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.

Further and beyond at Studio Epidemin

Dear music family!!!

Deeply thankful for luminous musicbuilding at Studio Epidemin the last three days.
Mission compleeted!
I'm so exited to unfold my songs to new horizons with Mattias Pèrez and Anders Jormin!
Sound engineer Petter Ericsson has pushed us with his groovy sense of humor.

I'm truly blessed with the finest musicians around me!
For their amazing help and ideas adding on to mine. 
Putting my songs in the hands of two gentlemen, two souls full of never ending music.
Guitar wizard and yoda of the double base.
I could never have imagined the music that has emerged during the past three days. Even if preparation time was well done and heart opening, one can never predict what's going to happen in the studio when three music universes collide.
In the moment.

The muses has been watching over us as we've embarked on this journey together.

I am happy tired over the edge.

Eva

Petter Ericsson & Mattias Pèrez

"I think we have all had the experience of losing ourselves in music.
Where you are just taken away into the sound.
And then where are you?
Where are ‘YOU?’
When you’re not there, that IS ultimate reality.
It’s so beautiful; it’s all around us all the time, it’s available to us all the time."

— Lama Marut

Anders Jormin.

Do the right thing in the right time

Sweet!

Life is a game

And yet, I believe there's lots of reason to live and just be. Stop the busy life, take a break and just be. There's no need to proove. No need to achieve things all the time.
Note to self....

Piet Hein, once more.... (in danish)

People have options
for uncountable joy.
The most noble of all
is to be able when you have to.

(my translation)

Eva

Traveller, language-wizard, musician and poet, Ville Söderbaum

There are lots of amazing people out there!

Ville Söderbaum. Foto Anna-Maria Ahlén.

A truly inspirational person is Ville Söderbaum who have travelled many places, learned several languages, writes poetry and plays the saxophone.
Ville grew up in Uppsala, have lived for some time in bigger cities but is currently living in Kautokeino in the remote north of Norway.

Two years ago I was in the final steps of writing my songbook, a collection of love songs. I got great help at the time then by Ville Söderbaum. Ville who has swedish as first language and Nils Johan Päiviö who is native in the Sami language translated a jojk for the book. It was important for me to have a sami jojk represented in a book that collect songs from the whole nordic area.

Check out more about Ville Söderbaum on his own blog. Written in sami language, how cool isn't that? Check also the link Ville Söderbaum and you will find blog posts in swedish too.
I have now ordered his book of poetry: Dagar i Kautokeino

When I was in my twenties I bought a poetry book written by iconic sami multi artist Nils Aslak Valkeapää. I can admit that Valkeapää is the poet that really got a hold on me and inspired me to take interest in poetry. I had the chance once to listen to Valkeapää live, in 2001 in Kautokeino actually. Unforgettable.

Eva

Colors and beauty

If you are the photographer of this beautiful pic, I would be happy to know who you are and give all credits to you.

Good morning out there. Or should I say good day?
Not in a long time I have felt so great need for a long sleep morning and today I could have it.
No alarm clock. Sleep as long as I want.
To bring in some new fresh energy I chose the photo of this woman today.

The last two weeks has been a lot about starting up a new youth club for girls where I work in Hjällbo, swedish church. Main goal is to get new friends and get energy through laughter and doing fun things where everyone is respected for who she is.
As a leader I work a lot with having the girls talk in rounds where everybody speak and is listened to. It has to do with building up confidence and empower the dreams the girls have and make them believe in themselves.
This form of girls clubs excist in many places around the world and I have books and material to get inspiration.

This new started group has chosen the animal bear to be our symbol and group name. The more I think of it the better it is. The bear is about strength and courage, and having access to your dreams. The bear hibernate through the winter and is therefor living in the dream in a remarkable way. A bear can be a cosy cute teddy bear when needed and it can be big and powerful when needed.
The bear is a holy animal in many cultures around the world. The sign for bear in sign language is to draw a cross infront of your face.



Piet Hein (1905-1996), a danish poet wrote:

For you english speaking people I can recommend website Piet Hein.



Happy weekend everybody!
Eva

Way faring stranger coming home

It was absolutely crowded, almost three people on every two chairs and people standing inside and outside the venue of Gamla Elverket in Falun. Someone said it was the highest number ever in the crowd.
It was a very special manifestation of music, poetry, spoken word that all centered in one person. Tommy Johansson.
Yesterday night was his farewell concert.

I think everyone on stage and in the crowd has a reason to give deepest thanks to Tommy for his determination to stand up for the creative, the misfits, the entrepreneurs, the weak, the abandoned kids in our society. He's been part of giving a room for everyone to work through culture a way out from drugs or loneliness. The open arms at Gamla Elverket, the atmosphere there, is in one way or another part of Tommys work with this place. Of course many other great people are co-creators with Tommy and keep on doing this very special work in Falun.

When culture change the world.

Now it's time for carry his torch further, without him. He's got short time left to live, he's seriously ill.

Nevertheless Tommy was up on stage yesterday, singing his own songs, adding the words "to come home". Courageusly giving us a full speach on his situation, his dreams for Gamla Elverket, his love for life and his dear ones, his fear to die and also his acceptance and peace to let go. He will look forward to play music again with his friends who has gone before him.
The whole room was electrified with emotions in this moment, you could reach out with your hand and touch that strong love that was shared.

You are already young.

On stage there was a great number of musicias who all paid their homage to Tommy. Among others we heard Stina Berge, David Tallroth, Jennifer Fergusson, Pierre Swärd, Pelle Lindström, The Tallest Man on Earth, Idiot Wind.

The Tallest Man on Earth & Idiot Wind

Gamla Elverket take part in an art-project, Before I die. Several notes where placed on the walls.

My thoughts today goes to Tommy and his family. Thank you for this great reminder again and again that we have to live our lives fully and at our best as long as we are here.

Eva

Make room

Advent calendar # 18
Make room for realizing one of your many dreams.

I've been dreaming for several years to spend more time on writing. This autumn I was in a writing workshop focusing on lyrics for music. Thank you Sofie Jansson, your teachings was right on spot! So much inspiration.  I want to keep on this process of creativity. A good tool box for writers was one of the great things with this course. Another good thing is to start write a diary over inspirational things, encounters, everything inspiring. Thanks to the choice of home work we got from Sofie I also tried what it is to go on an artist date with myself. I will have to do that again.

Good night!
Eva

Irmelin creative days

Spider web with water drops.

Autumn beauty.

In the material world we are here.
But where we are in the wholeness, it's more difficult to tell.

This and next week Irmelin is working on new songs. Music and poetry by us.

Sometimes even collectively made by the three of us in Irmelin.

Among other things that inspire me is simplicity. That a painter can paint just a few lines and create art with simplicity. I'm not there yet. But it makes me curious, and it lights my fire.



Time to prepare for tomorrow and get some rest.
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.

Colours in music, words like music, and Skottvång jul

This afternoon and evening I've been surrounded by poetry and music. First it was our last and final meeting in the course for Henric Holmberg, on poetry. Oh, I will miss this good work we've been doing there, and all the nice people who participated. Thank you Henric for all your knowledge and artistry with poems.

In the evening I've been in a first meeting with master percussionist Youssef Hbeisch from Paris, and also in this meeting were Roger Johansson, composer, and Ahmad Al Khatib, fine master of arabic lute, oud. We've been playing-singing for eachother and with eachother, and I've been listening to Youssef and Ahmad when they play together. It's beyond words the way they create music. The scales, the colours, the turns in the musical moods, it's just amazing to sit so close and be swept away in another kind of poetry without words. Air and earth, and water....



Yesterday Irmelin did a christmas concert at Skottvång Mines together with Emma Reid on fiddle, and Daniel Reid on saxophones. A very nice encounter, indeed. Good King Wenceslas, what a hit-song! We did that one and a couple of swedish "staffans-songs" and other related to the time of the year. Lovely audience we had, I'm so thankful that we can go to such wonderful places like Skottvång and enjoy the very best in terms of good atmosphere and caretaking for musicians, good sound system + enginer, good food, bless you for this home made high level christmas food there! You have to visit this restaurant at some point!

If it wasn't for lots of preparation work before going to New York, I would have been dancing lindy tonight...but New York is kind of a good excuse....
I wish you a very good evening!
Eva

On poetry and reading loud

This past weeks I've been taking part in a 5 mondays long course on how to work with reading poetry loud. The course is given by actor Henric Holmberg, who created the course because he wished he could go such a course himself. He has a long time experience of reading poetry, creating performances with a big portion of poetry reading, and as an actor he's brilliant with making the words come in a way you are hit by the deeper message.
Each monday all of us prepare to read two poems, infront of the rest of the group, and Henric gives us feed back.

This whole workshop has been so right on the spot for me. It's close to preparing songs for a concert. There's a big difference in reading with eyes or reading loud, and when I reherse my songs for a concert things start to happen when I spend time with the words and melody doing it loud. It's almost impossible to try to incorporate the material with just reading it with my eyes.

Henric also said many times that when a material of poems (or songs, in my daily work) is resting for a while the deeper parts of our conciousness keep on working with it. I recognize this. A concert done a year ago that is revitalised is somehow more mature and comes out again in a new form. Like now, I have to re-create the christmas songs for this years performances, and it never feels old or the same. I'm one year richer in experience and the songs will reflect other things, I'm able to deal with the songs from new levels.

It would also be interesting to go through the songs just reading them, as poems. Work it through the way we have worked in Henrics course. We've trained a lot how to gather focus, how to work with tempo, with starts and endings, with voice possibilities. All poems can't be read the same, the particular poem (or song) evoke different volume, speed, rythm.

The first session with Henric I recognized his voice. I was outside the room where we work, hanging up my jacket, and Henric was talking to someone in the other room. Without seeing the person talking I knew exactly that it's him doing the speaker voice in the awesome short film "Den fjärde kungen" by Ted Sieger. In my family we sometimes gather friends for a film-party shortly after christmas, seeing Den fjärde kungen. I love the film and I cry at the end every time I see it.

Thank you Henric for bringing the stories and poetry loud and live.
Eva

Lots of radio-activity

Welcome dear reader! At 19 today the radio program Folke is running it's show, and I will in the program share some thoughts about this blog. I'm proud to be in the same program as the portrait of Ahmad Al Khatib and Youssef Hbeisch, two brilliant musicians who I will have the pleasure to work with in a collaboration next year.

Also tomorrow I will be in radio, a morning show at local radio station Radio Dalarna. Dalarna, my home county where I was born and raised! I will then give my thoughts on a specific number that the radio man will give me.

Other news for now is that Irmelin, vocal trio, has been chosen to go to APAP music fair in New York in January, plus we recieved the grant from the State Cultural Affairs. Yippe! Also Nordic Wedding Music, trio with guitarist Mats Eriksson and saxopfon player Mikael Godée, has been approved in the same type of application. So it means we have wind in our sails.

Wind....hm, there's a storm over Göteborg right now, let's hope that everything will work out for the best with traffic and weather related things over the west coast of Sweden.

I'm in a course for actor Henric Holmberg, about litterature, poetry, and the art of reading poems loud. An amazing world of spoken word. It's very different to read poems loud than to just read them with your eyes. What a fantastic course, so right on the spot now. I will miss those mondays when it's over.
I finish this with a poem of Tomas Tranströmer.