Sofa Salon News November 2017

Tags

2018, collaboration, Georgie Fisher, house concert, indieBerlin, lineups, news, Orit Shimoni, playlist, Sofa Salon, spotify, The Antler King

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.

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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. ❤

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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

Advertisement

Sofa Salon Summer Update

Tags

Australia, australian musician, Berlin, Castanet Club, entertainment, host, host a house concert, house concert, Jac Amidy, music, news, Rachel Snow, Sofa Salon, Tim McMillan

1. Become a Sofa Salon apartment host
2. Sofa Salon #72: Tim McMillan + Mimi Gilbert
3. Future Salons

Become a Sofa Salon apartment host
Sofa Salon hosts are the home and heart of the house concert experience. Would you like to host a house concert in your apartment?

I’m looking for hosts for the three remaining Sofa Salons this year including the one on June 24. I host many in my own home, but I enjoy the act of moving Salons from place to place, filling up different corners of the city with music.

Sofa Salon is designed to be a simple hosting experience. Guests arrive from 19:30, music is usually finished by 22:00 and the night is wrapped up by 23:00. If your room is big enough to fit 30-40 people sitting on chairs or on the floor, I can provide acoustic music, drinks and a wonderful relaxed atmosphere with the lovely salonnières that you know from coming to the shows. You’re welcome to invite your own family and friends. I’ll help set up and clean up.

Please email me back if you want to discuss becoming a Sofa Salon host.

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Samstag 24. Juni – Sofa Salon #72: Tim McMillan (AU) + Jac Amidy (AU)
Berlin-based Australian Tim McMillan’s been on my radar for years. A phenomenal guitarist, he writes complex and beautiful modern folk songs that remind me of Midlake or Nick Drake and performs with violinist Rachel Snow. When I hosted and he played the Australian Embassy’s Australia Day event a few years ago, I got to watch him up close and offered him a Salon on the spot. Finally, the date has come along!
Video: Spiders (song)

Jac Amidy is a mainstay of the Australian music scene, releasing albums since her big break as singer/bassplayer of legendary cabaret troupe, The Castanet Club. She’s a gifted singer, guitarist and songwriter. We’re in for a very personal, idiosyncratic treat.

Einlass 19:00. Eintritt 8€. Musik ab 20:15. Reservierungen per E-Mail. Please reply to this email or email berlinsofasalon@googlemail.com to reserve your places. I already have reservations, so don’t wait!
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1886222238321030/

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Future Sofa Salons
Saturday Oktober 28 – Sun Tailor (ISR) + Melanie Horsnell (AU)

Kind Regards,
Sam

Sofa Salon Lineups 2014

Tags

2014, Berlin, Cera Impala, Fredrik Kinbom, house concert, Il Tempo Gigante, lineups, Lisa Richards, live music, Mélissa Laveaux, musicians, My baby Will, Odi, Sofa Salon, Svavur Knutur, Vincent Long, when, Zoe Boekbinder

Hallo zusammen,

We had a really great Sofa Salon last Saturday night at K98, a wonderful house project. The space is much bigger than previous Sofa Salon wohnzimmer but will definitely work for the right musicians. Iris Romen’s enchanting country-jazz and Big Daddy Mugglestone’s situationist gospel preaching were two opposing sides of the Americana tradition and made for an exciting evening. Plenty of happy faces. I stayed until 06:00 and now know that shots of Berliner Luft are a seriously minty bad idea.
I’ve been booking for future Sofa Salons and we’ve got some wonderful lineups coming together.
Email me (berlinsofasalon [aet] googlemail.com) for reservations.

Friday 7 February: Vincent Long (Ber) + My Baby Will (Ber)
For Sofa Salon #53, Berlin troubadour Vincent Long manages to be funny, sweet and somehow sultry all together in one tall, literate indie-folk parcel. Vincent put in wonderful sets at various events over Berlin in the last year like Melodica Festival and Everyone Is From Somewhere. When our hostess saw Vincent at Melodica Acoustic Festival Berlin, she asked if she could host Vincent for Sofa Salon. Done. Support comes from inventive Italian in Berlin Monica Cipollone a.k.a. My Baby Will.
Eintritt 8€. Einlass 19:00. Bring friends. This one is behind the Bergmannstr in Kreuzberg.
https://www.facebook.com/events/199601670247416

Friday 14 March: Odi (IE) + Fredrik Kinbom (SE)
#54 features rootsy Irish indie pop singer-songwriter duo Odi + Swedish lap-steel musician Fredrik Kinbom. Odi’s quavering, emotional voice and emotive music was one of the lovely surprises that sometimes pop up in the Sofa Salon inbox. Fredrik Kinbom stepped in last-minute to support The Re-Mains at Sofa Salon last year and sounded so lovely (I’m a terrible sucker for good slide/steel guitar) that I have found him another show. People have already reserved places for this show, so get in quick.
Website: Odi
Website: Fred Kinbom

Friday 11. April: Il Tempo Gigante (DK) + Mélissa Laveaux (CA/FR)Sofa Salon #55 features amazing Danish guitarist/songwriter Il Tempo Gigante and talented Candian musician Mélissa Laveaux. I am hugely excited because after I booked Il Tempo Gigante for Berlin Music Week 2012, he suffered an unfortunate accident that stopped him playing for quite some time. It’s a pleasure to have him back on the live scene and doing a show for us. He is supported by remarkable Canadian songstress Mélissa Laveaux who, based in Paris, has been making waves with her very funky acoustic sounds. If you liked Elyas Khan at Sofa Salon, you’ll dig Mélissa.
Website Il Tempo Gigante
Website Mélissa Laveaux

Sunday May 11 – Melanie Horsnell (AU) + Hanna Leess (US)
It’s my birthday and I’m hosting a mini-festival with some hand-picked artists from across the world. Featuring is wonderful Australian musician Melanie Horsnell who will be touring Europe for the release of her most recent album The Cloud Appreciation Society. More on the lineup as I confirm acts.
Website: Melanie Horsnell
Website: Hanna Leess

Friday 13. June – Cera Impala (US) + Zoe Boekbinder (US)
Cera Impala returns to Berlin after having moved to the lovely gothic city of Edinburgh. She is much-loved in Berlin’s roots music scene as a player, writer and bon vivant. It’s a pleasure to have her back at Sofa Salon. Zoe Boekbinder is a roving US singer-songwriter with an apparently ferocious work ethic and a backpack of finely observed songs.
Website: Cera Impala
Website: Zoe Boekbinder

September: Svavur Knutur (IS) + Lisa Richards (AU)

Sofa Salon featured in Slow Travel Berlin

Tags

article, Berlin, Europe, Germany, house concert, Kate Seabrook, music, performing, Sam Wareing, Simon Morrison, slow travel, Slow Travel Berlin, Sofa Salon

Oh, that’s nice news to wake up to. Saloniers, our house concert series has been featured in excellent philosophical travel guide Slow Travel Berlin!

Simon Morrison wrote (and played) about the Sofa Salon concept and interviewed me. Kate Seabrook showed some of the fantastic pictures she’s taken over the last two years of Sofa Salon.

If you’re new to Sofa Salon, you can send me an email below and join the mailing list.

Wasp Summer and Eric Eckhart perform at Sofa Salon HQ in Moabit with Lena Tjader on backup vocals.

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Sofa Salon at Berlin Music Week

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Ben Salter, Berlin, Berlin Music Week, Elyas Khan, festival, First We Take Berlin, house concert, Kreuzberg, MELT!, MELT! Booking, Miranda Gjerstad, private, reservation, Sam Wareing, September 2013, September 4, September 5, showcase, singer-songwriter, Sofa Salon, Sweet Jean

UPDATE: We are nearly booked out. E-mail for the last available places for Sofa Salon/First We Take Berlin/Berlin Music Week.

First We Take Berlin and A Headful of Bees Presents
Sofa Salon for Berlin Music Week

Sofa Salon is again delighted to host two showcases for Berlin Music Week. This year, MELT! Booking is running the First We Take Berlin showcase program and I’ve assembled four of the most interesting and world class singer-songwriter acts from around the world.

Guests need to email berlinsofasalon [aet] googlemail.com to reserve their place and get the address. Guests with a First We Take Berlin pass will have free entry. As usual, Sofa Salon guests pay 8€ for the highest quality live and intimate music experience.

Here’s the lineup. Here’s the Fb event for those of you so inclined.

MITTWOCH 4. SEPTEMBER SWEET JEAN (AU) + MIRANDA GJERSTAD (SE)
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SWEET JEAN is Sime Nugent and Alice Keath. Since forming in late 2010, Sweet Jean have built a reputation for their evocative songwriting, razor-sharp harmonies, and stirring live performances. The AU Review said Sweet Jean “can break your heart one minute and mend it the next. The duo has a natural ability to transport their audience to the heart of their songs.” Sweet Jean’s debut album Dear Departure was released on July 4 2013.
WEB: http://sweetjeanmusic.com/

MIRANDA GJERSTAD
At the age of 16, Miranda Gjerstad started to make a name for herself in the Swedish music scene. After moving to Berlin in 2009, she began a long term collaboration with Berliner epic indie rock duo Lonski & Classen and released the single Danger in November 2012. With her pumporgan, a powerful voice, direct songwriting and cabaret-inspired performances she has been seen playing at parties in the dark woods, in rock clubs and theaters, wearing glittering clown costumes and feathers.
WEB: http://mirandamiranda.bandcamp.com/

DONNERSTAG 5. SEPTEMBER BEN SALTER (AU) + ELYAS KHAN (UK)
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BEN SALTER rose to acclaim as an incredibly prolific songwriter and collaborator in two very different Brisbane bands, the punk rock Giants of Science and Country Rock supergroup The Gin Club. His clever lyrics span history, human frailty and good times sung in an honest and authentic Australian urban voice. His debut solo album The Cat was co-produced with another great Australian songewriter, Gareth Liddiard of The Drones. This is his second long tour of Europe.
WEB: http://www.bensalter.com.au/

ELYAS KHAN is a creative powerhouse who mixes the gorgeous Quuali-inspired singing of his Pakistani-British heritage with the acid guitar and art-synth processing of his NYC years.
Now based in Berlin with his fourth album to be released in France and Germany in 2013, his incredible musical freedom makes for an intense, ecstatic live experience.
WEB: www.elyaskhan.com

Do: host your own house concert

Tags

Berlin, community, community-building, Couchsurfing, Croxton Records, DIT, DIY, DO, earning a living, Europe, food, friends, GOOD, house concert, How Do?, intimacy, Konzert, live music, Mick Thomas, musician, new ideas, potluck, sharing, Sofa Salon, Suzanna Espie, touring, wine, Wohnzimmer

Around 2007, legendary Australian songwriter Mick Thomas told me a story about one of the artists on his Croxton Records label, the great soul-country singer Suzannah Espie. She had booked two gigs a week apart in Perth, some 3,400km away from her home in Melbourne. The cost of two return airfares was prohibitively high, some AUD$600. Suzannah rang the venues and anyone she knew in South-West Australia and asked if they could help her find some fill-in gigs to get her through the week. What she found was a handful of willing hosts who offered to put her up, feed her and invite their friends around and pass the hat if she’d play a concert.

Copyright Kate Seabrook 2012

After permanently relocating to Berlin in 2009, and remembering Suzannah’s story, I started my own monthly Berlin house concert series called Sofa Salon and started touring Europe as a solo musician under the name Wasp Summer. Over two years, my planning preferenced house concerts, filling in with some club gigs rather than using house shows as convenient, short-lead-time fill-ins for a club show tour.

Most of my touring is organised through the various Couchsurfing.org forums devoted to house concerts. Most of the Sofa Salon artists come from personal recommendations, email requests and acts that I see or hear of personally.

Copyright Jordane Chaillou 2012

I love hosting, watching and playing house concerts for the same reasons that I like dinner parties more than nightclubs – intimacy, connection, attention. It’s one of the great pleasures of my life in Berlin to sit in front of great singer-songwriters and hear them in company but with few distractions. The audience necessarily offers a higher level of attention which encourages the performer to offer greater intimacy and honesty no matter their style. It can be confronting for first-time guests and performers alike but most participants come away beaming. A large part of the audience for Sofa Salon comes from repeat visitors and word-of-mouth guests.

Copyright Orange ‘Ear

As hostess, guest and performer, I’ve discovered there are as many different ways to host a house concert as people to host them. I’ve played house shows in France, Germany, Australia and Spain – all with different policies on inviting guests, raising money for the artist, food, drink.

There are some general underlying principles to hosting a house concert.

1. Your musician should be paid.
Some hosts will never charge an entry fee on principle, but will pass the hat for the musician. The risk is that your guests won’t be generous. One night, I made 20€ after travelling 6 hours and playing for 1 1/2 hours. O the next your, I made 240€ from the hat and CD sales. Some, like myself, set an entry fee to guarantee a base level of income. I aim for 100€ per artist but I can guarantee at least 30 people at every Sofa Salon. Some hosts set a ‘suggested donation’ of 5-20€. Some artists with a bigger profile ask for a set fee and ask the host to arrange to cover it. As you like.

2. Offer dinner, drinks, accommodation
I always offer a bottle of wine and dinner for my artists as part of the deal. On tour, I am nearly always offered accommodation as part of the deal. Frequently, I am picked up from the train station. This makes touring much more cost efficient for the musician and is greatly appreciated.

3. Bring an audience.
There are various ways to arrange this. Some hosts like to make their events open to the public. Some only invite personal friends. Some find guests through facebook or couchsurfing events. With Sofa Salon, I have created a Berlin-wide network of hosts and, to protect their security, I only accept reservations by email and only send the address a day prior to the show to people who have reserved. It also gives me new names for my Sofa Salon email list which runs to over 1000 people after 2 1/2 years of shows.

Other variations on the hospitality theme include running a cash bar with cheap drinks or allowing the guests to BYO, making food to share or asking guests to bring food for a potluck dinner and hosting outdoors in the Summertime.

Why should you DO a house concert? If you love music, you can have it as a living intimate part of you life, witnessing excellent performance up close. You can gather your friends and community together for a heart-opening experience of sharing. You can offer practical and material support to touring musicians. There’s no reason why this could not be extended to film, dance, activist talks, educational nights, slide nights with visual artists. It’s an open-source, open-ended, community-building activity and it’s the best thing I ever created.

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.

Sofa Salon #33 Wrap Up August 2012

Tags

Berlin, folk, folk rock, house concert, james cruickshank, Konzert, review, singer-songwriter, Sofa Salon, Wohnzimmer

Dearhearts,

I write to you with the melting head of the profoundly hungover, but what an amazing night last night was.

Ned Collette, Mark Geary and Ben Salter offered three very different but complimentary approaches to the solo singer-songwriter format, three different lyrical takes on the world and three compelling performances in the glorious surrounds of Ned, Amy and Paul’s Schöneberg apartment. Thanks to them, and neighbours Sascha and Mirjam for the Pommes Frites, children and positivity.

It was a warm evening and around 65 people spread out across the living room and the Peter Falk Memorial Bar and Smoking Balcony. As always at Sofa Salon, guests end up making new connections or often find that people they know have also turned up to enjoy the vibe, the cold Schultheiss and the great music. It was a large Salon and also a longish one, but people were relaxed, offered their attention and left happy.

Quote of the night went to Mark Geary, explaining to James Cruickshank how the general public sees musicians, “Is that a real song or something you wrote?”

Highlights included German actor and Pommes Frites mogul Sascha Gersak recreating his vocal on Ned’s excellent ‘Long You Lie’, Mark Geary instigating an audience singalong in the dark and Ben Salter’s rich, emotional singing and self-deprecating stories. Also, the look of joy on Ben’s face after his set knowing that he’d just won the entire audience. This, my friends, is what Sofa Salon is made of.

Afterwards, an amenable posse went to that excellent Schöneberg kneipe Resonanz to sustain the mood and have chat with Berlin’s best barkeep. Several friends dropped in late to say hi. The Big Friendly Giant and I left around 4:00 and finished off the night with an early swim at an almost-deserted Plötzensee.

Cheers,

Sam

Please view these videos from Sofa Salon’s three August musicians:

Ben Salter – The Coward

Ned Collette – Long You Lie

Mark Geary – Volunteer

Migration

Tags

alt.country, Berlin, curated, Deutschland, Dichter, electronica, folk, folk rock, Germany, house concert, Konzert, live music, monthly, poet, poetry, pop, rock, Serie, singer-songwriter, Sofa Salon, spoken word, Wohnzimmer

Hello Dearhearts. I’m migrating the website for Berlin Sofa Salon house concerts from blogger to wordpress, in order to make my life and blogging easier.