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’m two months into touring and it’s been a great experience so far. I have some really nice upcoming gigs that I wanted to share with you. These first few days of February I’m doing three shows in New Orleans, Louisiana. The first tonight at Neutral Ground Coffee House at 10pm, tomorrow February 2nd at Chickie Wah Wah at 8pm and on the 4th Fair Grinds Coffeehouse at 7.30pm. It’s my first time in New Orleans and all the shows are free admission so please come and see me!
Then I’m heading back north-east to Tuscaloosa where I have the privilege to be invited to to 2 concerts. One at the The Alabama Art Kitchen on February 10th, 7pm and one at the Bama Theatre on February 13th, 7.30pm. So if you want to give your sweetheart an early Valentines gift, taken him or her to one of the shows.
On Thursday the 16th I’ll be at The Listening Room Cafe in Nashville, TN doing an early show at 4.30pm.
So don’t miss out on these great opportunities to see me here in the States. You can see all my upcoming gigs here!
The live concerts are also the only place you’ll be able to pick up a signed copy of my new album “The Owls Are Not What They Seem” that was released January 31st.
Here’s a little map that shows our current gig schedule in the US for the Drivin’ & Dreaming tour. We’re booking as we go along and our plan is to hit most states in the US. Hawaii and Alaska my be a challenge for the RV though. See my full gig schedule here! I will keep adding to it every week! (And if you feel like booking me to your venue, please click here!)
Speaking of the RV we just had some major rain falls in Atlanta, GA and discovered that the overhang still wasn’t properly sealed. So now we’ll have to tape it together some more. I bought a dryer duct at Walmart that we taped to the heater in the driver’s compartment and put up there to dry it out while we were driving to Auburn today like the white trash McGyvers we are. Hopefully it won’t rain more but you never know.
Home made water leak dryer duct
At least Auburn, AL is warmer than NC. We even had the windows open today wohoo!
I’m psyched to be going to New Orleans for a couple of gigs. I’ve been watching the Treme TV show, and it seems like a cool town, that is unless you get robbed, shot and raped. Let’s hope none of those things happen to us. So far everyone have been really nice and taken care of us. Would be totally awesome to find a private spot to park in NOLA.
Well, that’s all for now! I’ll see you on the road!
So today I received the official invite to SxSW 2012! I already have a couple of gigs lined up but will soon update my schedule with the official showcase as well. See you at southby!!!
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.
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.
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 ConcertsNice ambience at Derrick's houseHosting a house concert is an awesome way to experience music in your own home
