The Berntsons

It all began around 1900 when Norwegian immigrant Bernt Berntson Bradskerud purchased a violin in a northern Wisconsin logging camp and gave it to his son, Bennie. Then ten years old, Bennie began playing his violin, learning Scandinavian folk tunes from fiddlers in his rural Wisconsin immigrant community, especially his musical uncle and cousins.... For the next thirty years Bennie played all night long at house parties and community dances that featured the Scandinavian waltzes, schottisches, and square dances which became the backbone of the repertoire for the Berntsons. In the 1930s, 40s and 50s, Bennie Berntsons son Maurice, playing guitar, and daughter Eleanore, playing the pump organ, joined the family music circle. Cousin Benny Smith played banjo, cousin Jimmy Severude played violin and the Berntson family band was frequently augmented with local fiddlers and friends who joined in on cold winter evenings. The addition of Eleanores pump organ, playing melodies as well as chording, blended with the violins to produce a strikingly warm, rich sound. Maurice further enhanced the mix by playing the violin melodies on the guitar, a unique twist to traditional Norwegian folk music instrumentation.In the 60s, 70s and 80s Eleanores son Karl began playing the family music and a second guitar was brought into the musical picture. While Maurice played the melodies on his guitar, Karl provided a bass line and chording on his guitar. At full strength the Berntsons could feature several fiddles, pump organ, banjo, and two guitars. The music has come a long way from Bennie Berntsons solo fiddle in the early 1900s.The Berntsons features the same traditional song repertoire which has been played now by three generations of Berntson family musicians. Similarly, the same exact instruments are used....the 1916 Beckwith family pump organ, the 1920s B & D tenor banjo, and the late 1930s L 5 style guitar are all played on this CD. The very violin which Bennie Berntson first learned to play as a young boy in 1900 can be heard on ...Read More