I've done a lot of historical research on the waged and unwaged work of women in Minnesota.  You can check it out here.  MN Women and Work   
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.
Copyright © 2025 Renee Vaughan