Kinder und frieden sind das wichtigste

Greifswald Nordischer Klang 2012





Best thing to bring on this tour: my white warm winterjacket. I'm getting very attached to walk around in a warm täck-jacka.
My three choice of dresses for our performance never came in use, it was necessary to stay in my winterjacket during concert.

Backstage: Mats and french guitarist from Ary Moaris Band.


It's not so usual that the festival have send out roadies to meet us at the hotel and guide us to the venue. Three young women came to meet us. In the contract it was written in google-swedish that they will provide us with three caretakers/nurses.....


After the gig we were invited to dinner, and I had a very good tasting fish, but....it was like a needle cushion. And the needles were blue green. And I'm the slowest eater in the world, I had some work to do there with finishing my blue needle fish.

Sunday morning pottery market:


Kids in Greifswald on the potterymarket. When mama and papa is surfing the pottery market, there has to be something creative to do for kids.


Kinder und frieden sind das wichtigste..
This is so connected to cultural understanding, of course it's written on the wall outside the local book shop who also sell music.


St Spiritus, the venue where we played:


Back in Göteborg now, and it's still cold weather, but it doesn't mean so much. Good weather for a day of work! With a white warm jacket you'll get a long way.

Eva

Café in Göteborg where you can bring your dog

Yesterday I had a lunch meeting with Gabriella, graphic designer of my book of wedding songs and love songs. Here's Leo on his first book meeting. It's not allowed to bring dogs in most cafés and restaurants, but here's one exception. Condecco, situated in Compassen shopping mall. Good for us! Leo must learn all the parts of creative life, including meetings with other creative people.




The whole process of making the book will soon come to the photo sessions. We are having our friends coming in as models. I'm so much looking forward to create the scenes and the themes of the photos. Everything, every detail, will be concidered, so the artwork will correspond to our visions of each chapter.
Gabriella said, note this, she said - it was not my suggestion - that Leo could also be a model in the photo somewhere, because he's so photogenic :-)

Good evening from me in Greifswald, Germany.
Eva

Learn to say no

This day was a long challenge, and I haven't felt so stressed in a long time. What is it? Haven't I had some time to relax after all the gigs in April? Is it the final process of creating the song book? Was it all the economical paper work and deadlines for applications and reports? Yes, I think so, and the out sight of looking to a mountain of new paperwork to be done. I almost felt like crying.

Isn't it amazing? All musicians I know say the same, it's just endless of administration eating up our time. And we all agree on how much we long to make music! Good meetings today, and visionary work compleeted, new plans for Hannu Kella and me in one project, and another project too together with some other musicians. So much to look forward too....I will tell you more later about this new thing coming up.

In the evening the relaxed-fun part of the day started. My daughter and I sat down to play Harry Potter-cards, eating forgotten Easter sweets we found, it had become a little bit hard, but who cares.

I would really like to share this with you. A lesson in how to say no, and to honest and loving to yourself and others. Could be the lesson of the day for me.



Last year I took a course in mindfulness. It was excellent, and I have since then used a lot of the lessons there. But I have to admit I should re-read some of it. It's easy to forget, to forget what's really important to me, and how I can take good care of myself.

Music music....

Time to put my two babies to bed....dog and daughter, two big sweethearts!
Eva

Lindy hop für alle: in Winterthur

Live Swing aus Buenos Aires: Quinteto Fabuloso.

It's been partytime in Winterthur, Switzerland. Swing dance with live music, perfect for my dance starving feet. Liebe...

Can you see that red heart behind her?

Days now are somewhat in the now mans land, I just had deadline to fulfill my part of gathering songs for the song book, and now I've been given some more time because of other circumstances. I feel so happy I can go through everything once again and do it without a rush, but at the same time I feel like I'm hanging in the air. Much more difficult to get things done. Every day feels like an endless row of must-do things on a list, wich none of them is concerning the book. Oh, but some book related things has been achieved today. Good talks with Jobs-Lasse, great fiddler in Leksand, who has lot of knowledge about one of the songs. Great to get help directly from the source.

Time to switch over to recharging mood and have some sleep. Tomorrow is a brand new day.

Eva

Allotria top score in Irmelin food guide

Irmelin food guide visits:
Ravintola Allotria, Hämeentie 68 00550 Helsinki, phone: 050 579 1400
www.allotria.fi

We have become perennials at the charming restaurant Allotria in Helsinki. We discovered this pearl on Wednesday when we performed there at Perinnearkku folk music club. After that we just kept coming back, for the most delicious food in creative combinations of tastes. Eva and Maria has tried several of the dishes in the menue, Karin stayed with her delicious salad, wich really means highest score for a salad!


With the flowers we got at todays concert, we are happy and starving after really good performance!



Mr Billy Kelly, who served us food and always being so nice to us. The staff working there has treated us in the most friendly and generous way. We've talked about Finland, Ireland, Faroe Islands, music, culture, food and all things that makes life nice. And today we had the chance to meet the chef shortly and thank him directly for the lovely food. I hope he will put his recipies in a cook book one day, hope it's written in english! The chef is from Boston, US, so that's not too far away guess.


Cucumber sorbet, salmon with rubarb sauce, delicious tastes all the time. Find the menue here: http://www.allotria.fi/?p=alacarte
Below, time for coffé and desert, this is the vanilla icecream with olive oil, made by a italian guy in town.


Karin and Maria chilling out after concert.

Shadows and light.

Below (and behind the roses): The stage where we performed on Wednesday.

Tonight we work on an application for a new Irmelin project.
Keep up the good work!
Eva

Music I've heard along the road lately, don't miss:

I've heard so much stunning music this weekend, I feel I just have to share. Check out this beautiful song, written and performed by John Doyle:



The story is about the battle of Fredrickburg in the civil war in America, when Irish men stood on both sides fighting against eachother. "he could have been a friend or brother...."

John Doyle performed at Lempo, and I'm super much proud he asked me to join in as guest singer on his second performance. We sang a miners song, "Dark as a dungeon", written by Merle Travis. I love that song. John sang other miners songs too, among them was this extremely powerful version of Pound a week rise:



The festival Lempo in Kouvola has been just wonderful. The audience so warm and welcoming, the sound engineer really made a good job, the crew of the festival too, and exceptional good leadership made my Minna Raskinen. I'm so impressed she is both festival boss and had full focus performing with us in Nordic Wedding Music.

I'm back home tonight, have to quickly unpack and then pack my stuff again, to go back to Finland. Travelling is a big part of my life right now....so I appreciate so much being at home, my daughter, our dog and I. Time to recharge the batteries!

Eva

The one who have made a journey...

...have something to tell.

My 17 year journey into the nordic treasure of wedding songs in traditional music is now coming to it's conclusion. I have the aim to finish writing by the end of this month, the book with about 120 songs.

This journey has also included many lessons on a personal level, what is love? How can a person today live the dream of finding love and find long lasting relations? What is me, what is you, what is us? How do we grow and become responsible in every sense, for the actions, words, emotions we have in us. To realize this is me, and my life and my responsibility.

The songs are full of human experience, handed over from generation to generation. Some songs give endless encouragement. Some songs are full of humour. Some of the small songs are the biggest to me.
I'm burning with passion to share this treasure! Buy the book when it comes. Join the workshops where I will teach how o sing the songs.

The one who have made a journey....

...have a gala-night out in Malmö. The work of RFoD has resulted in three galas, and this year it was held in Malmö. My 5 years of being chair woman has come to an end, and I'm proud to have made this increadible journey together with the board and employees of RFoD. 5 years of intense lobbying for the whole scene, all included, music, dance, pedagogues, venues and local clubs ond so on. Networking networking!


...have the most enchanted time together making music In Ljungs church with Mats Eriksson (guitar) and George Keczan (church organ). On a spring time evening when birds gather in the last sunlight of the day.


...is happy to walk the streets of Göteborg in spring time.

...is happy to warm up in the afternoon sunlight.
Lots of love and songs from
Eva