Episode 6 – What We Leave Behind

Every journey changes us.

Sometimes we notice it immediately.

Sometimes it takes years.

In Episode 6 of SALLA – Stories from the Middle of Nowhere, the journey turns toward a simple question:

What do we leave behind?

The stories in this series began with very different people — a craftsman, musicians, a writer, families shaped by history.

Matti Luukinen devoted much of his life to building and restoring accordions.

Unto Ek preserved the North through words.

Kimmo Blom carried his voice into music.

Stalingrad Cowgirls took their music far beyond Finland.

And Jaco Pastorius changed the language of the electric bass.

Different lives.
Different dreams.
Different generations.

Yet their stories all led, in one way or another, back to the same place.

Salla.

For me, this journey also became personal.

Years ago, I studied accordion building in Ikaalinen. What first seemed like learning a craft eventually became part of a much longer tradition — knowledge passing from one pair of hands to another.

That journey later led to the Kauri Accordion Project, an international collaboration between Finland and New Zealand.

Three unique wooden accordions were created from New Zealand kauri timber.

K1 – Birth travelled to the Dargaville Museum in New Zealand.
K2 – Growth remained in Ikaalinen, Finland.
K3 – Departure travelled to New York with accordionist Kevin Friedrich.

Three instruments.

Three destinations.

Three stories.

But all of them began in the same workshop.

Perhaps that is what craftsmanship really leaves behind.

Not something that lasts forever...

but something capable of carrying a story into the future.

And perhaps places do the same thing.

We may leave them.

But they do not always leave us.

The Kauri Accordion Project
Read the story, see photographs from the project and follow the journey of the kauri wood from New Zealand to Finland:

Kauri Accordion Project – Kevin Friedrich / Accordions Worldwide

Written, Narrated & Produced by
Aaro Luukinen

A Documentary Series from
Lähtökohta Podcast

Intro Music
"Way Back Home" — Simon Herody

Next: the final episode.

Where did your story begin?

#SALLA #Stories
FromTheMiddleOfNowhere #KauriAccordion #Accordion #Craftsmanship #Ikaalinen #Finland #NewZealand #Lähtökohta
Podcast #Documentary #Heritage #Music