It started with “Please, please me” for Putte!
It's 18 degrees cold outside the studio window as we sit and reminisce in Putte Snitt's "boy's room" at home on the farm in Ryssa. Several guitars hang like works of art on the walls and there is equipment for studio recordings.
My interest in music at home in Torrvål started with my older brother Björn bringing home records for his travel gramophone in the late 50s. Elvis Presley and Little Richard were popular. Do you remember “Tutti Frutti”? When the Beatles came along, I was completely sold and that’s how it has remained. My sister signed me up for the “In our little village” social gathering at Ångbåtsudden in Orsa and I played “Please, please me”. Afterwards, a guy came up and asked if I wanted to be in their band – The Saints. I was thirteen years old and we played songs by Shadow and Spotnics. That’s where my life with music began and it’s still going strong.
In the early 70s, I got a gig at Mora Hotell through Erik Lihm in Malung where we played dance music on Tuesday and Thursday nights and then I ended up in Boströmarna between 1971-75. We toured from Piteå in the north to Linköping in the south. We played in public parks and at dance restaurants like Baldakinen. We had many gigs at Samfundshus (=village houses) in Norway where it was always packed with people dancing from 9pm to 1am. One month we had 28 gigs, which was a record!
However, I decided that I wanted to get a music education, which is why I applied for a university education in Gothenburg, Sämus. When I finished that in 1977, I was hired as a guitar teacher at the music school in Orsa. I stayed there until 2012!
In parallel with my music teaching job, I have always played in different constellations. I wanted to add more wind to the musical sound and that's when Old News was formed with a wind section of trumpet, sax and trombone. The US bands Chicago and Blood Sweat & Tears were inspiration. We were very ambitious and rehearsed a lot. When we could play "Chicago's Suite", which is 13 minutes long, we felt mature to take a gig. We played because it was fun. Not for a high fee because we were a 10-piece band. There was and is, a lot of collaboration with Pelle Lindström in Leksand, first The Wobblers who played blues and rock and then Pelle and his Haydukes, a fantastically good band. We did, among other things, a school tour in "Bluesens tecken", as well as Pelle Lindström's Omoderna Trea, a fantastic trio with tuba.
"Leksandslåt och Vänner" is another project with Pelle, who is still playing.
However, I felt that I wanted to improve myself, which is why Gerd and I (Putte's wife and a member of Solleröflickorna in my youth, editor's note) went to the USA/Los Angeles for a year of guitar studies at the prestigious Musicians Institute in Hollywood. I wanted to know where I stood and it turned out to be a very educational year. I came out with the title "Guitar Stylist of the year" among five hundred guitarists from almost the entire world. This at the respectable age of 46 years.
Once back home I continued with my work and playing in the band. There was a lot of "Good & Mixed" with Pubrock, Creedence music with the band Bite, Gopa Snitt & Lars, Beatles nights in Orsa, a pub show with Stefan Nykvist and guitar playing with Billy Opel.
"Today there is unfortunately nothing due to the pandemic, but I hope that things will get sorted out so that we can continue with gigs here in the Siljan region where there are many talented musicians," concludes Putte, who when asked what he prefers to listen to answers this way:
"Up here (Putte points with his hand above his head) are The Beatles. Then comes nothing and after that many, many today's superb artists of all kinds."
Putte ends the interview with: “A review I received, which I am happy to share, came from Sturull Gunnar when he heard me play Fusionjazz, "Well, I know that Putte was a great guitarist, but that someone else could play so damn ugly, I certainly don't".
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