| Hello there Sweden Day entertainer Tim Rued,
Tell us a little about yourself!
 "My name is Tim Rued, born and raised in California. As of May, I am 65 years old. I am married and have 3 grown daughters, and 3 young grandchildren.
When I was 14, I began playing old-time traditional music with my grandparents, and graduated to fiddle when I was 16. When at college in Seattle, I came into contact with Scandinavian musicians and dancers, and playing the fiddle for dancing became my main off-campus activity.
In the early 1970's I worked as an engineer in Glendale, California, and got connected with the Swedish Folkdance Club of Los Angeles. My music became more and more important to me, and when the Swedish dance group planned a tour of Sweden in 1974, I signed up to go along. One thing led to another, though, and I wound up backpacking through Sweden with my fiddle beginning in March, joining up with the Los Angeles group when they arrived in June. I met hundreds of fiddlers, learned an astonishing amount of music, became fluent in the language, and essentially became an "adopted" Swede.
I have gone back to Sweden many times since then, often leading groups of people on "folk tours" of the country, exposing my companions to the music, folk culture, traditional foods, and more. My two-week tours in the summertime always include at least 3 music festivals, as well as staying in places that the typical tourist never sees."
|
