Toivo Plays the Traditonal Dance Music of the Finger Lakes
Toivo is a six piece band from Trumansburg, N.Y. playing Finnish, Tex-Mex, and original music suited to the traditional dances of the Finger Lakes Region - waltzes, schottisches, polkas, mazurkas, two-steps, hambos and reels. Also, you may hear the occasional tango, huapango, two-step, bourree or polonaise - from Argentina, Venezuala, Louisiana, France, Poland or Russia.
The band consists of Richard Koski, button accordion; Jason Koski, mandolin; Stefan Senders, banjo; Jim Reidy, guitar; Harley Campbell, upright bass; and Annie Campbell, snare drum.
TOIVO=HOPE Toivo (pronounced toy-vo) is the Finnish word for ‘hope’. It is also a very common male Finnish first name. There are ‘Toivo & Eino (pronounced ay-no)’ jokes about Finns, just like there are 'Pat & Mike' jokes about the Irish. The band is very happy that Rich didn’t choose to call it ‘Eino’.
Toivo—accordion, bass, guitar, mandolin, banjo, and drum--rocks the huapango, twists the polka, and warms the music of the long-wintered north with hot tex-mex sunshine.
We find our music in the villages and taiga of Finland, where the mosquitoes dominate local politics; we find it in the hills of Spencer and Van Etten, where memories are still strong; we find it in the street accordion sounds of south-east LA, and in the dances of Huasteca; we find it in Podunk. Toivo is down-home music at heart. Good for dancing; good for listening; good for love.
For information and bookings you can write to Richard Koski at 6075 Brook Road, Trumansburg, NY 14886, or you can use the handy contact form.