At long last, a new album in the works!

Greetings, Scandinavian fans!

Yes, the headline is correct. Last week I took the rhythm section (Glenn, Erick, Mike) into the studio to start cutting new tracks for the new album. I also had our favorite bass player, Dennis Staskowski, come in and play on a couple tracks. I was blown away by how well everyone played in the sessions. I had expected to take a couple weeks to get all the tracks down. However, we got all the rhythm tracks done in three sessions. That's three sessions for sixteen tunes. In studio time that's quite amazing. I know that the members of this band are exceptionally talented but sometimes I forget just how good they really are. It's nice to have these kinds of reminders.

This is our first studio album since 2002. We released Northwest Polka Country in 2003. That was an amazing album that showcased what was going on with our band at that time. But that was nearly eight years ago. Our personnel has changed and we've had many more musical experiences since that time. This new album will be a more bare-bones album than the previous one; it will be a very close representation of our live sound. We'll have a few friends stop by and add their musical talents but, for the most part, it will be the same thing you would hear us play live on stage.

We haven't chosen a name for the album yet. It's going to be dedicated to my grandfather, Ray Hanson, and my wife's late grandfather, Les Price. Many of you know that my grandfather has played a central role in my life and especially my musical life, having bought me my accordion and my van and paid for my accordion lessons. He's made it possible for me to do what it is that I do as a musician. My wife's grandfather, who passed away in 2008, was one of her biggest fans and supporters and a wonderful lover of music. I was only privileged to know Les for a few years but in that time I got a glimpse of the clever, special person that he was in his life. These two wonderful men have had a huge impact on the lives of my wife and myself and this album will be a way for both of us to express how much we love and appreciate them.

Aside from the studio work, we are doing some playing over the winter. Friday, February 12th we're making our first appearance at Sonny Newman's Dance Hall in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood for his Waltz Night. I've played there with some of my other groups like the Valse Café Orchestra. This will be the first opportunity to show off the Smilin' Scandinavians for the Seattle waltzing community. They're a wonderful group of dancers and I look forward to playing for them. We're also making our annual appearance at Day of the Accordion at the Seattle Center House. That will be Sunday, February 28th. We'll be sharing the stage with many other great groups from the area like the Folkvoice Band, the Northwest Accordionaires and Bonnie Birch. Come out and bask in the glory that is accordion music.

That's all from me for this edition of the Cyber-posten. Enjoy the rest of winter!