| Arthur Kylander [1] | |
| Birth Name: | Arthur Arkadius Kylander |
| Birth Date: | February 16, 1892 |
| Birth Place: | Lieto, Finland |
| Death Place: | Placerville, California |
| Occupation: | singer, songwriter, musician |
| Spouse: | Julia Varila |
Arthur A. Kylander (February 16, 1892 – September 23, 1968) was a Finnish-American singer, songwriter, and mandolin player.[1]
Born in Lieto, Finland, Kylander immigrated to the United States in 1914 at the age of twenty-two. There he became an itinerant laborer and worked as a carpenter and logger.
In 1925 he met his future wife Julia Varila, a pianist and accordionist with whom he began performing and touring. During the Depression the Kylanders moved to Hollywood, California, where Julia worked as a cook and Arthur was a butler and chauffeur. In 1943 they bought 240 acres of wooded land near Placerville, California and started a tree farm.[2] [3] In 1964 Kylander was named the Outstanding Conservation Rancher of the Year.[4]
Kylander died in 1968 in Placerville.[2] [5]
Between 1927 and 1929 Kylander released twenty songs on the Victor label.[6] He also published several songbooks with the title Humoristisia Lauluja (Comic Songs).[7]
His repertoire included Kulkuri (The Hobo), Muistojen Valssi (The Waltz of Memories), and Suomalainen ja Sauna (The Finn and the Sauna). A member of the Industrial Workers of the World, many of Kylander's songs dealt with the hardships facing immigrant workers while retaining a strong sense of wit and humor.[7] He sang in a mixture of Finnish and Finglish in a manner similar to his contemporary Hiski Salomaa.[8]
Since the 1970s, Arthur Kylander's recordings have been reissued in both analog and digital formats.[8] [9] [10]
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