Renee Vaughan is a traditional Swedish folk artist with deep roots in music, painting, and storytelling—each one helping her explore and share the culture she loves. With one foot firmly planted in tradition and the other stepping forward with care and curiosity, Renee brings the old ways into new spaces. Her primary form of expression is the nyckelharpa—the resonant, keyed fiddle considered Sweden’s national folk instrument. While most closely tied to Swedish music, variations of the nyckelharpa are also found in Norway, Denmark, and Finland. For Renee, the instrument’s sound is what first drew her in—raw, rhythmic, and deeply human. 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 currently a Minnesota Public Radio Class Notes Teaching Artist bringing traditional music to schools across the state. 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 resource for people to learn about these early tradiion bearers. She also began building an archive of Upper Midwest Scandinavian Allspel melodies to help preserve and pass on these regional traditions. In 2022, she received a fellowship from the American Scandinavian Foundation to study with nyckelharpa master Cajsa Ekstav in Sweden. A passionate collaborator, Renee is involved in intercultural and intergenerational music ensembles, and organizes concerts, workshops, and folk dances that help the tradition stay vibrant and welcoming Renee’s journey began while 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 something shifted. She was captivated by the nyckelharpa playing of Eric Sahlström. Judy, also a skilled nyckelharpa player, soon became her mentor and guided her in learning the traditional Swedish way: by ear, in service to community, and always with an understanding of how the dance connects to the rhythm of the music. Renee has also studied extensively one-on-one with Cajsa Ekstav during her American Scandinavian Fellowship, where she focused on the polska in its many forms and deepened her understanding of the phrasing and rhythmic feel that define Swedish folk music. Today, she continues to teach, perform, and mentor others who feel drawn to this tradition—especially those who, like her, didn’t grow up in it but feel called to carry it forward with care. |
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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. |
