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.
To give you a break from all the Santa Clauses and elfs on TV I’m sharing my very own Drivin’ & Dreaming show in this window of the Christmas Calendar. During 2012 I have been touring all over the US and for a while I was ambitious to film and edit it as well. Here’s 10 episodes covering the Drivin’ & Dreaming tour 2012 from North Carolina all the way to Illinois.
You’ll get to see White Trash McGywer fix the RV when it breaks down, follow us backstage, meet a lot of wonderful people and of course enjoy a lot of great music by me and many other artists and bands. It’s been such an adventure and I’m so happy I got to share it with all of you!
A couple of years ago I wrote a soundtrack to a Swedish short film called “Vit som snö” or “White as snow” in English. Neither the movie or the song is made for Christmas, but the lead motive could actualy pass for one of my Christmas songs, so I decided to share a download with you, as well as the short film (which unfortunately doesn’t have any English subtitles). Click the player below to listen or download here: http://soundcloud.com/makakimusic/vit-som-sn
Click here to listen to/ download the song
The movie is about 12-year-old David whos grandfather is terminally ill. David decides that he needs to save him and embarks on a quest to find a way to save him from death. On his quest he meets the mysterious Viggo who takes him around to different rooms and people in the hospital to find an answer he probably already knows. Can you talk to death?
The movie is made by Carolina Rung and Anna Eliasson graduates at the Stockholm Film School in 2008.
I’m tracking my footprints, or rather tire tracks, back towards the east coast and will be re-visiting a few of my favorite concert venues and exploring a couple of new ones along the way. So it’s extra nice when Connect Savannah gives me this “welcome back” in their latest edition:
[quote]
Sofia Talvik’s newest collection of songs, The Owls Are Not What They Seem, sounds like it could have been recorded in the early 1970s, when singer/songwriters were prized for their eccentricity, and the striking colors they brought as individuals to commercially-viable acoustic balladry. (…)
On this album, she is clearly in her element. It is a thing of spectral acoustic beauty, and this Monday night performance is highly recommended by us jaded fools here at Connect.
Alabama:The Gnu’s Room April 7th (Auburn) Georgia:The Sentient Bean April 9th (Savannah) North Carolina:Bottega Art Bar and Gallery April 12 (Wilmington) Playhouse 211 April 13 (Southport, buy tickets here)
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.
