What if we fall over?

Sofia Talvik on her bike

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.

Sofia Talvik on tour
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.

Sofia Talvik on her bike
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.

Me, Majsan and Spades in Wilmington, NC

Ok that’s all for now folks!

See you on the road

Two last minute shows!

Sofia Talvik live at Fresh Brewed Coffee House
Sofia Talvik live at Fresh Brewed Coffee House
Sofia Talvik live at Fresh Brewed Coffee House

Last night I played at the Fresh Brewed Coffee House in Myrtle Beach, SC and when they heard that I had a few days off they kindly invited me to do another show on Monday January 9th. So around 5.30pm I’ll play some songs in the front room.

If you can’t catch me in Myrtle Beach you might want to try South Port, NC where I’m playing January 11th at the Playhouse 211.

Check out info about all my upcoming gigs here: https://sofiatalvik.com/gigs

I also did a house concert in Hartsville the other day. I think house concerts are the best because they’re so intimate and you get to meet so wonderful people. It’s really easy to host a house concert too and I’ll come and play in your living room if you want to. Here’s some simple guidelines for how you host a house concert: how to throw a house concert

If you decide this is something you would like to do; check out my concert schedule to see when your state is listed and then go here to contact me.

Here’s some pics from the house concert in Hartsville.

Sofia Talvik live at Artsville House Concerts
Sofia Talvik live at Artsville House Concerts
Sofia Talvik live at Artsville House Concerts
Nice ambience at Derrick's house
Sofia Talvik live at Artsville House Concerts
Hosting a house concert is an awesome way to experience music in your own home

 

A little tour update

"There's more to Swedish music then Björn, Benny and the girls..."

First of all I’d like to say thanks to everyone who’s come to my gigs and supported my tour so far!

I just had a wonderful gig at the Sentient Bean in Savannah. And last night I played at the Conundrum Music Hall in Columbia, SC. I’d like to send out a special thank you to Tom Law who booked me there and so kindly invited us to his home afterwards.

Here’s a little pic from Connect Savannah who did a really nice write up for my gig today and a video from last night.

Tomorrow we’re going to Hartsville and we continue Drivin’ & Dreaming…

"There's more to Swedish music then Björn, Benny and the girls..."
"There's more to Swedish music than Björn, Benny and the girls..."

 

Happy New Year!

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.

Happy New 2012

/Sofia