"The Mountain" Performed by Maxida Märak & the Downhill Bluegrass Band

Published on January 9, 2013

Maxida Märak & Downhill Bluegrass Band perform at Saltoluokta Folkmusik Festival 28 June 2012.

More music from Maxida & Downhill at: http://www.downhill.nu/

Maxida Märak from Jokkmokk is a young, promising multi-artist that is deeply rooted in the Swedish Sami indigenous people.

Along with Downhill Bluegrass Band, she recorded the single "Mountain Songs". A single with two songs, where they come together musically to explore the similarities between the Sami culture's musical expression and the American traditional folk music from around the Appalachian mountains. The mountain has a central role in both contexts, and the mining industry affects the lives of both people and nature on both sides of the Atlantic.

In June 2012 they have the release of the single "Mountain Songs" at Saltoluokta Folkmusik Festival. This single contains two tracks "The Mountain " by Steve Earle and "East of the Mountains" written by Jonas Kjellgren.

On the border of the World Heritage area Laponia is Saltoluokta Mountain Station. There have been a folkmusikfestival at the mountainstation since 1978.

Padjelanta, Sarek, Stora Sjöfallet and Muddus are names that ring delightfully in the ears of hikers. These four national parks comprise Laponia, together with the Sjaunja and Stubba Nature Reserves. The area is as large as three Gotlands.

Here, the Sami people have been making gentle footprints for thousands of years. Several Sami camps are in the area.

Maxida - Sampi Singer from the far North of Sweden