Jeepit

Waltteri on a Test Bench

Jeepit had a great folk club evening with Stefanie Kohlhoff featuring in vocals on Nov 16, 2011. But that was not all – Waltteri Lahti was also on stage with us for the first time. He did not only handle the percussions. We put him to the test and made him sing a song. And immediately we realized the band had got a percussionist and a vocalist in one person. Welcome Waltteri to the Jeepit line-up.

New Line-Up

In the latter half of 2011 five new musicians joined the Jeepit, and two of the old members left the band. The new musicians are Harri Mäkipää (guitar, banjo, bouzouki, mandolin), Niko Vaskelainen (bass), Riitta Luoto (keyboard, harmonica)  and Reijo Lehto (mandolin, guitar) and Waltteri Lahti (percussions). Actually Reijo and Harri had often played with the Jeepit before, so it was not a dramatic change to them. Now they are both regular members of the band.

Mikko Renko, our previous guitar player,  decided to leave the band and dedicate himself more to composing music. Niilo Sirola, who used to be our bass player, is busy with other bands.

First Set released

Jeepit released their first four-track CD on 14 April 2010.

Overall presentation

Jeepit is a folk music band from Tampere and Kangasala, Finland. The band was founded in March 2008. Jeepit have had gigs in pubs and music festivals, and the band has often been invited to perform in private sessions and celebrations. Jeepit arrange Folkclub sessions in Tampere, and in our folkclubs we invite musicians to join us on stage.

Line-up

Waltteri Lahti (percussions)
Reijo Lehto (mandolin, guitar)
Teija Lehto (violin)
Riitta Luoto (keyboard, harmonica)
Harri Mäkipää (guitar, banjo, bouzouki, mandolin)
Heidi Okkonen (accordion)
Niko Vaskelainen (bass)

Music

Jeepit plays folk music – mainly Irish and bluegrass, but also Finnish and Scandinavian folk music. Sometimes we also play blues. We  also compose our own music and make arrangements.

Music Samples

We have some music samples on page Ääninäytteitä, and also on MySpace Music.

Readiness to perform

Pubs, clubs, festivals, weddings, dancing stages when a touch of folk music is needed, private celebrations. Acoustically or electrically.

Musicians

Harri is a musical miracle who is not afraid to grab any instrument. Any time you meet him, he has bought a new musical instrument or gadget! In the Jeepit band he mostly plays guitar, bouzouki, banjo or mandolin. He also plays actively in the Irish folk music sessions in local pubs in Tampere.

Teija studies popjazz violin at Pirkanmaa music college. She plays both acoustic and electric violin.  You may occasionally see her playing in other bands too, and she often joins the Tampere Irish music sessions at local bars.

Heidi studied playing accordion at Tampere conservatory during 1986-2003. She graduated from the department of music research, although she originally started studying folklore at the university of Tampere. Heidi has played the accordeon more than 11 years in the band Raivottaret, and also in numerous other bands. She has regularly accompanied dancing groups at Ahjola and Rientola education centers and a Carelian dance group in the city of Nokia.

Reijo has played the guitar for a few years. He was first half-reluctantly made to play the mandolin too, but now he likes it very much. Reijo has also been a sound technician and a roadie with Jeepit from the very first years of the band. He is the chairman of the registered Jeepit association.

Niko is the bass player in the Jeepit band. He is one of the newcomers, and he likes to play folk music – and many other kind of music too. He truly represents a fresh approach to music and life as such in our band.

Riitta has studied playing both classical and popjazz piano in the Pirkanmaa music college, but she has learned to play harmonica on her own. Riitta has also played jazz with Teija in another band.

Your comments

We would love to have your comment here. Especially if you happen to hear us playing live in Tampere.