Swedish troubadour Sofia Talvik’s third show in Tuscaloosa will bring the singer’s unique style when she plays the Green Bar on Sept. 21.
“She has a very unique songwriting style,” Alex Freeman of Green Bar said. “We often have acoustic folk acts on stage and are honored to host Sofia Talvik.”
Talvik said it’s hard to name a certain musician that influenced her the most, but did list fellow singer-songwriters Jason Isbell and Neko Case as people she liked a lot.
“Someone told me I sounded a bit [like] Nick Drake which is a huge compliment … and overstatement,” she said.
After getting a guitar at the age of 18 and teaching herself how to play it, Talvik left two years later to study art in Stockholm, and as she says on her website, her experiences there took the form of a funny and heartbreaking story in her lyrics.
Talvik decided to make her own music label, Makaki Music, with the assistance of her husband in 2006.
“My first album was released on a Swedish indie label, and seeing what they did I thought to myself that I can do this myself and more,” Talvik said. “You might not always do the job best of all, but no one will work harder for you than yourself which is worth a lot.”
Utilizing her years studying art, she also designs her own album covers and posters.
The past nine years have resulted in a few more albums, the most recent being “Big Sky Country.” She has largely maintained her style, though she did record an EP named “Folk” that is composed entirely of Swedish folk songs sung in Swedish.
Talvik doesn’t plan on making alterations in the future either.
“I’m pretty happy with the way my music is,” she said. “I like to do variations from album to album, but I don’t plan on changing the style or anything.”
Like a bard of bygone ages, Talvik loves touring so she can travel and meet people. She has done this extensively. Starting in 2011 she went on a lengthy year and a half tour throughout the U.S.
“We were touring in an old RV from ‘93. When we were up in the Idaho mountains one of our rear tires blew up and broke a bunch of stuff underneath the RV,” she said. “We had no cell reception, but luckily some fire fighters happened to pass us and escorted us to a nearby motel that had a pay phone so we could call for a new tire. The motel was in the middle of the forest without any nearby town, and looked exactly like something from a scary movie! We had to wait for 5 hours for a guy to come all the way from Boise with a new tire.”
She has also performed across Europe, and despite her love for American audiences, she likes playing in Germany.
“German audiences are the best in the world when it comes to loving music,” she said.
With years of travel and performing under her belt, Talvik is a seasoned musician with a unique style blending her Scandinavian heritage and American influences from her prolonged touring.
“Her music is special and [she’s] gaining popularity,” Freeman said. “An intimate setting like Green Bar might not be a possibility much longer for her.”
