Scandinavian Heritage Festival of Utah

All events are scheduled for the main stage in front of the Noyes Building on Snow College campus unless indicated otherwise.

Friday
2:00 pm – Gunnell Fiddlers (blue grass, Celtic, and some Scandinavian music)
3:00 pm – Roda Oknen Trio which means Red Desert in Swedish
4:00 pm – Local entertainment
6:00 pm – Scandinavian Dinner, with entertainment by Venlige Fremmede (friendly strangers)

Saturday
11:00 am – Lincoln Highway (Bluegrass, Scandinavian) with Firefly and guest performer, Russell Wulfenstein
1:00 pm – Story Road Utah with Host Marvin Payne, including Enoch Train. This is a musical tribute to the Pioneers who founded the Sanpete Valley
3:15 pm – Sam Payne and Cherie Call with musical guests Enoch Train
3:30 pm – The Phat Old Professors (Classic Rock)

This year’s entertainment will be music to festival-goers’ ears with an exceptional lineup of talent both Friday and Saturday.

Story Road Utah
If the pioneers had had radio stations, this is not quite what they would have heard…but it’s what they wouldhave wanted to hear—stories and music to match their deeds. And in Sanpete County, those deeds were amazing—the equal of the best in theworld. Story Road Utah tours the state singing the songs and telling the stories that make each place unique. And it takes you back to the golden age of radio in style and content. Host Marvin Payne and band Enoch Train ensure the stories and music are awesome. And their guests—in this case Sam Payne and Cherie Call—make this episode of Story Road Utah both rollicking fun and sweetly satisfying. Never in the history of the Scandinavian Heritage Festival has so much magical musical firepower been on the main stage. Marvin Payne is a professional actor, writer, songsmith, and recording artist. The fact that most of his clothes are from D.I. while his guitars are from C.F. Martin gives the clearest glimpse into his material priorities. He has released a dozen albums of original songs and has helped craft widely-produced plays, including "The Planemaker," "Charlie's Monument," "The Trail of Dreams," "Wedlocked," and "Take the Mountain Down." In the film "Man's Search For Happiness," he is the Man Who Searches. For kids, he plays Boo the dog, Theo the tortoise, Lou the Rhinoceros, and a scruffy critter named Lorenzo who has a magic songbook. Enoch Train was the anchor band for Sea Trek 2001 that toured the ports of northern Europe. They have appeared on video with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and on the concert stage with the Orchestra at Temple Square, and are composed of many of Utah’s first-call studio musicians. Clive Romney is the “conductor” on the Enoch Train, which was not a train, but a ship, upon which many of Sanpete County’s early pioneers crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Rob Honey plays bass, Rich Dixon (of Snow College faculty fame) plays guitar, Daron Bradford woodwinds, Jay Lawrence drums and percussion, Ryan Tilby banjo, dobro and mandolin, and Curtis Woodbury fiddle. Together they turn hymn tunes, children’s songs and folk tunes into magical trips through a flock of musical styles. Enoch Train is what happens when imagination gets loose in a children’s music box and sprays out in a raspberry lemonade shower of notes. From Danish dances to Jewish folk tunes to Appalachian fiddle tunes, it’s Swwweeeeet!

Sam Payne and Cherie Call
Sam Payne’s contemporary folk recordings and live performances have established him among the premier acts of the Intermountain West and beyond. Playing to audiences large and small, as a solo act or with his band The Sam Payne Project, Payne has brought his peculiar jazz-inflected folk tunes to halls in Canada, Bulgaria, Tokyo, and from coast to coast in the United States. Payne also writes and produces for radio, and his clients have included Glenn Beck, the popular syndicated radio and television host. Payne is the program director for YourLDSradio.com, the popular online home for contemporary LDS music, and the creator of the Radio Family Journal, a widely-broadcast radio segment featuring thoughts on family and faith. Find more information about Sam and his work at www.sampayne.com “Let's talk about storytelling: Sam Payne is a master at it.” --Carma Wadley, Deseret News "Listening to the lyrics--that song about his grandfather; Holy Cow! Some of the best lyrics I've ever heard." --Glenn Beck, the Glenn Beck Program

Cherie Call was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona and has been writing music since her early teens. Cherie went on to earn a BA in Media Music from Brigham Young University. Songwriting classes were the highlight of her college career. She had always loved folk and acoustic music, but while she had taken piano lessons in her youth, she didn’t ever pick up a guitar till she was in college. As Cherie’s songwriting matured, the guitar seemed to become the perfect fit for her vivid, storytelling lyrics. Cheri has released seven full length albums of her original songs. Her latest album, “Grace”, was released in October of 2009. Some highlights of Cherie’s performing life include playing “in the round” at Nashville’s famous Bluebird Cafe, being a finalist in the prestigious Kerrville Newfolk songwriting competition, and opening for bluegrass legend Tim O’Brien at the University of Utah. Cherie’s songs have been included on several albums produced for the LDS Especially for Youth summer programs, and also on the soundtracks to many independent films, including God’s Army, Charly, and the Banff Award winning film, “True Fans”. Cherie currently hosts a podcast on yldsr.com called “The New Music Show”, where she interviews other musicians about their latest work. Cherie currently lives in Utah with her husband and two daughters.

Lincoln Highway
Lincoln Highway” will be on stage with their distinctive sounds of mountain music, bluegrass, Celtic, acoustic country, Utah pioneer, old-time fiddle, and early American folks music. Bluegrass and gospel music are included in the repertoire of over 50 tunes. This band has been a favorite in the past and will certainly be one of the must-see groups during the festival.

Venlige Fremmede
Venlige Fremmede – “friendly strangers” in Danish – is the name of a four-man band taken from Enoch Train’s ranks, and performing at the Scandinavian Feast on Friday, May 27th this year. They are “strangers” or “outsiders” to Scandinavian music traditions because they each have British roots, but they are “friendly” to it because they perform authentic Scandinavian music. “We have located the scores of well over 100 Scandinavian songs, many of which we will incorporate into our performance,” says Clive Romney, a member of the band and also executive director of Utah Pioneer Heritage Arts. Daron Bradford plays the clarinet, flutes and accordion. Rob Honey will play stand-up bass, Curtis Woodbury will play fiddle, and Romney will play the mandolin, accordion, and guitar. These musicians work together frequently and are most famous for their work in Enoch Train, a seven-member band that plays instrumental folk music versions of LDS hymns and children’s tunes, and American folk tunes. Bradford plays all the woodwind instruments and is frequently a soloist for the Orchestra at Temple Square that performs with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Formerly, he was the principal clarinetist with the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra and taught at the Mexico International Conservatory of Music. He is part-time faculty in BYU’s School of Music and a professional studio musician, and has been a clarinetist for the Utah Symphony. Honey plays bass, guitar and tuba and has an extensive brass background. He has written songs for artists such as Diamond Rio and Faith Hill. His song “Norma Jean Riley” went to number one on the country charts and was the 1992 Radio & Record country song of the year. He started out as a recording session bass player on national television commercials and programs, and he toured with the Donny and Marie Show. Curtis Woodbury is a recent (5 weeks) graduate of BYU, who has already distinguished himself as one of the best jazz violinists in the world. But he is no stranger to either the classical violin or folk fiddle traditions, as you will see at the Scandinavian Heritage Festival this year.

Gunnell Fiddlers
Sara Gunnell has been fiddling and playing her violin for over 20 years. She plays with the Celtic group “Leaping Lulu” that has played all over the west including radio appearances on KRCL and NPR. Upon moving to Sanpete County, she has begun passing on her fiddle skills to her violin students. Join in for a fiddle fiesta featuring Sara Gunnell and her students playing good old standards as well as traditional Scandinavian tunes.

Firefly
Firefly is a youth band that plays bluegrass and Celtic styles. It includes Alina Geslison (fiddle and bass), Grace Dayton (fiddle and mandolin), Issac Geslison (guitar), Bri’anna Joy (guitarist and lead vocalist) and Abbi Mitchell (guitarist). Alina, Grace and Isaac have all won state and national championships for their performances

Phat Ol' Professors
Phat Ol' Professors are made up mostly of faculty at Snow College, includes Vance Larsen (drums), Rich Dixon (lead guitar), Steve Meredith (keyboards), Ron Lamb (lead singer), Travis Osmond (bass guitar) and Greg Boothe (keyboards and guitar). The band plays mostly ‘70s rock and roll and has fronted groups such as Credence Clearwater Revisited and Merrill Osmond.

Mechanical Skies
Mechanical Skies play alternative and classic Rock and Roll music. Henry Reese, a guitar teacher and music equipment dealer, with over 30 years of experience, leads them. Hank's students learn how to perform in a real rock and roll band, using professional equipment and performing live.

NEW THIS YEAR. LIVE KAROKE WITH MECHANICAL SKIES PROVIDING YOUR BACKGROUND. SELECTIONS MECHANICAL SKIES WILL PLAY DURING THE KAROKE SECTION WILL BE: BIG GREEN TRACTOR BY JASON ALDEAN, OUR SONG BY TAYLOR SWIFT, WON'T BACK DOWN BY TOM PETTY AND/OR SO WHAT BY PINK. PRINTED WORDS WILL BE AVAILABLE IN ADVANCE AT THE SENIOR CENTER AND AT THE PARK ON SATURDAY.

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