Lapua-Uusi-Guinea

The name Lapua-Uusi-Guinea is a portmanteau of the rural Finnish town of Lapua and the island nation of Papua New Guinea, representing familiar roots and new influences, respectively. Founded in 2018, the contemporary folk sextet of two fiddles, piano, guitar, bass and accordion sings and plays traditional Finnish and Nordic dance rhythms spiced with carefully chosen influences of pop music, jazz and diverse global musics. Lapua-Uusi-Guinea is prepared to offer its audience a festivity full of beauty, energy, longing and pure joy of dancing. The band's own songs as well as the arrangements of traditional Finnish folktunes have been written by the pianist and bandleader Santeri Kaipiainen.

Debut album "Virittää" was released in 2021 through the label Eclipse Music. The first print was sold out, the album peaked at #14 in Roots Music Report's world music list, and the tracks received radio airplay around Europe as well as in the United States. In the summer of 2022, Lapua-Uusi-Guinea was one of three showcase artists for an international delegation at the prestigious Kaustinen Folk Music Festival.

Anna Kinnunen – lead vocals, fiddle
Oona Yliperttula – fiddle, vocals
Jenna Hiipakka – accordion, vocals
Santeri Kaipiainen – piano, vocals
Aapo Nieminen – guitar
Veli-Matti Silanterä – bass

"While the instrumental arrangements are the core of their sound, vocal parts show up in about half the tracks, and are superbly done, whether solo or lushly harmonized. Virittää is highly recommended for fans of sophisticated acoustic music, especially those with an interest in Nordic folk." –Jon Davis, Exposé

"Virittää contains beautiful pieces of music interspersed with faster numbers. The music can descend into melancholy and then strike the dance nerve. We hear polskas, hambos and marches, but here there is a very light touch of jazz and pop as well." –Timo Kangas, Lira

"The piano has equal footing with violins and accordion, and its bright addition lifts the tunes yet a notch higher. Different instruments are equally given enough space, which has a positive effect on the whole soundscape." –Antti Janka-Murros, Kansanmusiikki