Arthur Kylander

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]

Book excerpt

• A Passion For Polka at the University of California Press.
• Arthur Kylander in A Passion For Polka.

Discography

• Arthur Kylander on Victor Records.
• 1978 LP with four songs by Arthur Kylander
• 2004 CD with two songs by Arthur Kylander

Videos

• Arthur Kylander

Streaming audio

• Finnish Wobblies at the Internet Archive.
• Finnish songs at the Library of Congress.