OAF Academy’s Kalle Salonen prepares for the upcoming Huvila gig! Salonen’s three Hammond line-up Salonen-Gustavson-Gröhn will perform at Huvila on 20.8. The legendary Tuomari Nurmio will also be on stage with his band Dumari and Spuget & Blosarit.
Salonen has been composing new songs for the show throughout the spring and summer together with his mentor Hannu Pikkarainen.
“The rehearsals have got off to a good start and Kalle’s new songs are already a dozen or so. We’re working on them all the time. Jukka and Pekka came to the rehearsals for the first time today, and now we are starting to explore the songs with a larger group,” says Pikkarainen during an interview in mid-June.
Jukka and Pekka are the other two Hammond players in the band: Jukka Gustavson from Wigwam and Pekka Gröhn from J. Karjalainen’s band. Kalle Salonen exudes enthusiasm when he gets to play with his new bandmates.
“It’s really liberating to play with great people. It’s really nice for me, because Pekka was already on the first Cat Slide album and I’ve been playing with Jukka on different occasions for almost ten years. It’s really great to be able to go to Huvila with this group,” Salonen commented.
Jukka Gustavson is delighted that the project has received a generous grant and that Juhlaviikot has also been involved. “This is the most festive project we’ve had with Kalle so far. First we’ll practice songs with the core band in June and July, and then we’ll put the finishing touches to it with the addition of Antero Priha on trumpet and Panu “Saxman” Syrjänen on saxophone.”
Kalle Salonen X Huvila 20.8.2023. Time: 19.00. Tickets: 37,80 € / 42 € (lippu.fi).
Welcome to the concert in August!
OAF Academy is a new arts programme that opens up employment opportunities for marginalised artists in the fields of visual arts, performing arts, music, film, literature and media arts. The program provides long-term support for outsider artists. OAF Academy also creates a new way of working that enables the making and ordering of outsider art as comissions. The programme is produced by the outsider art production house and agency Pertin Valinta and funded by the Kone Foundation.
