Art Form: Lumberjack style harmonica playing

Location(s): Marquette (Marquette County)

Les Ross, Sr.

Portrait of Les Ross, Sr.

Leslie "Les" Victor Ross, Sr. (1923-2014) was born on a farm in Eben Junction in Michigan’s north central Upper Peninsula, an area heavily populated by Finnish Americans. When Les was about seven, his grandfather gave him a used "mouth organ," and he learned tunes from family elders, old 78 records, and Finnish-speaking lumberjacks taking leave of their paychecks at the local Blue Moon tavern. He  played these songs ever since.

Les played in the "lumberjack style," an old time method in which the melody and pronounced rhythmic chording are played simultaneously. This style was once common in rural Finnish American communities, especially in northern Michigan and adjacent Wisconsin and Minnesota, and Les recalled that his mother, sisters, and some of his cousins also played harmonica in the same style. 

While Les insisted his playing the harmonica was just a hobby, his 1998 recording Hulivili Huuliharppu (“Rollicking Harmonica”) of Finnish American traditional and dance music--some previously unrecorded songs from his youth--created a sensation and led to numerous radio, television, and festival appearances. He also was the only Finnish American traditional musician from the Northern Great Lakes area ever invited to participate in the prestigious National Folk Festival.

Les generously shared his music with seniors in senior residences and with children in public schools. He taught harmonica to locals and had a number of apprentices under the auspices of the Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program to teach his distinctive harmonica style.