Dwight Lamb (1934-2024) was an Iowa native who lived in Moorhead and Onawa. He was also internationally renowned as a fiddler and accordion player.  

Dwight was introduced to folk music through his family. His great-grandfather, Kræn Jerup, was one of the finest fiddlers in North Jutland in the 1870s. Dwight’s grandfather, Chris Jerup, played single-row accordion, while Dwight’s father Clarence taught him fiddle. Clarence and Chris also regularly listened to the radio, where Dwight was exposed to many other old-time musicians like Casey Jones or Bob Walters.  

Dwight trained under Bob Walters in the late 1950s, starting a 40-year career as a fiddle player. He kept the Danish tunes separate from his old-time playing, and preserved versions of Danish tunes virtually unchanged from the 19^th century.  

Dwight’s return to Danish tunes began in 1999 when he included a couple of Danish accordion tunes on a CD which made its way to Denmark. Dwight connected with Kristian Bugge and Mette Jensen, players in the Danish folk music scene, in 2008 at the Nisswa Scandinavian Folk Music Festival and went on tour in Denmark five times in the following decade.

  Dwight Lamb: Music of Two Continents is sponsored by the American-Scandinavian Foundation, with additional resources provided by Bill Peterson and The Sustaining Scandinavian Folk Arts in the Upper Midwest project at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures.