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    PHOTO BY CRIS PETERSON Fiddler Erik Hokkanen and bass player Tyler Lamborn player everything from gypsy music to country swing during a show at the Devil’s Backbone Tavern.
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    PHOTO BY CRIS PETERSON Fiddler Erik Hokkanen often plays at Linda’s Fine Foods and the Devil’s Backbone Tavern.

Music and nature are spice of Hokkanen’s life

When fiddler Erik Hokkanen performs you can count on getting a history lesson with your music.

“I am a musician and a teacher,” he says.

Erik, who lives near Fischer, frequently entertains in the Austin area and is a regular around Wimberley at Linda’s Fine Foods and the Devil’s Backbone Tavern.

His style is hard to pin down. During a show he’ll play gypsy music, western swing, rockabilly, bluegrass, rock, and surf music. He introduces most numbers with a little history of the song and what it means to him personally.

Says Erik: ”When I was growing up in Florida and learning the violin and guitar, I had a teacher who was an old-time fiddler and had a basic philosophy of listening to different, beautiful things. I listened to everything from psychedelic rock to violin concertos. I have a love affair with music.”

In addition to the fiddle, Erik plays the guitar and the mandolin. He often performs with stand-up bass player Tyler Lamborn and guitarist Will Webster. It’s called the Erik Hokkanen Trio.

Over the years, Erik has performed with numerous musicians, including singer-songwriter Gary P. Nunn and guitarist Junior Brown. Erik’s list of accomplishments is impressive: He has been named Instrumentalist of the Year three times at the Kerrville Folk Festival, had actor John Travolta dance to his music in the 1996 movie “Michael,” served as a professor of music at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, and toured Scandinavia with the Finnish group Lumisudet.

He has performed at Native American casinos “from Niagara Falls to Palm Springs.” He has also provided music for the 1988 remake of the movie “DOA” with Dennis Quaid and 1994’s “The Return of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”

Only 170 gigs

At 56 years old, he has “slowed down” a bit. He used to do 200-300 gigs a year. He’s cut back to about 170 shows.

Erik came from a musical family. “I have been playing instruments pretty much my whole life,” he says. “My mother played the piano when she was pregnant with me so I thank her for giving me this interest in music.”

Raised in Florida, he was named the state’s fiddle champ. He moved to Austin at age 21 and quickly formed a band called Erik & the Offbeats and recorded his first album.

He has been playing the fiddle since he was a teenager, but says he is “still learning how to play it.”

Watching Erik on stage, it’s obvious he enjoys what he does. There’s usually a big smile on his face. His shows overflow with energy. Each song is meticulously selected and explained to the audience.

“You don’t know what you’ll hear next at one of my shows,” says Erik. “To me, it doesn’t matter. My basic motto is ‘killer, no filler.’” I play the things that have caught my ear. It comes from the heart, not commercial need.”

“The variety of the music I play is a reflection of my learning,” he explains. “It has a certain uniqueness. I have learned to speak those musical dialects on my instruments — and I love them all.”

Erik’s lineage goes back to Finland. His grandparents immigrated from Finland and he has travelled to that Nordic country in Northern Europe a dozen times. In the late 1990s, he taught guitar, violin and American musical styles at the Sibelius Academy, the only university in Finland devoted solely to music.

Over the years he has recorded four albums with his Finnish string quartet, Lumisudet (which translates to Snow Wolves). The group has toured extensively and plays everything from western swing to the tango. “I have known them for 30 years now,” says Erik, who speaks limited Finnish and sings in English.

Violin is special

The violin holds a special place in Erik’s heart. “The violin is more like a female to me. The guitar is like a brother. The violin is not an easy instrument to play. The guitar is much more accessible,” he says.

The musical groups he has headed include Erik and the She Wolves, Erik and Erik (with singer Erik Moll) and Erik and the Hip Replacements. “It’s sure nice to play with other people,” he says.

His current trio — with Will and Tyler — is a true reflection of the music Erik loves. “What you hear with this trio is Erik doing Erik.” Will, on the banjo and guitar and singing, and Tyler, on the bass, are accomplished musicians in their own right who have known one another and played together for years. During a typical show each has many opportunities to showcase their individual talents.

Erik’s musical inspirations include European jazz guitarist and composer Django Reinhardt, country legend Hank Williams and western swing musician and bandleader Bob Wills.

Erik’s other interest is learning survival skills. He had survival training at Tom Brown Jr.’s Tracker School in, of all places, New Jersey and calls himself a “junior caretaker of the world.”

“When I came out here (Fischer) seven years ago I wanted to get close to the earth,” explains Eric. “It takes a lot of practice to be quite honest. It takes as much practice to learn earth skills as it does to play the fiddle.”

He collects beans from the mesquite tree and makes his own flour. He makes sure to leave some beans behind for the deer. He practiced for two years to learn how to stand up in a canoe and bow fish. Last year, he snagged a 12-pound carp. “It was like having a hit record,” he says.

“Before you know about the plants and animals, the world is in black and white,” he says. “You learn about those things and the world becomes technicolor.”

Between the music and his survival skills, Erik knows his life is different than most.

“Music has taken care of me,” he says. “I have lived hand to mouth for 35 years. And, I wouldn’t trade that for anything. There are people more financially successful than I and that’s fine. I’m content.”

Wimberley View

P.O. Box 49
Wimberley, TX 78676
Phone: 512-847-2202
Fax: 512-847-9054