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This is a long email! If you just want the gigs or playlist, click the navigation links below:

1. Sofa Salon 2018
2. Sofa Salon Collaboration and Future Plans
3. Spotify Playlists

Sofa Salons 2018 – First Announcements
Friday 16 February – Sofa Salon #76: The Antler King (BE) + Georgie Fisher (AU/Ber)
Two years ago I had an email from Belgian musician And They Spoke In Anthems asking if he and The Antler King could do a show at Sofa Salon. I loved them both immediately, but the dates didn’t work out for both acts. Featuring a singing drummer, layers and layers of delicious guitar texture and a wonderful, dark mood, The Antler King are going to be amazing.
Joining them is Australian-in-Berlin Georgie Fisher, who you’ve been telling me you want to see at Sofa Salon. Also a house concert host with The Muso Next Door series, her whiskey voice and rhythmic guitar chops will be a strong opening for this Salon.

Friday 13 April – Sofa Salon #77: Orit Shimoni (CA) + support TBC
Orit played a very memorable Sofa Salon a couple of years back and is one of the artists you often ask me about. We managed to find another date in Orit’s incredibly busy and never-ending tour schedule.

Sofa Salon Collaboration and Plans
I’ve tried this year to get acts like Fazerdaze, Hannah Lou Clark and Julia Jacklin. In talking to booking agents, I know I need to be able to offer more money, but changing what’s good about Sofa Salon is not the right way to go. 40-60 people. 8-15€ on the door. Intimate, private listening spaces with good people – these are the things that make Sofa Salon a great way to experience music.

After She Makes War in September, I got talking to Noel from Indieberlin, the long-running email culture guide. I asked about possible solutions for raising money without changing the atmosphere. He suggested we meet. With his events coordinator Chloe, we talked about collaboration, sponsorship and funding options, even a German Sofa Salon tour.

I mentioned that I have the chance to take Sofa Salon to Barcelona next year. It’d be a great excuse to take Berlin acts to Spain and hang in a city I really love. We talked about finding a local alcohol sponsor so we could make a Salon cocktail. I’m leaning towards the dirty martini.

We talked about how video is so important to promote music now. I said I love that Sofa Salon is a technology-free listening space, but Chloe said there are subtle ways to record an event so people can see and hear how lovely the atmosphere and how good the music is. We’re going to collaborate on the next few Salons. If it works, we can dream bigger.

I’m going to ask you for ideas and help. If you have strong opinions on how Sofa Salon should grow very organically, please let me know. if you have contacts with suitable sponsors or know of funding options we should explore, email me. If you know of people with living rooms in other parts of Germany who would love to host a Sofa Salon, please ask them and tell me.

I look forward to seeing what could happen, and always with you and the musicians in mind. ❤

Sofa Salon Spotify Playlist
On the Sofa Salon Facebook page, I said I wanted to compile songs from all the musicians that have played Sofa Salon over the last seven years. I asked which platform you’d all prefer to listen to. You said Spotify. So, here is the 2010 Sofa Salon Playlist., our very first year!

You’ll find songs from Eric Eckhart, Wasp Summer ;), Grand Salvo, Miranda, Brome, The Alma Church Choir and more. It’s a wonderland of excellence. I’ll add another year’s playlist with each email update for your listening pleasure. If you’re on Spotify, can you please follow me?

Fun fact! When he played the second ever Sofa Salon, Timotheé from Brome was in a band with Claire called Bocage and it was amazing, but the Bocage album isn’t on Spotify. It is, however, on Bandcamp, so I’ve also made a Bandcamp Wish List. It collects nearly all the remaining Salon artists, and also gives us a very easy way to listen to, buy and support the music we fall in love with.

You could like Sofa Salon’s Bandcamp page too. Eventually, I will populate the Wishlist with every Sofa Salon artist with music on Bandcamp, but with different songs to the Spotify Playlist.

I’m still trying to work out how to compile the spoken word performers I booked in the early days. Suggestions?

Fun fact! Christina Maria from Sofa Salon #3 is now called Rykka and represented Switzerland at 2016’s Eurovision! See the stars at Sofa Salon first!

Feel free to share the music on the playlists with all your music-loving friends. Please let me know which songs you love the most and what you think of the playlists.

Kind Regards,
Sam

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