Hiski Salomaa

Finnish-American songwriter (1891–1957)

Hiski Salomaa
"The Finnish Woody Guthrie"
Born	Hiskias Möttö (1891-05-17)May 17, 1891 Kangasniemi, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire
Died	July 7, 1957(1957-07-07) (aged 66) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	singer, songwriter, tailor, restaurateur
Spouse	Aini Saari

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,^[1] Salomaa's songs portrayed the immigrant experience of working-class Finns.^[2]

Between 1927 and 1931 Salomaa recorded eighteen sides for Columbia Records.^[3]

Since the 1970s, Hiski Salomaa's recordings have been reissued in both analog and digital formats.^[4]^[5]^[6] 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.^[7]

References

^ Siirtolaisten Woody Guthrie. palasokeri.com. Retrieved: March 13, 2013.
^ A Passion For Polka: Old-Time Ethnic Music In America by Victor R. Greene, (Berkeley : University of California Press, 1992) pp. 109-110.
^ Ethnic Music On Records by Richard K. Spottswood, (University of Illinois Press, 1990) Volume 5, pp. 2596-2597.
^ Värssyjä sieltä ja täältä (Helsinki: Love Records, 1971).
^ Hiski Salomaa: Kootut teokset 1927–1931 (Helsinki: Johanna, 1991).
^ Stranded in the USA (Munich: Trikont, 2004).
^ Mel Bay’s Immigrant Songbook by Jerry Silverman, (Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, 1992).