Estonian folk band Duo Ruut: Fans' heartfelt comments help us in tough moments

Speaking on ETV show "Ringvaade," Estonian folk band Duo Ruut, who performed at this year's Glastonbury said that their fans had left some really heartfelt comments in their guest book during the festival. According to band member Katariina Kivi, the comments provide a good reminder that even if sometimes it seems like everyone hates them, things are actually going pretty well.
"Performing at Glastonbury has taken several years of work, and a lot of the hard work from our manager, Marili Jõgi," said one half of Duo Ruut, Ann-Lisett Rebane.
Duo Ruut have performed at lots of different festivals in recent years in a bid to get noticed by broader audiences. "These are festivals where the artists go with their own money, but the audience is very much made up of festival organizers and other professionals in the field from all over the world," Rebane pointed out. "So a lot of the work has been about getting the word out."
"The fact that we sing in Estonian is in some ways even our trump card," said Rebane's bandmate Katariina Kivi. "Since we don't do any kind of special dance music, and our music is rather meditative, people can just close their eyes and enjoy it," she added.
At the Glastonbury festival, fans were able to write comments in the band's guestbook. One even wrote that Duo Ruut's music made him want to propose to his girlfriend.
"The idea to have a guestbook came very spontaneously. It's a good reminder to ourselves that in the meantime, when we're feeling really bad or that everyone hates us, we can just open the book and realize that we're actually doing pretty well," said Kivi.
"We're always signing people's records, so people go home with something we've written. So, no it's a bit like that – [they can] write to us too," Rebane added.

According to Rebane, Glastonbury was a huge success. However, the life of a band on the road is full of ups and downs.
After performing in the U.K., Duo Ruut were due to play at Roskilde Festival in Denmark. Although Rebane and Kivi both made it on time, their show had to be canceled after signature instrument the kannel (or zither) got held up at Helsinki Airport.
"Our kannel stayed in Helsinki waiting for us and only arrived in Denmark as we were starting to head back to Estonia – 50 hours later than it should have," Kivi said.
Rebane explained that when the band first started traveling abroad to gigs with the kannel, they tried to buy a separate seat for it on the plane. Unfortunately that option turned out to be impossible and so the only option was to store it in the hold. "Our kannel is too big," she said.
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Editor: Annika Remmel, Michael Cole
Source: "Ringvaade suvel": interviewer Grete Lõbu










