Karl Gustaf Jernberg

Swedish fiddler and songwriter, riksspelman (1942), called Gustaf Jernberg, from Valbo in southern Gästrikland, born 17 January 1881 Valbo, Gävleborg County, died 15 September 1964. The so-called Jernberg songs have their origins in Gästrikland, southern Hälsingland and Uppland, and he carried on an extensive repertoire of older songs into our time. He learned a lot of songs from his father and especially from his grandfather's father. During a five-year stay in Lingbo, he was strongly influenced by Hälsinge music, and through his employment at Österbybruk he came into strong contact with the Uppland folk music. For a long series of years he played at the mill's midsummer parties and in recent years often with his sons Karl Herbert and Gustav Anton who were also skilled violinists. From the 1940s, he performed with his sons at fiddle competitions in Uppsala and Stockholm and also played at Skansen. The Jernberg tradition now lives on with Per Gustaf Jernberg and a number of other fiddlers in Uppland and Gästrikland.