Nine More Names added to 2025 Roster

Authenticity, presence and world class musical deft are what link the nine names, many of whom can be seen only at Tønder Festival.

A Danish punk poet who takes no prisoners and a sextet from Esbjerg's underground
Elias Rønnenfelt is best known as front man for the internationally known post-punk band Iceage. But his solo debut as a country and americana singer has drawn the attention of both critics and civil listeners. Early reviews of his debut album Heavy Glory (2024) were rhapsodic, and his latest EP Lucre (2025) continues his trailblazing musical path. His intense singing, raw lyrics and knack for telling deeply personal tales ensure that Rønnenfelt and his trio will deliver a concert that will both challenge and move us.
When Kellermensch had their Tønder Festival debut in 2018, they were the first band ever to have played both here and at Copenhell metal festival. Which brings us to their unusual sound: pedal organ, violin, distorted guitars and heavy drums. In 2024, their singer, Sebastian Wolff, performed solo at Tønder Festival; this year, the whole band will be here. Founded in Esbjerg in 2006, Kellermensch cross rock, metal and post-punk in their intense, dramatic live performances, melding melancholy and exuberance in songs about existence and societal issues.

New American folk talent and viral americana-stars from the South

Evan Honer was still a college student in California when his cover of the Tyler Childers song Jersey Giant went viral with 50 million streams. His fresh blend of folk, indie-americana and alternative pop led on to his debut album West On I-10 (2023) and sell-out concerts. His next, Fighting For (2024) took an independent route: shunning the big record companies, he recorded the album in small studios, churches and living rooms, and released it on his own label. 500 million streams later, he will now play his only concert in Denmark this year here at Tønder Festival.

American Crowe Boys are one of the newest and most exciting bands on the modern folk and americana scene. Brothers Ocie and Wes Crowe grew up in the southern states of USA, and have developed their own take on their childhood gospel traditions. Their career took off dramatically in 2024, when their TikTok video went viral and changed everything. Now that they have over 600,000 followers and a record contract with Universal Music, Crowe Boys are a band on the way up. And Tønder Festival is happy to present their only concert in Denmark in 2025.

One of Ireland's most celebrated folk bands and iconic Highland folk from Scotland

Dervish, beyond doubt one of Ireland's top folk bands, are returning to Tønder Festival in 2025. With the charismatic singer Cathy Jordan in front, and some of Ireland's finest traditional musicians, Dervish energize any venue with a performance that draws authentically on the music traditions of Ireland's northwest coast. The band, who have appeared on some of the biggest international stages, including the Rock in Rio festival, are not only virtuosi but play with a power that delights audiences the world over. Their Tønder Festival show will be their only concert in Denmark in 2025.

From Scotland we have Mànran, who have built up a loyal following over the years with their fusion of traditional and modern music. Deep roots in Scottish Highland folk music and their facility for musical innovation have won Mànran many awards and tours throughout the world. Tønder Festival's audience know Mànran, and in 2025 we can once again relish the power and dynamism which make Mànran's shows so magical. Their characteristic mix of bagpipes, fiddle and accordion is an experience you must not miss.

A Rare Musical Meeting: Progressive Folk from USA and Sverige

To Tønder Festival 2025 we bring the rare combination of the legendary Swedish Väsen and the American string band Hawktail. Both groups are famed for their instrumental dexterity, and their shared album Väsen & Hawktail (2024) has already attracted glowing praise from reviewers.
Väsen is a duo, Mikael Marin and Olov Johansson, who have been fine-tuning their shared Nordic musicality for over 40 years, while Hawktail - Brittany Haas, Paul Kowert and Jordan Tice - bring a modern, progressive approach to traditional American folk music. This remarkable musical union will grace Tønder Festival with two shared and two individual concerts. The experience of hearing this music linking two cultures and two music traditions is only available in 2025 at Tønder Festival.

Musical experiment from Norge

The Oslo-based trio ULD, Une Lorentze Onarheim, Lucia Andreadatter Utnem and Dagny Braanen Lindgren, are an uncommon phenomenon on the Nordic music scene. Their debut EP Fra en annen virkelighet (From a Different Reality) (2024) combines their own compositions with inspiration from Norwegian poets like Jon Fosse and Gunvor Hofmo. The trio experiment with improvisation across musical genres such as folk, jazz and indie, which gives their performance a fresh, contemporary twist.

THE MUSICIANS:

Elias Rønnenfelt (DK)

Elias Rønnenfelt is best known for his dynamic work as frontman for the post-punk band Iceage, who had their international breakthrough in the 2010s. Now we see him as a soloist too.
In October 2024 he released a closely personal country album Heavy Glory. The album took shape in the spring of 2022, towards the end of the pandemic, when he travelled through Europe with an acoustic guitar, a notebook, and the aim of playing for anyone who would listen. He wrote songs along the way, and played them the following day. The songs were born in woods, in living rooms, bookshops and chapels, and became the core of the album.

Heavy Glory (2024) has won plaudits from critics at home and abroad for its unpolished poetry and stories of isolation, excess and endurance in the midst of chaos. Four short months after that solo debut, Elias Rønnenfelt released the EP Lucre (2025), a pop, rock and country mix he made in collaboration with British artist Dean Blunt and the producer Vegyn.

Accompanied by a good band, Elias Rønnenfelt has played many concerts for full houses, and both critics and listeners have reacted positively. Now it's Tønder Festival's turn. With his intense singing and raw presence, Elias Rønnenfelt (and his trio) will show us what music across genres sounds like when it comes from a full-throttle punk poet.

www.pitchperfectpr.com/elias-ronnenfelt

Kellermensch (DK)
When the alternative Danish rock band Kellermensch first played Tønder Festival in 2018, they were the only band ever to play both Tønder Festival and Copenhell metal festival. This says a lot about Kellermensch, who are hard - and reluctant - to label. The line-up is unusual: their pedal organ, fiddles, distorted guitars and thundering drums met with clamorous approval from Tønder Festival's audience. And in 2024, Sebastian Wolff sang at Tønder Festival with his own band and new songs. This year, however, Kellermensch are back. Begun in Esbjerg in 2006, the band are known for concocting elements of rock, metal and post-punk into tight, ambient soundscapes. Live, Kellermensch are a heady mix of a deep, almost theatrical stage show, melancholic yet potent. The songs touch on inner human conflicts, existentialism and the challenges of living in a society, couched in poetic, often enigmatic terms. The sextet comprises Christian Sindermann (vocal, pedal organ), Sebastian Wolff (vocal, guitar), Jan V. Laursen (guitar), Claudio Wolff Suez (bass), John V. Laursen (double bass, guitar) and Anders Ravn (drums).

www.kellermensch.com

Backstage-interview fra Tønder Festival 2018

Evan Honer (USA)

Evan Honer was still a college student in south California, reading market economy and writing songs in his spare time, when his music began to draw a global audience.

Overnight, his version of Tyler Childers' Jersey Giant went viral with 50 million streams. His blend of acoustic folk, indie-americana and alternativ pop accrued a large following. Then came his debut album West On I-10 (2023), which led to collaborations and month-long tours of sell-out concerts in USA and Europe.

Evan Honer's second album Fighting For (2024), deals with the conundrums and insecurity of youth. He chose to keep it simple, refusing seven-digit offers from big record companies and Grammy-winning producers. Instead he recorded his songs with his buddies in small studios, chapels and living rooms, and released it through his own independent company, Cloverdale Records.

Evan Honer is bringing his band to Tønder Festival, and it is his only Danish concert and festival.
www.evanhoner.com

Crowe Boys (USA)

Crowe Boys have been playing music since they could hold an instrument. Brothers Ocie and Wes Crowe grew up among the bayous of southern USA and travelled about the south with the family gospel band.
Music was always an inescapable part of the family's travels, and although the brothers' career has developed with the years, the basic message in their music has remained: positivity and hope.
Their career took a decisive turn when they met Andrew Campanelli, the drummer in The Revivalists band. He could hear the magic in their sound and became their producer. Together, they began recording songs and posting the process in real time on social media. In early 2024, a TikTok video of the song Where Did I Go Wrong went viral and changed everything. The raw, poignant video got millions of shows and won the Crowe Boys thousands of new fans in short order. Soon they were signing a record contract with Universal Music in Nashville.
With followers on social media, The Crowe Boys' over 600,000-strong fanbase is growing fast and bears witness to their direct audience appeal. New songs and new tours on the stocks mean that the Crowe Boys are just getting started.

Their only Danish festival and concert in 2025.
www.croweboys.com

Dervish (IRL)

Dervish is one of the names that crops up when we think about Ireland's folk music. For more than 30 years, they have been delighting audiences all over the world with their virtuoso playing and their authentic sound. The line-up includes some of Ireland's top traditional musicians, backing the charismatic singer Cathy Jordan, and Dervish deliver an exciting brew of gripping vocals, dynamic melodies and intense musicality.

The instruments involved – violin, flute, bouzouki, mandola, bodhrán and accordion – are synonymous with the music traditions of Sligo and Leitrim in north west Ireland. But Dervish' sound and passion reach far beyond Ireland's borders.

In 2019, when they last were guests at Tønder Festival, Dervish released their album The Great Irish Songbook. That same year, they won the prestigious BBC Lifetime Achievement Award, well deserved after more than 30 years of recordings and concerts throughout the world.

Dervish have graced stages in Europe, Asia, North and South America and played the major festivals, from Glastonbury to the world's biggest music festival, Rock in Rio, where –as the first ever Irish band – they played before 250,000 people. Their only Danish concert and festival in 2025.

www.dervish.ie

Mànran (SCO)
For over 15 years, the multiple award-winning powerhouse that is Mànran has been at the heart of Scotland's traditional music scene and have achieved international recognition.

The band's seven members first played at Tønder Festival in 2012. Since then, Tønder Festival's audiences have had several opportunities to enjoy Mànran's bold fusion of traditional and modern music.
Mànran elegantly combine English and Gaelic songs with a dynamic backing of bagpipes, fiddle, accordion, flute, tin whistle, guitar, drums and bass. Their music has deep roots in the Scots Highland traditions, but is in constant flux. The band's own compositions reveal their gifts for breaching musical frontiers while maintaining strong links to their cultural heritage. Since they formed in 2010, Mànran have underlined their position as one of the major Scottish folk bands, winning numerous awards, including International Artist of the Year at the Australian Celtic Music Awards. Whether playing at massive festivals or intimate venues, Mànran's live concerts are famed for their close connection with their audience, their characteristic sound and their energetic stage performance. Their only Danish concert and festival in 2025.
www.manran.co.uk

Väsen & Hawktail (USA/SE)

The collaboration between Väsen and Hawktail was long anticipated yet surprising: two extremely influential yet very different instrumental folk groups reveal their similarities. The union has led to several successful tours and a new album Väsen & Hawktail (2024), which is currently being praised to the skies. As a quintet, they create a grandiose, symphonic sound, uniting Hawktail's progressive violin music and Väsen's distinctive treatment of traditional Swedish folk music.

Väsen & Hawktail play two concerts together and one each separately at this year's Tønder Festival. Their only Danish festival and concert in 2025.

American Hawktail numbers Brittany Haas on violin, Paul Kowert on double bass and Jordan Tice on guitar. All three musicians have worked with famous names like Punch Brothers, Crooked Still and Gillian Welch and have their own solo careers. At first glance, Hawktail can seem like a side project for expert musicians, but their totally original music is coherent and individual; this ensemble plays music created from scratch. Since 2017, they have buit a reputation as a rare group of composers and instrumentalists who can carry their listeners off without uttering a word. With shades of the symphonic, minimalist arrangements, passages and tones from both the American south and the North Atlantic, Hawktail's cosmopolitan sound is a far cry from your standard, traditional string band.

The Swedish duo Väsen is Mikael Marin and Olov Johansson, who have spent over 40 years refining their playing and their stage presence until they have achieved something very rare in their field. With virtuosity and humour they create a musical world that feels both modern and yet has deep roots in the Uppland music tradition.
Their most recent album Melliken (2023) spans generations of folk music, traditional melodies meeting new compositions. The duo introduce keyed harp, viola and violoncello da spalla in a dynamic combination, balancing the powerful with the subtle.
Mikael Marin and Olov Johansson have played countless concerts together in their years as Väsen. Now they set off on new adventures with other gifted, experienced musicians, sharing stories and traditional tunes, while testing new musical waters.

www.vasen.se/vasen-hawktail  

www.vasen.se
www.padiddlerecords.com/hawktail

ULD (NO)
ULD is the initials of three women's names: Une, Lucia and Dagny. Together they form a trio out of Oslo, Une Lorentze Onarheim singing, Lucia Andreadatter Utnem on piano and Dagny Braanen Lindgren on accordion.
ULD's music is not run of the mill, and is hard to define, because they compose the music organically, experimenting with improvisation and taking inspiration from indie, jazz, pop and folk music. They write their candid lyrics together, too, matching them with harmonious voicings and musical arrangements.
The three women met at school and began playing together informally at the Toneheim Music Academy. The constellation and the music hold to this day. In October 2024, ULD put out their debut EP Fra en annen virkelighet (From a Different Reality). The title song is based on a poem of the same name by Gunvor Hofmo. Besides their own lyrics, ULD find inspiration in the work of Norwegian poets like Jon Fosse and Gunvor Hofmo, giving the poems new life through their music. Fra en annen virkelighet was nominated in 2024 in three categories for Spellemannprisen (Folk Music Award): Alternative pop, Album of the Year, and Newcomer of the Year.

www.uldoffisiell.com

Tønder Festival 2025 – so far:

Lyle Lovett and his Acoustic Group (USA), Take Me To The River (USA), Joe Henry (USA), Sons Of The East (AUS), Natalie McMaster & Donnell Leahy (CAN), Elephant Sessions (SCO), Oysterband (ENG), Rikke Thomsen (DK), John Smith (UK), Jeffrey Foucault, USA), Tina Dickow and Helgi Jonsson (DK, IS), Melissa Carper (USA), Fantastic Negrito (USA), Adeem The Artist (USA), The Lonesome Ace Stringband (CAN), The Langan Band (SCO), Quote the Raven (CAN), Michael Falch & Zonen (DK), Jake Vaadeland & The Sturgeon River Boys (CAN), Flook (IRL, ENG, UK), The Hello Darlins (CAN), Trousdale (USA), Allan Olsen & Norlan (DK), Kellie Loder (CAN), Matt Andersen (CAN), Stundom (DK), The Complete Recordings of Hezekiah Procter (CAN), Talisk (SCO), Nanna Carling Swingband (SE), Hans Theessink Band (NL, ZW, A), Avi Kaplan (USA), S.G. Goodman (USA), Elias Rønnenfelt (DK), Evan Honer (USA), Mànran (SCO), Kellermensch (DK), Dervish (IRL), ULD (NO), Crowe Boys (USA), Väsen & Hawktail (USA/SE).