Árstíðir

Árstíðir is an Icelandic folk group from Reykjavík, active since 2008. The line-up includes Hallgrímur Jónas Jensson, Jón Elísson, Karl Pestka, Daníel Auðunsson, Gunnar Már Jakobsson and Ragnar Ólafsson.

Career

The band forms in the aftermath of the 2008 stock market crash. Within six months of releasing its debut album, also titled Árstíðir, it reaches the top of the Icelandic charts. In 2010, the group continues touring even as a volcanic eruption disrupts global travel.

In 2012, Árstíðir becomes the first Icelandic band to win the Eiserner Eversteiner European Folk Music Award in Plauen, Germany. The following year, while touring in Germany, the group performs “Heyr himna smiður” in the Bürger Bahnhof station in Wuppertal. A recording of the performance, posted to YouTube by a friend, draws more than four million views and brings wider attention to both the band and Thorkell Sigurbjörnsson’s composition.

Hvel

By 2014, the band launches a Kickstarter campaign to fund its third album, Hvel (Spheres). The campaign raises $70,000, well above its $20,000 target. Backers are offered rewards that include a copy of the finished recording, hand-knit Icelandic sweaters and vials of volcanic ash from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption.