Helena Hallberg: Transcending Genres

Photo by Lauren Desberg Photography

Helena Hallberg is a Swiss/Swedish singer-songwriter based in New York City. 

“I got into music super early but didn't really know that I wanted to do it as a profession until I was like 23. I veered off my very straight path when I was 23. And I got a scholarship to come study in New York,” Hallberg said. “I grew up with Scandinavian and Swiss folk music and it took me a while to understand that's the place I want to be in because I kind of struggled to find exactly what music style I liked the most and I liked writing in and arranging in the most.”

One day, Hallberg became obsessed with the Appalachian dulcimer. Later on, while on a tour in the South, Hallberg decided it was her opportunity to finally get a dulcimer. 

“We were on a little tour down South, it was me and this other band, and my music was definitely more soul driven, there was a three-piece horn section. We weren’t even on tour with folk music, but we were driving back to New York and through Appalachia and I just knew this would be my chance to get an authentic dulcimer from a workshop,” Hallberg said. “I had been reading about how this instrument is so local and traditional and there are so many smaller workshops and that made me like it more because that’s super meaningful.” 

Courtesy of Mary Fehr Photography

Hallberg called a workshop in Boone, NC where she spoke to luthier apprentice Clarence Eugene and discovered that the main luthier at the shop, Clarence McKinney, had passed away the day before from lung cancer. Eugene later sent Hallberg her first dulcimer “Henrietta,” one of the last dulcimers made by McKinney before he passed. 

“I take this tale all over the world where I play and it feels really nice because it’s a sad way to get into the style but it’s meaningful, for sure,” Hallberg said. 

“One of the main objectives of my brand is to bring this instrument to a younger crowd,” Hallberg said. “I just finished recording an album that has the dulcimer on it and that’s why I’m doing Tiktok, as well. This is the discussion I have with every dulcimer maker I meet, how do we bring this to a younger generation.” 

Courtesy of Natalie Sam Photography

Hallberg never saw herself being on Tiktok. She includes the dulcimer in all of her videos and people go ‘oh my god, what is that’ and they look at some of the other videos that are tutorials and clips from her own songs on dulcimer. 

“I try to use the way bite-sized content is created nowadays to incorporate the dulcimer into a larger audience,” Hallberg said. 

With Hallberg’s upcoming album featuring the dulcimer, she had to consider how to incorporate the Appalachian mountain instrument into her style of music. 

“I like thinking of it like a synthesizer, you know, like you're kind of choosing your sound depending on the instrument you're playing and the style you’re playing, and then also how you incorporate it into popular production styles,” Hallberg said. “I think it’s all about what your choice is, I don’t think it’s having a specific sound. Like, yes, it does have a specific sound but that’s also something so beautiful and I personally just know in my heart that this instrument works really well for my songwriting.” 

Courtesy of LNDA Photography

Hallberg says the dulcimer naturally integrates into the music, even though it gives a very specific and niche sound. 

“I try to dive into those more classical, traditional nuances because I feel like I should to honor the instrument and to honor the tradition, but then I also have people who take this instrument and have turned it into something that the original inventors couldn't even have fathomed,” Hallberg said. 

Hallberg finds her inspiration in musicians such as Cyndi Lauper, Joni Mitchell, and others who really test the boundaries of the instrument. 

“Cyndi Lauper in terms of complexity and what the instrument can do and Joni was very good at letting the dulcimer do the work,” Hallberg explained. “There’s a Swedish woman that plays the dulcimer in a more rock context.” 

“I’m very influenced by a mix of people stylistically,” Hallberg said.

Courtesy of Natalie Sam Photography