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Greenrose Faire plays rousing Celtic folk rock with head-bobbing, toe-tapping rock feel. The Finnish sextet meshes mandolins and violin with rock drums and bass and symphonic synths, and spikes the rollicking attitude with the slightly ominous overtones of Finnish melancholy. Greenrose Faire sounds lively and modern but still tugs at the nostalgia strings for the long-gone days of yore.

The band has great fun on stage, and have played everywhere from corner pubs to concert halls, and from intimate weddings to international festivals, among others Elfia in The Netherlands (with e.g. Rapalje and Harmony Glen) and the Häme Medieval Fair ten years in a row (with e.g. Värttinä, Korpiklaani and Corvus Corax) They also host an annual two-day Medieval Folk Festival of their own in Tampere.

Greenrose Faire are:

Salla Rimmi – vocals
Hanna Heinonen – violin
Niilo Sirola – bouzouki, backing vocals
Meiju Enho – keyboards
Mikko Gynther – bass
Tomi Hyttinen – drums and percussions, backing vocals

Bio

Songwriter Tomi Hyttinen used to play in a hard rock group with the other founding member Niilo Sirola. After a couple of years of playing together they realized both were into fantasy literature and medieval rock and decided to try making new music along those lines. “Neither of us really had done much acoustic stuff before, so we had great fun trying out different things. ‘No electric guitars’ was the only rule,” recalls Tomi.

The two recorded an album’s worth of demos at Niilo’s home studio and then set out to find the other members for the band. Eventually a line-up of local musicians were found who had always liked to play this kind of music but just had not realised it yet. Things clicked into place with finding of the vocalist Salla Rimmi, with her elegant phrasing and tone clear like a bell. The band’s debut album “Neverending Journey” was released in 2011, followed with “My Home Is Where My Heart Is” in 2013, “Feed the Flames” in 2015, and “Riders in the Night” in 2018.

The band aims to bring the music and faires to all people in every castle and village around the world. “It has been amazing to notice the effect our music has on people. Our songs seem to have a special kind of magic,” Salla jests. “We even had to stop playing ‘Raindrops’ at outdoor gigs because it often started to rain during the song.”

Contact

Management, press inquiries:
Kathy Keller (Friendly Folk Records)
info@friendlyfolkrecords.org
+31 63 0094 688

Bookings worldwide:
Friendly Folk Bookings
ffrbookings@gmail.com

Bookings, Finland:
Tomi Hyttinen
+358 40 5454 208
gigs@greenrosefaire.com

Live reviews

Aside from the fact that they are amazing musicians, and they seem to have a great talent for writing music that connects with the listeners, the one thing that I really want to point out about their performance is that they radiate fun. They enjoy their time on stage, they enjoy being together and playing together, and that shows!
CeltCast 28.5.2016

Greenrose Faire’s show relies largely on Salla Rimmi’s charming stage presence and wonderful voice, but above all on their extremely solid original songs.
Translated from Keikkaguru 18.8.2014

Riders in the Night (2018)

Greenrose Faire’s fourth album Riders in the Night was released on June 1st 2018 by Friendly Folk Records.

The band’s playing is top notch, be it from sea shanties (‘Never Walk Alone’), melodic ballads (‘By The Grace Of God’), or knee slapping jigs (‘Cold Winds Are Rising’), with Hanna Heinonen’s violin, Sirola’s bouzouki and mandolin, providing an infectious medieval feel that chimes with the band’s ‘fantasy’ themes.
Pete Whalley / Get Ready to Rock

An album that any lover of music created by musicians, whatever the genre, will undoubtedly enjoy.
Kev Rowland / FRAME music

Feed The Flames (2015)

Greenrose Faire’s third album “Feed The Flames” was released in May 2015. The third album’s songs penned by Tomi Hyttinen sound both modern and magically nostalgic, and the warm clear vocals of Salla Rimmi brimming with joy in one song, and painful longing in the next. The band’s new violinist Hanna Heinonen ranges from scandinavic folk fiddling to shredding solos, and Niilo Sirola finalizes the brew with his Irish bouzouki.

If you enjoy Celtic flavoured folk rock you will want to give Feed the Flames a listen. Rousing tempos with a flamboyant flair are mixed with slower ballads giving the album a nice balance.
Sea of Tranquility 11.6.2015

The songs are long but stay interesting, the band members are skilled and versatile, and together they make up a winning formula, whatever type of song they play.
CeltCast 29.5.2015

My Home Is Where My Heart Is (2013)

The band’s second album “My Home Is Where My Heart Is” was released in August 2013. The first two tracks were mixed by British producer Stuart Epps.

My fave the album title ‘My Home Is Where My Heart Is’ is a lovely toe-tapping rocker which has a chorus and a middle 8 that The Levellers would die for.
Fatea Magazine

…one of the most wonderful folk albums I have heard in many years.
Kev Rowland, mlwz.pl / Amplified

Très bon album, frais et varié dans ses ambiances, de la part de GREENROSE FAIRE.
Nawak Posse

All the songs on My Home Is Where My Heart Is are ditty-esque bouncy affairs, effortlessly transporting the listener to another time and place, where merriment was as abundant as ale, and perfectly roasted legs of lamb were swung in the air to the rousing beat of drunken singing.
Sea of Tranquility

Neverending Journey (2011)

The first full-length album Neverending Journey was released worldwide in September 2011.

Greenrose Faire’s Neverending Journey is an unexpected, phenomenal and original album that will remain in my playlist for a while
Indie Band Guru

Their jaunty playing, Tomi Hyttinen’s songs and Salla Rimmi’s classic folk vocals come together to form something that falls between Steeleye Span’s finer moments and the hugely enjoyable Circulus.
Leicester Bangs

(loosely translated from Finnish)
“Ultimately, it comes down to keeping up the traditions and transmitting the good spirits of the performer to the listener, and this Greenrose Faire manages well. Hey!”
Kalevi Heino, Imperiumi.net

Press photos:

Photos by Pauli Borodulin, Kees Stravers and Arto Ilkka Jalonen (photographer’s name mentioned in file name). Right-click->Save Link As… to save directly: