Hiski Salomaa (born Hiskias Möttö; May 17, 1891 – July 7, 1957) was a Finnish-American singer and songwriter.
Career
Referred to as the Finnish Woody Guthrie,Siirtolaisten Woody Guthrie. palasokeri.com. Retrieved: March 13, 2013. Salomaa's songs portrayed the immigrant experience of working-class Finns.A Passion For Polka: Old-Time Ethnic Music In America by Victor R. Greene, (Berkeley : University of California Press, 1992) pp. 109-110.
Between 1927 and 1931 Salomaa recorded eighteen sides for Columbia Records.
Since the 1970s, Hiski Salomaa's recordings have been reissued in both analog and digital formats.Värssyjä sieltä ja täältä (Helsinki: Love Records, 1971).Hiski Salomaa: Kootut teokset 1927–1931 (Helsinki: Johanna, 1991).Stranded in the USA (Munich: Trikont, 2004). In 1992 his song "Värssyjä sieltä ja täältä" (Verses from Here and There) was published in Mel Bay’s Immigrant Songbook, an American songbook with lyrics in both Finnish and English.Mel Bay’s Immigrant Songbook by Jerry Silverman, (Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, 1992).
References
External links Text of Lännen Lokari CD with Lännen Lokari