Korona reinvented domestic classics. Eeppi Ursini’s My Finnish Soul was born when the singer who moved to New York fled the pandemic to his cottage and played songs of hope. After the storm was one of them.
There, he spent his time playing the piano and singing songs requested by his fans in a live online broadcast.
14 of these wish songs have now been recorded on the album *My Finnish Soul (Suomalainen sieluni)* with only piano and Eeppi Ursin’s flexible voice.
Eeppi Ursin composed the previous five albums himself. The atonement of the evergreens etched into the nation’s soul required courage, even if the elders would dare anything.
– I know that a song as sane as *After the Storm* has raised questions that what the hell, you can’t do it like that. I know these cause big emotions. But in my opinion, making music is not very serious, explains Eeppi Ursin.
Manhattan and love at first sight
Eeppi Ursin fell in love with New York twenty years ago.
– When I got off the subway in Manhattan, it was love at first sight.
Five years ago, he began to realize his dream in earnest. It required professional help and money.
– I decided it was now or never. But you can’t just go to America like that. I hired a lawyer specializing in artists, and he thought that based on my artistic merits, I could very well get a green card, i.e. a permanent right of residence and a work permit.
Eeppi Ursin visited Iisalmi on Friday to play his arrangements of Finnish classics in front of a live audience. He will return to Finland at the end of February to sing as a soloist in the Air Force Big Band. The songs from My Finnish Soul will be performed in Helsinki on March 2 at the Koko Jazz club.