Working Class Heroes (FIN)

WCH is a newly formed project from Pargas/Nagu consisting of Andréas Rantala (vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin) and Sebastian Smeds (accordion, vocals). The duo will play their debut gig at Pargas Beatles Fest. Instead of focusing on music by The Beatles, the duo specializes in solo material from the post-Beatles era (from albums like “Imagine,” “All Things Must Pass,” and “Ram”). They also include a few songs from The Beatles’ catalog that don’t feature the whole band and some collaborative songs that the members did with other artists over the years. With a long history of playing folk music (especially Nordic and Irish), the duo will play deep cuts and big hits with a folk twist; sometimes true to the original and sometimes heavily re-arranged versions.

Andréas Rantala is a professional guitar/mandolin player and singer from Parainen, Finland, who has played over 1000 shows in his 20-year career. With a broad taste in music, he has tackled many genres and styles. Some of his bands are McGuinness (Irish folk), Dimma (progressive rock), and Skärgårdens Puls (Nordic folk-fusion). He released his debut solo album “Brunnsdäld” in 2021 and regularly performs as a troubadour around the country.

Sebastian Smeds is a professional session/live piano player from Nauvo who has played with countless leading names in the Finnish music scene. He’s an experienced multi-genre performer, equally at home playing jazz, folk, rock, or pop. In the last decade, he has developed an interest in the accordion and has collaborated with Rantala in different folk projects.