Sofia Talvik – Americana / Folk with Swedish Roots
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.
#3 – 7 Miles Wide
I’m going to perform all the songs from my new album “The Owls Are Not What They Seem” live from different places in the US during my tour and put them up on YouTube.
This is the third track from the new album. – 7 Miles Wide performed in Cobbler Mountain, VA
The full album can be found here: http://music.sofiatalvik.com
I was planning on making a post sxsw post here on my blog but I’ve just been so busy I haven’t gotten around to it. We did eight shows at sxsw this year and getting to all the shows proved to be the hardest part. We hitch hiked, took the bus (if it came one) and managed to “catch a Chevy”. Forget about taxis..
Last day both me and Jonas bought some really cool boots. I got a pair that was exactly like my old pair but in a different color and had my old boots repaired for $135 ouch!!! Jonas found a vintage pair for $40. And then we headed to the rodeo. That was really cool as I’ve never been before. We really went there to see Glen Campbell who was performing but the rodeo itself turned out to be a big plus. Glen was wonderful and I was so happy to have caught him live at his goodbye tour.
So on that happy note we packed up and was going to leave for Houston when the RV decided to give up. So we got stuck in Austin with our home in the shop for two extra days. Fortunately Ranger Bob and his wife Elaine saved us from having to camp out on the street and took us in to stay with them. The repair of the RV totaled to $1000 which kinda set us aback a bit and we missed two gigs in Houston.
But when we finally got to Houston a lot of fun awaited us! We played at the Swedish Club of Houston’s crawfish party and I’ve never had such good crawfish in my life. Swedish style with dill of course. And hanging out with John and Edie who arranged it was great too. Edie gave me a filmjölk starter. Filmjölk is kind if a Swedish yogurt that has a living bacteria culture. You can get it in every grocery store in Sweden so I never even thought about making it myself but as you can’t get it in the US I was happy to learn all about it. Turns out it so simple you almost don’t have to do anything at all, you just mix it with milk and let it sit overnight and in the morning it’s filmjölk.
You can actually make soft cheese from it too and I just tried that. It’s actually getting ready in my kitchen right now. I flavored it with black pepper and garlic. I hope it’s going to turn out good. I can’t wait to try it!
So that’s about what I’ve been up to since we last spoke. I hope to see you on the road!!
I missed out on my gig at the Super Happy Funland SXSW after party in Houston this week as my tour bus broke down in Austin, but Space City Rock blog did a really great write up for the gig. I hope people found out in time that I couldn’t make it. I’m playing March 25th at Dun Bros Coffee in Katy, TX instead if you want to come and see my show.
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.
After doing some research online I found this blog: http://samsongs.wordpress.com/2009/07/31/band-with-a-mission-not-a-chance/which confirmed all my suspicions.
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.
If you’ve followed me on Facebook before you know that I enjoy cooking (understatement!) and like to post pictures of whatever food I make. In the RV it’s a little bit more challenging to go on any culinary adventures. I try my best but work space is limited as well as cupboard space and having lived in this thing for about two months I’m not quite stocked up on spices and tools either. We’re also on a budget whereas at home we almost never got around to eating those leftovers.
But as someone said – musicians tend to find each other everywhere, so it seems foodies do too. On this tour so far we’ve been invited for some lovely meals, both in people’s homes and to restaurants – something that we starving artists always appreciate. In Tampa we happened to meet the chef/ owners of the hot new restaurant The Refinery which has been written about in fancy publications such as Condé Nast Traveller. They invited us for dinner, the day after my gig at the great beer bar The Independent, and by chance their neighbor had dropped off a couple of pheasants which they prepared for us.
In Birmingham, AL I visited the radio show Oh Brother and the owner of MIX, a very nice bakery/restaurant in downtown wrote on my facebook wall and invited us for lunch. We had some great gumbo but was most impressed by the gorgeous sour dough breads that they had for sale. Good bread is something that’s very hard to find here in the US I think. I might be spoiled though because back in Sweden the bakery of the Swedish champion in bread baking is just next doors to my apartment.
When lunching at MIX the chef and co-owner Phil Dupont came out to say hi and all of a sudden we were invited to his upscale restaurant Cafe Dupont for dinner. We were totally blown away by the beauty and atmosphere at Cafe Dupont but even more so by the food. My favorite was the tuna starter (I’m a sucker for good tuna and Asian flavors) and Jonas favorite was the veal starter. And don’t get me started on the Cosmo!!!
In New Orleans we’ve been taken out to experience the best of the city by our newfound friend photographer Marc Pagani, who not only showed us the Hi Ho Lounge, made us the strongest drink ever but also took us for a culinary tour at La Petite Grocery on Magazine street. Food and ambience was great and I’d go back anytime if I could.
We ended our last night in NOLA with a visit to Lola’s, an unpretentious little Spanish restaurant in Mid-city which was also very enjoyable. We really had our mind set on the authentic kitchen of Liuzza’s by the track but unfortunately they were closed on Sunday’s. Good thing we already had the catfish po-boys and beignets the days before.
But as enjoyable restaurants are the most satisfying is a really good meal you’ve cooked yourself. I never thought I’d do the Swedish cabbage rolls in the RV (the best kind of comfort food) but that’s what I did the other day. And people who think you have to live off microwave meals and eat off paper plates are either too lazy to use their kitchen or just not creative enough. I even made a quick version of beef teriyaki the other day. Or how about some Vietnamese salad wraps?
If I’d just have some more space and would be able to find fresh yeast I’d be baking too. Actually it’s probably just the lack of yeast that stops me 😉