The key instrument of Estonian traditional music is the zither kannel. Two young Estonian singer-songwriters Katariina Kivi and Ann-Lisett Rebane decided to reinterpret the cultural heritage in a novel DIY way. They play the instrument four-handed with their faces facing each other, using drumsticks and violin bow in addition to their fingers and using the body of the instrument as percussion. The rich sound palette is rounded out by distinctive vocals. Their debut album Tuule sõnad won the Estonian Ethno Music Awards 2020, and Duo Ruut defended their originality at the Womex festival in 2022.

Estonia is the size of Prague in terms of population, but it plays an unexpectedly strong role in the music field. One of the reasons for Estonia’s success in this field is the inspiration of neighbouring and linguistically related Finland. The other is the quality of the music infrastructure, such as the Viljandi Festival and the Tallinn Music Week, which has resulted in musical innovators such as Trad. Attack!, or the distinctly individualistic singer-songwriters Mari Kalkun and Maarja Nuut. Among the latest discoveries in this line-up is Duo Ruut, which, however, breaks out of the established categories. Indeed, their approach denies a straight connection to tradition: ‘(The citera kannel) was such a very unpopular instrument, we certainly didn’t want to play it. In fact, when you think of a kannel player in Estonia, it’s usually an elderly man standing outside a supermarket. So it’s not something that attracts young people.” In fact, Duo Ruut is creating a new tradition in keeping with its Estonian roots. Two young women, face to face, playing a sort of hidden musical ping-pong that ends up sounding like a musical one-off. Katariina Kivi and Ann-Lisett Rebane offer their own style, based on the unexplored possibilities of the instrument, which they develop further.