played Archives - Page 4 of 8 - Sofia Talvik - Americana / Folk with Swedish Roots

April 9, 2012April 9, 2012

Swedish filmjölk in Houston

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!!

February 18, 2012April 26, 2018

In love with Alabama

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 mountain

Keith, Sofia and Nathan at Moonlight on the mountain

Sofia Talvik live at Berkely Bob's Coffee House

January 14, 2012January 14, 2012

What if we fall over?

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.

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

January 8, 2012

Two last minute shows!

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

January 5, 2012January 5, 2012

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…