Unmistakably Nordic in flavor, Sofia Talvik somehow still conforms to American interpretations of her own original music, a North Sea siren blending sparkle and melancholy, creating a special niche of folk music.
I just got contacted through my Sonic bids EPK by an organization called Bands With A Mission. They took on a personal approach by mentioning one of my songs, but I’ve gotten these kinds of emails before and soon got suspicious of their motive.
I think it’s so mean when people try to profit on struggling bands and artists. It’s like this online magazine called Indie Music Reviewer that I sent my album to for a review a while back. I instantly got an automated email saying that I’d be guaranteed a review if I bought this or that advert space. So now every time I see a band being reviewed by them I just wonder if the score they got reflect how much they paid.
I really think companies like that suck and I feel sorry for the artists that get lured into paying money for shit like that.
At first it seemed like a real challenge to book gigs in Alabama and Mississippi, and some people actually told us we would probably be better off skipping them altogether. Well, let me tell you I’m pretty happy we ignored that advice. If I haven’t played the best venues there is in Alabama, I think my head is going to explode because the places I’ve played here have been some of the best gigs on my tour so far. In beautiful Birmingham I was invited to play Moonlight on the Mountain and got to discover a great singer/songwriter called Nathan Reich who also happens to play guitar in the new hip band Flights. In Auburn I played the low key intimate The Gnu’s Room and in Tuscaloosa I played at The Bama Theatre with local Sparrow and the Ghost and also did a show at the Alabama Art Kitchen. In Cullman I had standing ovations at the 60’s style coffee house Berkely Bob’s Coffee House. Alabama has been so great, it’s actually the only state where I’ve had ONLY good shows.
So here’s a few pics and videos. See you in Arkansas and Texas!
Performing Delusional at Bama Theatre
Sofia Talvik live at Moonlight on the mountainKeith, Sofia and Nathan at Moonlight on the mountainSofia Talvik live at Berkely Bob's Coffee House
I have two exciting things to announce! I’m playing at the SXSW festival in Austin, TX in March and here’s two ways you’ll be able to join me there! Firstly I’m going to be a part of “Discover Me @ Austin” which is a video interview made by Twenty.Me.
The Twenty.Me app is free from the iTunes store but is currently in BETA. Fans will be able to learn more about bands playing at SXSW by typing in the band name, in my case; SofiaTalvik@. There you can listen to my music and learn about the me, as well as get my SXSW schedule. The interview will be made on February 21st at 1pm CST on the Spreecast site.
Spreecast is a social video platform that lets people broadcast together and create shared experiences. In a Spreecast social video stream, up to four people at a time can interact face-to-face on screen, while hundreds of others can watch, chat, and participate by submitting comments and questions. The creator of a spreecast uses producer controls to determine who comes on camera and when. That means that if you want to come online and ask me questions for the interview you can create your own account and do that at Spreecast. You can join with your own spreecast or simply submit questions. The great thing is that it’s early enough for the US so that all you Europeans can join too. The local time in Sweden will be 8 in the evening.
So the second way you can join me at SXSW is actually by getting a free wristband. And here’s how you do that:
Sonicbids has an official party at SXSW and by voting for me once a day and helping me get to the top list I’ll get to play at the party. If you go vote for me now you have to chance to win TWO wristbands for the party!!!!
We’ve been touring for little over a month now and gone from sunny Florida to cold North Carolina. I’ve overcome my fear of driving the RV and since Jonas fixed the cruise control I don’t mind driving at all. But there’s still one thing that scares me. What if the RV falls over. Every time we’re on a sharp curve on a highway exit I dread this. Even though Jonas says there’s no chance of that happening I still feel like it could happen.
Me and Jonas in our hoodies in the RV
After spending a few days in Savannah, GA (what a wonderful city!) I decided we had to buy bikes so we could bike whenever we came to a city like that. So we got one off Craig’s list and one from Walmart. For a few days the bikes were parked inside the RV and were taking up all the space we had. Because even if a bike is only $50 at Walmart, a bike rack for the RV is way more expensive. It doesn’t make sense at all, but we had to get one so we did. Only if we were to mount the bike rack we had to dismount the spare tire. So now instead of bikes we’ve had a hundred year old spare tire in the RV. No it didn’t fit into any of the storage compartments. Someone said we should put it under the bed but it’s old and smelly and had dead frogs and moss on it. So I don’t really think it’s going to be useful if we ever come to need a spare tire in the future.
The day after we got the bike rack and put the bikes on it we stayed in the parking lot behind the bar where I played in Charleston, SC and in the middle of the night I woke up of sounds and the RV rocking (you’d think it’s steady but it’s like a boat really). I looked out through the bedroom window and there was a guy trying to do something to the bikes, probably steal them. That’s not really something you want to wake up to. As soon as he saw my face in the window though he took off, but I couldn’t go back to sleep for hours and then I had nightmares the rest of the night.
Me on my bike in Winston-Salem
Everything got better once we came to Wilmington, NC and stayed a night with our friend Majsan. Wilmington is such a beautiful town. Actually all the towns we’ve been to since Savannah has been pretty great. We’re in in Winston-Salem, NC now and it’s beautiful. We’ve biked around the city which doesn’t have much of a city center but lots of beautiful houses. The gigs have all been great too. Sometimes one would wish for a larger audience, but at least the people who’ve shown up have been there to listen to me and that’s what’s important after all. I was pretty disappointed that SxSW didn’t come through with an official invite this year. I’ve been incited the last three years of which I’ve played two. And every time I’ve had to pay for expensive plane tickets and hotels for me and the band. So when I’m finally here, doing a great tour, having a new CD out January 31st, they don’t invite me. But I still have a few unofficial SxSW shows so if you’re going to be there you can still see me play.
Playing live at Stardust Video and Coffee in Orlando, FL
Happy New Year!
This has been a great year with lots of stuff happening. I made 4 EP albums with 4 different producers, the wonderful guys in my backing band. And all of you chipped in and funded the releases so that we were able to finish the project. 4 ass-kicking metal bands did 4 ass-kicking cover albums of my EPs and one of them actually released a video too (or rather will release in a few days so I’m cheating by telling you now) Badmouth made a video of their cover of my song “To watch the bridges burn”, check it out here!
Throughout the year I have worked hard to get an artist visa to the US, and thanks again to my wonderful fans who helped out with house concert contracts and letters of recommendation I finally got my visa and packed my things and went to Florida in November. In December my big “Drivin’ & Dreaming tour” took off and I’ve now been all around Florida playing in different venues. One unexpected thing that I experienced is that I had at least a few loyal fans show up for every gig. I didn’t know there’s be so many of you!
Throughout the tour we’ve had the RV break down and fixed, nothing major yet thank God. We’ve been invited to have dinner with Greg and Michelle of The Refinery, Tampa, for southern shrimps and grits at Sian and Otis’ in St Petes and to stay the night in a really cool A frame cottage with Doris in Melrose to mention a few of all the lovely people we’ve encountered along the way.
It’s now time to say good bye to Florida and head up to South Carolina and Georgia for January. Many new experiences are to come, many new shows to be played. We’re heading into new states and a new year. In January my new album “The Owls Are Not What They Seem” will be released and I hope you will continue to support my tour as I go through America in my old RV – Drivin’ and Dreaming.
