Honeypaw

Honeypaw is a duo including Jurgita Zvinklyte and Matti Palonen. Jurgita is a newcomer to Canada, having arrived in 2019. Since that time they have been playing Finno-Baltic neofolk that explores the interconnection of ancient Lithuanian and Finnish Kalevala traditions, and fusing them with modern soundscapes and rhythms. The journal of Musicology has called their music “unusual, evocative, and inviting one to rethink the concept of instrumentality.” Their music is deeply rooted in the forest, and trees are often an essential part of their recording and performing process. The ancient stringed instruments they play were traditionally thought to define the boundary between the human and forest realms, and this concept has led them to develop the tree harp, an interactive art installation built into or attached to trees. The tree harp is the culmination of their backgrounds in music, environmental science, lutherie and sculpture, as they seek to recast traditional music with a contemporary focus on sustainability and aesthetics.