Sofa Salons #34, #35, #36 and #37

Tags

2013, Berlin, Berlin COMPASS, collaboration, house concert, james cruickshank, Justin Cusack, Lavender Drake, Lucie Thorne, Matt Walker, Miriam Wuttke, new music, November, October, performance, Prita Grealy, ritual, Roller One, Sandra Sarala, seasonal, September, Sofa Salon, Susie Asado, upcoming events

Sofa Salon 35 by Kate Seabrook

Dearhearts,
Well… last week was an enormous week. At the opening press conference, it was heartening to hear that Berlin Music Week’s Head of Project Björn Döring welcomes the inclusion of house concerts as official showcases in the program. Not that we need legitimacy, but it’s lovely to see house concerts recognised as a vital part of the live music industry for performers and fans alike.

That said, we lived up to the hype with full houses and stunning showcases from Phia (AU), Town of Saints (NL), Mute Swimmer (UK) and our last minute fill-in act My Sister Grenadine (DE) and two wonderful new host apartments. Thank you Robert and Tammy. Indelible moments included Felix from My Sister Grenadine yelling into a hoodie, raucous crowd-particpation during No Time, Mute Swimmer’s infamous “why don’t you shut the fuck up” song, and the lovely group jam between Phia and Town of Saints.

And now we’re onto the next two shows. In collaboration with Sandra Sarala’s excellent seasonal/ritual performance series Berlin COMPASS, Sofa Salon #36 is an intimate Kabarett this Saturday 22 September. Following that, we have Sofa Salon #37 on Saturday 6 October featuring further explorations of Australian songwriting talent in Justin Cusack, Roller One and special guest James Cruickshank.

I’m really excited to bring you these performers, so email berlinsofasalon [aet] googlemail.com for reservations and the address.

SEPT 22

Sofa Salon & Berlin Compass presents Sandra Sarala (NZ) + Lavender Drake (AU) + Miriam Wuttke (DE) Sandra Serala’s excellent seasonal/ritual performance series Berlin COMPASS, Sofa Salon hosts an intimate Prenzl’berg Sofa Salon next Thursday 22 featuring the dark voice of Berlin chanteuse Lavender Drake (AU), performance artist Miriam Wuttke (DE) with her new piece Heimat–Land-Luxus, and hostess/previous Sofa Salon poet Sandra Sarala (NZ) who combines real world poetry and anarchic East European folk song. 6€. Doors 19:00. Email belinsofasalon [aet] googlemail.com for reservations and address. Facebook event

OKT 6

Roller One (AU) + Justin Cusack (AU) + James Cruickshank (AU) In my continuing crusade to bring every good Australian songwriter to Berlin to play in a living room, I present two former Sofa Salon artists and one special guest. After last May’s SAND Journal Dayfestival, two Melburnian acts return to the Salon: Justin Cusack (ex-Black Pony Express) with his dusty, heart-worn troubadour songs and the gorgeous Willie Nelson-esque alt.country of duo Roller One. Our special guest artist is James Cruickshank in his last European show for a while, a guitarist and songwriter well-respected for his work with The Cruel Sea and Tex Perkins. He brings us songs from his three seductive solo records. 6€. Doors 19:00. Email belinsofasalon [aet] googlemail.com for reservations and address.

NOV 16

Matt Walker (AU) + Lucie Thorne (AU) Matt Walker is a well-loved figure on the Australian roots music scene, known for his astonishing white-boy blues voice and mastery of dobro, lap steel and guitar. His tourmate, Lucie Thorne is an itinerant troubadour armed with a deadly red Guild electric guitar and a seductive, womanly voice. I’m already receiving reservations for this show, so email requests to berlinsofasalon [aet] googlemail.com.

JAN 26

Susie Asado (DE) Sofa Salon is delighted to work again with Paper & Iron Booking to present alternative Folk doyenne Susie Asado and her wonderful portmanteau of languages, cities and well-travelled songs.

MAR 2

Prita Grealy (AU) Combining hip-hop, soul and folk, the vivacious Prita Grealy innovates while she uplifts. This will be a perfect Spring Awakening.

Advertisement

New singer-songwriter showcase from Sofa Salon

Dear Sofa Salooners, Just to let you know the Salon this Friday with Lapingra (IT) and Big Strong Brute (AU) is now booked out, but if you still want to see a great Berlin singer-songwriter, I can offer you a show with a Sofa Salon regular, the wonderful Eric Eckhart, this Friday night.

I’m always looking for ways to create more paid work for musicians, so Sofa Salon is proud to announce a new singer-songwriter night in Berlin featuring real Berliner food and original live music. Dörte, another Sofa Salon regular, approached Sofa Salon on behalf of the Kartoffelkiste, a Berlin-specialty restaurant at the Europa Center at Zoologischer Garten.

Under new management, they want to promote local musicians and we have organised a series of twice-monthly singer-songwriter events in July and August. It’s free entry and features some great Berlin-based musicians. Doors at 20:00. There’s not much over this side of town so come on over, gnaw down on some Eisbein and drink some beer with us.

KARTOFFELKISTE (click for a Google map link) at Tauentzienstraße 9  10789 Berlin.

The facebook event is here and you’ll be able to read about it in the Fast Forward Magazine here.

Cheers,
Sam

Sofa Salon April 2012

Thanks for dropping by the Sofa Salon website and checking out my upcoming shows. As always, doors at 19:00 and reservations are vital! Email berlinsofasalon@gmail.com to secure your seat. If you want to invite friends, the facebook event listing is here.

This month, I continue to explore the work of the many amazing women musicians resident in Berlin. The show is on Friday April 27 and features a solo set by Holly Mae Haddock from Holly Mae and The Painted Room and a set by Susanna Berivan.

FRIDAY APRIL 27

Holly Mae and the Painted Room is a literate art-folk project that draws inspiration from myth and fairytale, heavy on swooning, sparkling production and harmonies.

Susanna Berivan is a smoky, delicate sounding chanteuse pinning her Delta Folk/Blues songs with a downhome guitar style.

SOFA SALON PODCAST NUMBER 4

Every month, I make a podcast featuring the upcoming Sofa Salon performers plus singer-songwriters and poets from around the world whose work I’m digging right now. I host it on SoundCloud and you can stream or download the podcast which features performances from Holly Mae and The Painted Room, Susanna Berivan, Ned Collette, Julitha Ryan, Miranda Gjerstad and Gaby Bila-Günther:

Sofa Salon Podcast 4: April 2012 by SofaSalon

UPCOMING SALONS

MAI 11		Wasp Summer ‘Close as a Slow Dance’ album launch
Many of you only know me as the hostess of Sofa Salon, but I am about to release my debut solo album under my nom-de-Kunst Wasp Summer. It’s also my birthday, so Sofa Salon is hosting its first Album Launch Party!

MAI 12		Sean Nicholas McMahon + A Seated Craft
As Sofa Salon continues the tradition of being a Berlin home for Australian independent music, we present two Australians: Sean Nicholas McMahon and his plaintive Alt.Country/Folk sounds. He comes from acclaimed Melbourne roots band Downhills Home. A Seated Craft is the warm, gossamer music of Alexia Peniguel. The underlying melancholy in her emotive music is leavened by its great, delicate beauty. JUNI 16 Sofa Salon SAND Journal Summer Party Sofa Salon again joins with SAND Journal, Berlin’s English-language literary magazine, to create a day-long festival of incredible Scandinavian music and spoken word. We will be holding this in a secret new venue somewhere in Berlin.   JULI 6 Lapingra (It) + guests Italian toycore band Lapingra is a collaboration between two quirky musicians with shared passion for Barbie, bake-a-cakes, Björk, Disney soundtracks and Bauhaus. Their album uses toy instruments to bake oven-fresh and original songs. SUMMER AND BEYOND: AUGUST 18 Ben Salter (Aus) + Ned Collette (Aus) This night features two of Australia’s critically acclaimed songwriters and their brand new albums. Ben Salter came from Brisbane bands Giants Of Science and alt.country collective The Gin Club and co-producing his debut solo album The Cat with members of The Drones. Ned Collette is a past host and performer at Sofa Salon and brings us literate musings from his album with his Australian band Wirewalker, 2. SEPTEMBER 1 Ian Fisher (USA) + guest His American folk visions and acerbic wit fall somewhere in the vicinity of Woody Guthrie, or Elvis Costello, Ian Fisher brings us stripped-back versions of songs from his new Ian Fisher & The Past album.