Summer with light nights, singing and dancing

Dearest blogg readers,

What happened in your peak of summer?
Did you celebrate summer solstice?
See any midsummer fairies?
Met the bear up in bear country?
I wish I did.
At least we saw bear poop in the forest.

Leo sniffing out big shit.

Right now, lovely August is covering us under her wings.

What do you wing?
What's now, what's created now?

I'm working every day with creative writing.
Not so fast today, because I struggle with a cold and fever.
So I go with the flow.
Gathering thoughts, pinning down some pictures from my dreams.
Taking small notes.
The dog needs walks and I marvel at the jungle I'm living in.
In the linden trees thousands of honey bees
sing their song.
I brought my tuning fork with me to listen carefully
to what notes they sing.
Soon this blooming is over for this year.

Living now.
Visioning forward. 
Learning from what happened.


Here's a little retrospect what happened in June-July.

My cd Vida was released on Spotify in the middle of the summer riddle.

Thank you photographer Maja Tekla Jonsson!

Midsummer light nights. Picture taken at 23.39:

Summers journey stop #1 was to dance boogie woogie in Herräng. And of course some lindy hop and blues dance and balboa too. Oh what a lovely week! We are so blessed. My daughter and I in a camping tent and spending day and night to dance.

The journey continued to the vast forests and hills and valleys where I come from. I was lucky to spend some time with my scythe, visiting goats on a mountain farm, fäbod, and walking to the top of the world.

My scythe.

Making traditional messmör.

In the turning of July into August we were blessed with a blue moon and Irmelin performed at Urkult Festival in the high north. There I had the most amazing birthday celebration and enjoyed it very much to welcome a new turning point in my life.

Nämforsen stone carvings from the time of the first people.

Ylva Varik artistry.

Att vara tant är att få göra vad fan man vill.

To be an old lady is to be allowed to do what the *#-/* you want.

My antennas are up in the air. Some questions are going to be investigated.
Some lyrics are going to be written.
Some more music will be transformed from the dreamed into reality.
Some future journeys are going to be planned according to the golden map of the inner landscape.


Come rain come shine, life takes us on an unpredicted journey.
Family, friends and love.
Some endings and some beginnings.
Reunions, a break-up.

I pray our hearts continue to be tender in the sometimes hard world we live in.
Let's be curious.
Let's walk in peace.

Eva

Welcome 2015 with all your adventures in music

A new year has just begun.
First of all I want to thank you all my readers, you who visit my blog.
I truly wish you a beautiful year and lets all pull our forces together for
a year of more tolerance and love in the world.
Music, dance and story telling makes the world go around.
I know so many beautiful initiatives, activists,
thinkers and peace makers all around the globe
to make me want to contribute also what I can bring on the train.

One thing is to celebrate truly who we are and
be daring in creativity.
I've decided to fully live my dream of releasing
a solo album.

It's getting closer and closer,
the launch of my new cd, Vida.
February 12 in Göteborg,
please come to celebrate with me in Hjällbo church.


I just heard some music on the radio that makes me so happy.
For the first time to me, I found this gem of new jazz, Chlopy Kontra Basia.
The pure happiness of language, without knowing the meaning of the lyrics,
I just love the sounds.




Chlopcy Kontra Basia - Oj Tak


Got to keep on working now, the day is bright and  I have lots to plan and organize. 
Final steps of the cover and textbook of my CD. 

Eva

Exited to share happy news!

Happy news on the first of December!
I wish to give a big THANK YOU to Swedish Arts Council for the support I've been honoured for my upcoming solo-album in hard competition with many a fine music project. I am totally filled with joy for this. It's highly appreciated, so thank you thank you!

The music is recorded together with Mattias Pèrez on guitars and Anders Jormin on double base in October at Studio Epidemin. Petter Eriksson is our sound man.
My own compositions, my lyrics, and a wave of inspiration and musical ideas shared among the three of us. Thank you Mattias and Anders for bringing in your voices in the swirl.

We are so exited to share it all with you!
Stay tuned for more.

Eva

Mattias Pèrez at Epidemin in October.

Recording mood at Studio Epidemin in October.

Voicing - meeting - sharing - circle Folk Voice Tradition 2014

Giving and taking in its most beautiful form. Mutual inspiration!

Folk Voice Tradition 2014

On the last day of our conference we did reflections and circle talking about how to proceed. How can we build stronger circles and voice the tacit knowledge we share? Very empowering! Wordsmith and painting artist Malin Sverige showed us beautiful paintings she created in our conference, her reflection. When her pictures was displayed the whole room started to sing in a collective improvisation.

I wonder how this could be possible in any other conference?

The past weekend I spend time in Stockholm with an amazing gathering of the tribe of folk singers. I'm been awestruck by the power and creativity, filled with new inspiration.

Reunion of friends I've known since many years. Friends from my time as student at KMH (Royal College of Music) Friends from the first ever, the glorious, the turning point: Ethno -90.
Irmelin songsisters, great to be here all the three of us!

And happy to make new friends!

We had to use english as the official language since we speake so many languages in this group and not all of us share the same language root. Finnish, Latvian, Estonian and Scandinavian languages.

I have to say that listening to the songs I couldn't follow the lyrics was maybe the most memorable for me in the concerts. Music has the power to take a grip even if there's no common language. Music is the common language and it speaks clearly about what it is to be a human.

A warm big THANK YOU to Susanne Rosenberg and the crew for empowering the diverse family of singers, storytellers, artists, holistic improvisators.

Eva

Sitting on the train up to Stockholm, enjoying the November peace. Working on the order of songs for my new album.

KMH, The Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Old meets new.

Singers from Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in a song of lamentation.

Singers from Latvia, amazing vocal traditions!

Silence and sound

Women who run their own business...

In this old photo is my grand dad Sven, sitting on the table, and his mother Emma, sitting on the chair. Emma was like me and many other, a single mother with her own business.

Emma, the daughter of a miner.

Today I've been doing parts of the business side of my project of producing a solo album. I have compleeted and send in an application to the Swedish Arts Council. Deadline for this application is tomorrow. I have never written such an application before, and now I aim to release a cd on my own label. So it's up to me to take care that I at least send in an application. Competition is sky high but if you don't try you don't get anything anyway.

Here's the art side of the cd. Lyrics I have been working on since 18 month back now, some parts of it even older.

Eva

Petrichor - the scent of rain

My daily joy.

My daily challenge.

Creating my own music.

So this is the first announcement, I will record a solo album by the end of October this year.

And it's the first album on my own label.

After a long row of amazing collaborations I have decided to do something like this. Channel all the lyrics and melodies that I have made myself.

When I look at all the twelve songs I have choosen for this album, I notice there's rain in several of them.

Rain as the sign of freedom, water of life, of relief.

And there's a lot more coming too. I go to my roots, I have a lot of inspiration from my mountains where i grew up. It's also about dance.

I will let you know more as the work proceeds.
You are most welcome to  check my blog for more updates around this new baby of mine.

Eva

Folkvocal - the never ending river of melodies

Doing what we like most.
Singing full days. Creating new songs.
Exploring new grounds the way just we can do.
So much fun, sometimes we just explode in laughter.

Improvising music with these three amazing ladies is a never ending river of melodies where we set sail and aim for new horizons.

What happens is that we have a common ground in the folk music that makes it very easy to start. Where it all ends might be something no one expected. Four personalities but a common language.

The yellow house to the left is where we stay. Prästkragens Inn.

Springtime is in the air.

Ulrika Bodén.

Maria Misgeld.

Susanne Rosenberg.

Here you can see more, Folkvocal, Susanne Rosenberg

I don't know if it's the fresh air or all the focus and creativity that makes us sleep early in the night. Tomorrow is a new day in the djungle of music!
Eva

Things I didn't think would happen

Today I was asked to be a computer support. Concerning a PC-question! Both of this is surprising to me. I've never felt like some kind of a computer person. From the start I was more of a mac user, because all the musicians in my connections were already using mac. Now I have to dig deeper into the world of PC because that's the environment on my new job as a youth leader in the church.

So that's another thing I didn't think would happen.
I have a regular job. That's revolutionary for me, since I've always been a free lance musician and that's all I know how to do. A regular job with a steady income, that's a whole new culture. I do this on part time, 50%. Maybe I run the music 100% like before, so it's a bit of a puzzle with time.... The appointment is to do this youthleader job for 6 month. After that I don't know but probably it will be music business as usual.

The youth leader job is organized by the church. Regular swedish church. I didn't think I would get a job there either. I don't have the required education. But maybe I have the heart on the right place. I would never ever feel confortable with some sort of conservative religious congregation. But in this case I have found the best place to be. This particular congregation of Hjällbo is open minded, focused on social equality and human rights, inter-religous events now and then. I'm so proud to be part of the future.

I see us all connected. Today I set myslef to understand more of the prayer "All My Relations". I googled, found a little bit on Wiki, and it's also a hash-tag on twitter. I follow blogs and twitter where I see the use of the phrase "All My Relations" as a greeting.

Like this, answering on a blog post:

"All my Relations! Aaron, thank you for speaking the truth in such a beautiful way! Michelle Morning Star Doherty"

To be connected to the whole universe, earth, humanity and everything living upon it. All my relatives.

Here's a clip from youtube, you can listen to the prayer and have it explained.




Tonight at the youth meeting we are discussing the topic of togetherness, community, sense of belonging. That's also a way of celebrating United Nations Day.

Eva

Rolling deep into music

This week has been full of creativity with writing new songs.
It was about picking up small seeds of melody and lyrics that came some years ago when I was visiting the Faroe Islands. By that time the seeds was not ready to flower.

Now, I feel I have traveled some distance, discovered new sides of you and me and everything. It's now that the time has come to fulfil the song that was started long ago.

One notice, when I find my flow in writing music, I totally loose the fantasy in cooking. Anyone experiences the same? It's like I have to put other things aside when I want to focus on music. I don't like to spend too much time with the cooking then.
Rich in spirit, but not so much with the ideas of what to put on the dinner table :-)

More inspirational was my dreams at night. Truly set the sparkle for some new material. One remarkable dream after the other. I write down some of the most significant pictures coming to me in dreams.

Sommarkonserter 2012

Glad försommar!

Nu när jag tittar både framåt och bakåt finns det så mycket som jag gärna vill dela med mig av. Det fyller mig med tacksamhet till familj, vänner, arbetskamrater i musiken, publik, och sångelever. Utan er hade det inte varit nåt!
Under mina resor har det också blivit flera nya upptäckter på spännande musik, som nu snurrar ofta i min skivspelare. För att bara nämna några favoriter:

Maria Misgeld och band, CD Romans i moll. Äntligen uppföljaren till Margits sånger!
John Doyle, från Irland, CD Shadow and light.
Moses Higtower, från Island. CD Búum til börn

Här är några av mina favoritinspiratörer, i olika kategorier. Människor som förverkligar sina drömmar och har ett vackert och roligt sätt att berätta om dem.

Equilibrium: Min lärare i alexanderteknik, Barbro Olsson, skriver om balans i kroppen och tillvaron, utifrån sin långa erfarenhet som alexandertekniklärare. Dessutom ger hon många fina tips om andra kreativa och inspirerande människor. http://www.alexandertechnique.se/

Drömma - lite som du... Fantastiskt vackert foto på denna blogg. Jag älskar att titta på alla klänningar och kjolar som Lotta har på sig. Hon skriver rakt på sak om sitt eget liv. http://www.dromma.se/

Täpp Lars, skinnskräddare och konsthantverkare. Fäbodbrukare på somrarna. Inspiratör för många. www.larsofscandinavia.com



Och här kommer den roliga sommarturnén:


29 maj Irmelin på Arbetets Museum i Norrköpin kl 18

16 juni "Vi segla ut på livets hav", kurs i bröllopssånger och kärleksvisor i Övertänger, kl 10-15

17 juni Kulningskurs i Övertänger, kl 10-15.

23 juni Ödsmåls kyrka i Stenungsund tillsammans med Gunnar Eriksson och Göteborgs Kammarkör. Kl 19

17 juli Irmelin i Stora Mellby kyrka, Sollebrunn. Kl 20

22 juli invigningskonsert Sommarjazzen, tillsammans med Bengt Hallberg, legendarisk pianist, Ljungkile. Ljungskilegården kl 20.

28 juli Irmelin i Sölvesborg.

2 aug Irmelin i Orsa kyrka. Kl 20

9 aug Irmelin i Rättvik på Nyfiken, Gammelgården, kl 19.

19 aug Nordic Wedding Music, Insikten, Trollhättan. Kl


Konserten den 22 juli vill jag berätta lite mer om. Jag har blivit uppringd och ombedd att göra öppningskonsert tillsammans med Bengt Hallberg, denna emininente gentleman till pianist-legend, under Sommarjazzen anordnad av L'Jazz i Ljungskile. Vi har fria händer att göra en jazzkonsert i folkton, det är nästan för stort och jag försöker förhålla mig med barnslig glädje att helt enkelt passa på att göra musik på ett lekfullt sätt. Men det är alltid väldigt speciellt att ha premiär på ett program man aldrig gjort förut, att spela med en av de främsta inom sitt gebit, och som jag dessutom beundrar nåt alldeles ohämmat. Bengt och jag gjorde en duo-låt under julkonsert i Ljungs kyrka, "En gång i bredd med mig" efter Anna Sjöbom. Den upplevelsen glömmer jag aldrig. Bengts pianospel är så fint utmejslat som bara hans långa karriär och erfarenhet kan vaska fram.

De andra sommarkonserterna har givetvis lika mycket plats i mitt hjärta, man älskar alla sina barn så att säga. Gunnar och kören, Irmelin och Nordic Wedding Music, och de härliga sommarkurserna i min egen stuga i Övertänger. Varmt välkomna att lyssna och delta, hoppas vi ses någonstans i sommarvimlet.


Bland dessa kommande nyheter vill jag gärna också säga att sångboken "Bröllopssånger och kärleksvisor" kommer att färdigställas i juni, då vi tar foton med våra vänner som modeller. Ett foto för varje kapitel, vart och ett foto gestaltar en fras ur en noga utvald sång. Vi har under de senaste 12 månaderna kommit in i mer konkret kreativ fas av vad foton i boken ska gestalta. Det är en väldigt stor glädje att jobba med så kunniga medarbetare som var och en har lång erfarenhet, Gabriella Persson formgivare, Janne Mellqvist fotograf, och Eva Petrén, stylist. Det har öppnat upp för mig helt nya sätt att skapa bild, hur alla detaljer i bilden samverkar att utrycka det vi tänk. Som röd tråd genom alla bilder ska vi använda blommor av silkespapper.
Jag kan avslöja att min favorit-traditionsbärare, coola Anna Sjöbom, kommer att finnas med som en hjältinna i både foto och text i boken.


Soliga sommarhälsningar,


Eva Rune

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

Working creatively within culture

This morning in the news flood I found something that catched my eye. It was about when voices around you may say things is not going to work. And the reply to such sayings was: who are they to tell? Do they have the full picture?

I'm agreeing with that. As a musician I often get those questions, how can you make it? And I think it's a lot about what kind of view of life you have. How wide is your horizon? What is your perception of the world around you? Do you see problems or possibilities? As a musician working creative with your own music, not being employed in an orchestra, you increase your ability of always find a solution, see the possibilities, to be flexible and many other values that's often highly rewarded in business. Even if creative art is not comparable to ordinary business.

Art is one of the foundations of human nature, in my believe, something essential and what makes us truly humans. Thousands of investigations can prove that we need culture in its many forms. I'm proud of my work, and I care for it as a treasure, knowing that it will give much to many who listen to my music.

Every morning I go to my job with light steps, eager to start, and hardly able to stop. Today I'm eager to prepare for concert with Annika Dobler on cello, concert is on Sunday in Hochdorf in Switzerland.
I'm eager to keep up the work with my first songbook. It fills me with joy and satisfaction, and sometimes I'm a bit scared too. The kind of thrilling fright to embark on unknown territories.
I'm eager to start

right

now.

E

Upstart after summers peak, and swingout to Åland

Dear all readers here on the blogg. It's time to start create new blog-entries after this maxi-galactic summer that is still all around. For a change I'll write in english. During summer I've spend less time at the computer, wich is good to do sometimes. And my holidays has been so good, so much holydays. I have refilled my batteries and have lots of new ideas to explore and put into motion and reality.

My summer was full of music and tours, and still more concerts to do. Maybe I didn't have so much time in advertising, and that I would like to do better next time. Musicaly everything has been flowing and so rich, in meetings with the most generous and welcoming crowds/audience, and the improvisational dialogue between us musicians on stage. An ongoing dialogue in many directions that reaches deep as the ocean sometimes.

Now, August is my favourite month of the year :-) I've celebrated I'm one year older, and for sure, this time so much has happened along the road that makes my heart sing. Can't believe how much has happened in only one year. Happenings, happiness...new roads to walk.

Windjammers Ball, here we come!
This upcoming weekend it's time to have a crazy lindy hop party weekend. Windjammers Ball will take place in Mariehamn, Åland. For the first time this year, and hopefully for many years to come. We will dance on boats, so we're told to not bring our best leathersole danceshoes, there might be sticky pitch on the deck of the boat. I'll be packing tonight, some older danceshoes, and flowers for my hair will do.

More dance earlier this summer.
Jitterbuggar, both known as crazy dancers like me, and cookies, wich I had the pleasure to enjoy at Nyfiken ecological café in Rättvik. Yes, the people in the kitchen are also into lindy hop and we danced a few swing outs in the bakery. I like!

At home again.
On the savannah of Storås:

What beauties, the horses and cows, and sometimes wild deer we see here. August in it's lovely light, a little darker than the other summer month, but so much like a tale by Tove Jansson. Have you heard the news, there's some good rocking tonight!
Warmest august-greetings.
Eva

Irmelin i Helsingfors

Jag är så priviligierad som får ut och resa med så sköna brudar som Karin och Maria i Irmelin. Vi har gjort konsert i Helsingfors igår kväll. På Luckan, ett sorts kulturhus mitt i stan. Det gick himla bra och vi hoppas publiken hade lika roligt som vi. Vilket vi också fick höra i kommentarerna efteråt. Scenen var en intim liten teaterscen, med bra scenljus, svarta draperier, som en liten black box men med assymetrisk sittning. Rummet, publiken, stunden gav allt man kunde önska, vi sjöng utan mikrofoner för publiken var så nära oss, och rummet hade bra akustik. Det blir så oerhört nära så, acapella, inga instrument, inga noter eller notställ, ingenting emellan oss och publiken. Några av våra sånger hade vi uruppförande på denna kväll. Efter konserten blev det en härlig stund i hotellbaren med finska vännerna Viveca och Tytti, ett glas rött, finska tapas med renkött och rökt fisk, en massa intressanta samtal om musiken, teatern, livet. Efter en tidig morgon och en lång och innehållsrik dag sov jag som om jag vore medvetslös, ända tills nästa dag.

Idag var det kursdag på Ravintola-huset. Sång och åter sång, nästan en hel dag, med ca 25 deltagare, ett riktigt härligt gäng. Det är något alldeles särskilt att sjunga timme efter timme och bara på gehör, utan noter. Lyssningen skärps, gruppen gjorde stora framsteg med alla dessa svenska sånger som de inte hört förut. Vi jobbade med sväng, flerstämmigt, lätthet i rösten. Tyvärr fick jag avvika från kursen redan idag p gr av att jag måste flyga hem. De andra fortsätter imorgon. Jag kommer att sakna dessa sköna sångare vi just börjat lära känna lite. Vi i Irmelin hoppas få komma tillbaka nästa år!

Önskar god kväll!
Eva

Röda stövlar, marknadsföring och järnvägskafeet i Kil

Det är inget april-skämt detta, men jag fann igår ett par röda stövlar på Röda Korset i Arvika. För 10 kr! Ett par nya stövlar kan verkligen lysa upp tillvaron, och hur svårt är det inte att hitta stövlar som ser ut som man vill att de ska vara? Och där finner jag dessa röda, och i rätt storlek, sitter som gjutet. Återvinning = grön framtid = bra för alla. Jag säger bara det, Röda Korset i Arvika har försett mig med så roliga shoppingupplevelser genom alla år jag varit på Ingesund.

Nu har jag haft min sista föreläsning för läsåret i kursen "Att vara frilansmusiker". Det känns viktigt att musikstudenter får så pass mycket kunskap med sig i detta redan under utbildningstiden, så att de ska kunna navigera så bra som möjligt i sin kommande verksamhet, i livet efter Musikhögskolan.
Det handlar om frilansmusikerns utrymme på en marknad som både innehåller kulturbidrag/stipendier och en verklighet med entreprenörsskap, tillgång och efterfrågan, marknadens krafter. Vår verklighet befinner sig ofta i ett spänningsfält mellan dessa båda poler.

Igår pratade vi mest om marknadsföring, och vikten av att lägga tid på att grundarbeta vad vi vill kommunicera. Finna tydlighet.
För att göra en bra marknadsföring behöver vi definiera vårt projekt, ena gruppen, komma överens om vart vi vill och hur vi kommer dit, kortsiktiga och långsiktiga mål. Varje gång vi använder oss av specifika mål får vi hjälp att rikta våra inneboende krafter dit, vår uppmärksamhet dit. Att vara verksam som frilansmusiker är i högsta grad en konst att hålla många bollar i luften samtidigt (risk för att bli splittrad) och att ta vara på sina inneboende resurser, inre tillgångar i sin egen person, att orka driva framåt mot de uppsatta målen.

Kil-svackan…..som den kallas av oss gästlärare som reser mellan Göteborg och Arvika. En klassiker, tågbytet i Kil som ofta är en timmes väntan. Kilsvackan beklagas och avhandlas i princip varje gång på det sunkiga lärarboendet "Åsen", det ingår liksom i rutinen, som ett socialt kitt.

Men jag har alltid gillat Kil. För min morfar åkte dit i sitt jobb som post-tjänsteman. Han jobbade på postvagnen, tåget, som for mellan Falun och Kil.
De finns fler glädjeämnen i Kil. Min hemliga bok-skattkista…..fynden denna resa blev tre nyutgivna snygga diktböcker av nutida poeter. Kan alltid vara en viktig ny upptäckt i sökandet efter bra textförfattare till ny musik…


Och så har vi förstås järnvägsfiket i Kil. Jag blev så glad att de hade morgonöppet idag så jag kunde köpa kaffe. De öppnar kl 6 på vardagmornarna. Härligt! Hur kul är det att sitta på en tågstation i tre kvart, med kaffeabstinens, och spana in i ett mörkt och stängt kafé? I Kil behöver man inte lida. Hembakat bröd och gott kaffe, och jättetrevlig personal. Vid borden sitter några stamgäster i pensionsålder, farbröder med helt underbar bred Värmländsk dialekt. "Snart kömmer pöjkera" - "Jovisst". Och strax kom ett helt gäng byggnadsarbetare in på fiket.



Bortom stationsplan ligger genomfarten i Kil, raggar-stritan.
Dags att ta helg snart, bara några uppgifter till på skrivbordet i vårt fina kontorslandskap högst upp på Oceanen. Älskar utsikten från mitt fönster, ut över kanalen, Sjöfartsmuseet.
Varma hälsningar, Eva