Colorado-based musician Nicolette Andres joined KGNU to share live performances and insights into the rare tradition of Hardanger fiddle music from southwestern Norway. She discussed the instrument’s unique features, the foot-tapping rhythm essential for dancers, and her new album Hands, recorded in Boulder with support from the Alex Wilson Legacy Fund. Nicolette also spoke about the value of preserving folk traditions and how listeners can find her music on Bandcamp, at Paradise Found, and via nicoletteandres.com. (Local Gold: 4/30/25)
Indra Raj: Welcome in Nicolette Andres. Thank you so much for joining us here.
Nicolette Andres: It’s my pleasure. Happy to be here.
Indra Raj: Yeah, it’s so nice to have you. I’m so glad you reached out and sent me your music because it’s pretty unique, I feel like, for the Front Range to have a Scandinavian folk musician.
Nicolette Andres: Yeah, it is rare. I think I might be one of a small handful of people who play the Hardanger fiddle in Colorado.
Indra Raj: Yeah? Oh, okay. Well, why don’t we just have you play a bit of music, and then we’ll talk more about it.
Nicolette Andres: Sounds great.
Indra Raj: Why don’t you tell us about the first tune you’re going to play?
Nicolette Andres: The first tune I’ll play is called Fecon, and this is a type of tune called a Halling, which is meant for dance.
Indra Raj: Great. Here we go.
[Play Music]
Indra Raj: And that is Nicolette Andres live here in the studio at KGNU, playing Hardanger fiddle. So can you tell us a little bit about this tradition and some of its hallmarks?
Nicolette Andres: Yeah. So this tradition is very, very old. It comes from southwestern Norway, so it doesn’t even exist in all of Norway. This fiddle tradition is specific to southwestern regions. Depending on which valley you’re in, it’s also different—like the languages and dialects vary across regions with a lot of heavy geographical features.
Indra Raj: So how did you come to this music and decide it was something you wanted to learn and perform?
Nicolette Andres: I think it was right after I graduated from the University of Puget Sound. I had a friend who did a loan of this instrument through an organization called the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America. They’ll loan you an instrument if you agree to take regular lessons and pay an insurance fee and shipping.
So I applied and got accepted after seeing that friend play. I was just captured by the sound—it was mesmerizing, transcendental, beautiful, and very different from what I had been playing in music school. I grew up around jazz and folk music and was always looking for ways to get back into that with violin. This seemed like the perfect way. I was really moved by the music, started taking lessons, and it was just a great fit from the very beginning.
Indra Raj: Okay, so the Hardanger fiddle—it’s named after the Hardanger Fjord in Norway?
Nicolette Andres: That’s right. The instrument has sympathetic strings, so it’s more similar to a sitar or nyckelharpa—or, if you think about what an amplifier does for electric guitar, it creates reverb if you want that setting. This is like original reverb.
Indra Raj: Yeah. Oh my gosh. And it’s so beautiful too—the instrument itself is adorned with these beautiful etchings, and it looks like even marble inlay. Can you describe it?
Nicolette Andres: Picture your typical violin. But instead of four pegs, this one has nine pegs. I have five sympathetic strings that run underneath the fingerboard. Around the edges of the body of the instrument, there’s pen work that the luthier does by hand. In the fingerboard, there’s inlaid abalone, and there are carvings on the top scroll in the shape of a lion with a big headdress.
Indra Raj: It’s amazing. I’ve never heard of this instrument or seen one in real life, and I’m totally taken with it. I’m going to post photos on our social media afterwards so people can see it—it’s gorgeous. And it’s just interesting to hear about all the different mechanics involved in this string instrument.
Nicolette Andres: Yeah, I felt that way too. It totally captured me. Many people in the tradition consider this music to be part of life’s regular celebrations and mournings, but it’s also considered transcendental and healing on many levels.
Indra Raj: Wonderful. Okay, why don’t we hear a couple more tunes, and then we’ll talk about your new album and some upcoming shows and live events you’ve got going on?
Nicolette Andres: Great. I’m going to play a couple of tunes. I’ll play them one into the other. They’re the first two tracks off the album. The first one is called Waking Up With the Birds, and the second one is called Boston, which is another type of dance tune.
Indra Raj: And are these original tunes or based on folk songs?
Nicolette Andres: Some of the album is traditional Norwegian tunes, passed down warm hand to warm hand over hundreds of years. The first tune I’ll play, I wrote. The second one is traditional.
Indra Raj: Great.
[Play Music]
Indra Raj: Really amazing. What struck me—and I’m not sure if it’s audible through the radio, but I can definitely hear it here in the studio—is that you stomp along as you play. Is that common throughout this tradition, where you kind of stomp your feet to keep time?
Nicolette Andres: Yes. From what I’ve seen in other players and recordings, the foot tapping is part of the music. I think mostly because it helps dancers really feel the beat and know where the phrasing is.
Indra Raj: Yes! Sometimes the music changes and you think, “Oh my gosh, where am I?” And then you hear the foot tapping and you realize, “Oh, we’re still in three. We’re still in this place.” I can see how that would be very helpful for a dancer.
Nicolette Andres: Yes. When I was being introduced to this music, I was actually really frustrated a lot of the time—just purely frustrated—because I didn’t understand it. Some people go the route of wanting to see a metronome and know exactly which beat is what percentage, because the beats are uneven. That’s true for a lot of folk traditions.
So, it is three-beat music, but beat two is variable. Which is really fun, I think, because it’s like—you can almost grasp it, but not quite. You really have to feel it and rely on listening to recordings of the people who came before you.
Indra Raj: Absolutely. It’s like something that could only happen in an oral tradition. You really do need to feel it. It’s so off-kilter from our normal Western way of doing things. I can totally see how it could be frustrating at first—but it’s so cool to see and hear it in action.
So let’s talk about this new album you just released at the beginning of the month. You recorded it here in Boulder, and you’re from Evergreen, so you’re a local musician by many means.
Nicolette Andres: Yeah.
Indra Raj: Tell us a little about Hands, your new record.
Nicolette Andres: I’d wanted to record an album for many years, and this year things lined up. I applied for a grant from the Alex Wilson Legacy Fund, which is a great organization in Boulder if you have a folk life project.
The Alex Wilson Legacy Fund is really rooted in folk traditions that bring people together in ways that go beyond words—dance music, things that transcend generations. I got the grant and started working, and it all started flowing.
I wrote three tracks on the album. My fiancé wrote two as well. He plays a mandolin-type instrument called a cittern, which has five courses of strings in pairs, like a mandolin. So between our two instruments, there are 19 strings that we have to tune very frequently.
Indra Raj: That’s amazing. I was just reading on the Bandcamp page about how the name of the album seems very significant. Tell us a little about that.
Nicolette Andres: I chose the name Hands because in the process of making the album, I realized how much work went into this—not just from me, but from everyone else. I was thinking about my past teachers, the people who made my instrument, all the people who spent time one-on-one sharing their craft.
In a time when people can get anything with the snap of their fingers, it’s really important that people are still choosing these slower processes that are so much more meaningful.
Indra Raj: Yeah, and connect us in real life. I love what’s written on your Bandcamp—that music and art can really keep us connected in a time when individualism is kind of at an all-time high. We’re not connecting in person as much as maybe we should be, for our health and happiness.
So I love it. What a beautiful folk tradition. And you’re very active in the area as a teacher and performer. Tell us about some upcoming things you’ve got going on.
Nicolette Andres: This week, on Friday, I’m playing a solo set at my violin shop, Sharer Violins in Louisville. Sharer Violins is on Main Street and has recently expanded. We’re setting up an intimate concert there—Friday at 7:00 PM.
Indra Raj: Wonderful.
Nicolette Andres: It’ll be a solo show focused on Hardanger fiddle. You can hear it well on the album—I think the mixing and mastering really highlight its beauty.
Indra Raj: And how can people keep up with what you’re doing?
Nicolette Andres: Bandcamp is a great way to know when we release new music. You can sign up for the email list and notifications through Bandcamp—it’s under my artist name, Nicolette Andres. I also have my own email list through my website: nicoletteandres.com.
Indra Raj: And forgive me for saying your last name incorrectly before.
Nicolette Andres: No problem!
Indra Raj: Nicolette Andres. Okay. Why don’t you take us out with one more tune here today?
Nicolette Andres: Great. I’m going to play another dance tune that I really love. I learned it in an online workshop just a few months ago from a top player in Norway.
Indra Raj: So, Nicolette Andres live here on KGNU with one more tune for us.
[Play Music]
Nicolette Andres: Thank you so much for having me. I also remembered—my album is available physically at Paradise Found.
Indra Raj: Oh, great! Good to know.
Nicolette Andres: And my website is nicoletteandres.com—and that’s also my name on Bandcamp.
Indra Raj: Wonderful. Is your album on vinyl at Paradise Found?
Nicolette Andres: It’s not on vinyl, but I might do a re-release down the road.
Indra Raj: Well, it’s been such a pleasure to have you. Thanks for being here.
Nicolette Andres: Thank you, Indra.
