Myllarit, a folk band from the Republic of Karelia in northwest Russia near Finland, will perform a concert and dance at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, at the Finn Hall in Monson.

The concert is one of several events planned this summer for the Monson Finnish Farmers Club and part of the band’s third tour of New England and the Midwest.

At least half of the group will stay with Annalee Libby, secretary for the Monson club. Myllarit stays with host families along its tour routes to cut traveling costs and to gain experiences not necessarily found at motels or hotels.

“I’ll have to practice their names before they get here,” Libby said, “or I might give them nicknames.”

The group enjoys staying at host homes, and Arto Rinne, lead singer, says they like meeting good audiences and giving them their music.

“The worst part of touring is sitting in a hot van for many hours,” Rinne said.

The sound of Myllarit combines ancient traditions of Karelian, Finnish and north Russian folk tunes. The music contains elements of rock, jazz and world music, and the band has assimilated into its arrangements popular music styles – at times their ballads can sound like Celtic folk tunes.

The seven members of the band have all had conservatory-level training. Most of them have performed in the

Petrozavodsk State University Folk Music Ensemble or the state folk music ensemble Kantele. Together, the one woman and six men in the band play 16 instruments.

Band member Tanya Umnyakova says the band’s music has to carry an informative message at times because many people believe the band is from Korea and are puzzled because no band member has Asian characteristics.

“People don’t understand our culture,” Umnyakova said. “We open a window [to Karelia].”

Though many listeners in North America learn while enjoying the band’s music, the band has a large following in Finland and Russia. Finnish Americans also like the traditional songs that are performed.

But every time the band returns to the United States, they become more and more popular, according to Sherry Merrick, the band’s U.S. concert tour director.

“Once people hear them, it doesn’t matter whether they are Finnish or not, they love it,” Merrick said. The music is upbeat, and people always come away happy from the concerts.”

For more information on the concert in Monson, call 997-3268.