Oh, those amazing Söderberg Sisters! Summer 2012 videos & audio of "First Aid Kit" show Klara and Johanna's amazing talent is only growing -in perfect harmony; Stockholm audio and Paris video proves they're the real deal; #FirstAidKitBand

First Aid Kit (Klara Söderberg & Johanna Söderberg) - "Blues Run The Game" (LIVE). From the studios of Sveriges Radio, Stockholm, Sweden, July 8, 2012.  
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2071&artikel=5127784

First Aid Kit's Klara and Johanna Söderberg went to the Stockholm studios of P1 at Sveriges Radio on Sunday afternoon and over 90 minutes, discussed many things, including their experiences in the U.S., having recorded their newest album, The Lion's Roar, in Omaha and toured extensively to rapturous crowds. They also play D.J. and feature some of the songs they've been influenced by and which they like. The audiotape of them near the beginning as very young kids is quite amusing! 
Related information and their music play list at 

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2071&artikel=5127784

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/play.aspx?ljud=4027457

Because it's in Swedish, you might not understand everything you hear, but trust me, the music speaks for itself.

Back on June 22nd the sisters met BBC Radio 6's Lauren Laverne and did a LIVE session and it became a must-listen, with sweet harmonies soon flowing, including Blue and Emmylou.

Last week Johanna and Klara were in Paris and were recorded singing The Lion's Roar while walking around before performing later that night at The Olympia.


lehibooparis video: First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar | HibOO d'Live. July 3, 2012.
http://youtu.be/vpTprH6jPXE

I last wrote about the Söderberg sisters on June 21st in my post titled, First Aid Kit's newest song -"Blue"- is full of haunting nuance and the video is positively beautiful, featuring actress Ewa Fröling; #FirstAidKitBand
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/first-aid-kits-newest-song-blue-is-full.html

First Aid Kit video: First Aid Kit - Blue - June 19, 2012. http://youtu.be/IL-sm1rEtiU

My first blog post about the ridiculously-talented Söderberg sisters and their amazing sound was right before Thanksgiving, in a November 19, 2011 post titled, What's that beautiful sound coming from the woods? Sweet harmony! First Aid Kit - "The Lion's Roar"; Wow!

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/whats-that-beautiful-sound-coming-from.html

------
http://thisisfirstaidkit.com/

http://www.wichita-recordings.com/artists/first-aid-kit/

First Aid Kit's official YouTube Channel is at: http://www.youtube.com/user/jagadambarecords

First Aid Kit tour schedule 

Their Twitter page is twitter.com/firstaidkitband

Album available at Amazon.com at: 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Lions-Roar/dp/B006IVS8CM/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_1

Other First Aid Kit merch there:

http://www.amazon.com/First-Aid-Kit/e/B001LGYQBG/digital/ref=ntt_mp3_rdr?_encoding=UTF8&sn=d

First Aid Kit's newest song -"Blue"- is full of haunting nuance and the video is positively beautiful, featuring actress Ewa Fröling; #FirstAidKitBand

First Aid Kit video: First Aid Kit - Blue - June 19, 2012. http://youtu.be/IL-sm1rEtiU

First Aid Kit's newest song -"Blue"- is full of haunting nuance and the video is positively beautiful, featuring actress Ewa Fröling; #FirstAidKitBand

Favorites of the blog, Johanna and Klara Söderberg are back with their third song from their album "The"Lion's Roar" and their very interesting video for "Blue" is as beautiful as it is haunting, a real credit to director Daniel Wirtberg.
You need to pay close attention to detail as you search for more clues of what it all means.


My last blog post about the ridiculously-talented Söderberg sisters and their amazing sound was right before Thanksgiving, in a November 19, 2011 post titled, What's that beautiful sound coming from the woods? Sweet harmony! First Aid Kit - "The Lion's Roar"; Wow!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/whats-that-beautiful-sound-coming-from.html


In that post almost seven months ago, I looked at their tour schedule and lamented that the schedule, STILL with no performances at all in Florida, only served to confirm what we've suspected since we were growing-up down here, and the City of Miami refused to allow concerts at Orange Bowl, which is why Bob Seger and Fleetwood Mac were forced to perform in the Miami Baseball Stadium-cum-mudpit: Must we always be orphans down here, reduced to only watching YouTube videos of genuine new talent?

In case you've forgotten, in Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander, winner of the 1984 Oscar for Best Foreign Language film, Ewa Fröling played the widowed mother who learned to her regret that her poor taste in men could have VERY NEGATIVE consequences for both her and her two children.

I first saw it in 1983 at the old Plitt Theatre in the-then Turnberry area of NMB, just east of where Loehman's Plaza is now in Aventura, off Biscayne Blvd. 

(A small bookstore that's no longer there is where I bought my first Swedish dictionary while still in high school at NMB.)

As it happens, I watched this great film again about two months ago, which is why her name was right on the tip of my tongue.



poulinemouritzen video: Ingmar Bergman's "Fanny and Alexander" (1982 release in Sweden, 1983 in U.S.) http://youtu.be/7uO0FNlSrik

My translation on its significance for Hallandale Beach citizens: 
When your city government doesn't seem to know the difference between the truth and a lie, why do they keep lying instead of keep telling the truth? 
To gain an advantage...

Album available at Amazon.com at: 
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lions-Roar/dp/B006IVS8CM/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_1

Other First Aid Kit merch there:
http://www.amazon.com/First-Aid-Kit/e/B001LGYQBG/digital/ref=ntt_mp3_rdr?_encoding=UTF8&sn=d

http://thisisfirstaidkit.com/

http://www.wichita-recordings.com/artists/first-aid-kit/

First Aid Kit's official YouTube Channel is at: http://www.youtube.com/user/jagadambarecords

http://www.ewafroling.com/

The Söderberg sisters come to the rescue of our Summer boredom! "First Aid Kit" performs 'Emmylou' LIVE at 2013 Glastonbury Festival (HD); Dancing Barefoot; Paul Krugman finally "gets" @FirstAidKitBand and promptly falls for them -hard!

2Shaymcn YouTube Channel video: First Aid Kit Emmylou Live Glastonbury 2013 ) HD
Uploaded July 6, 2013. http://youtu.be/mX62R9TOQ5M
More heavenly harmonies from Sweden's Klara and Johanna Söderberg.

I've waited a few days in posting this because there were so many legal problems associated with the BBC's telecast of this performance that the videos were being pulled and yanked off of YouTube almost as quickly as they were being uploaded.
Frankly, I didn't want to have to play a game of 'Musical Chairs' again -get it- and constantly need to be double-checking this post and replacing one embed code for another as various versions get yanked like falling dominoes. 

Me, I prefer that when I place a video here on the blog -unless it's something from SVT or TV4.se that tells you upfront that it'll only be available for viewing for a finite period of time- that the video stays put and doesn't migrate somewhere.

Klara and Johanna even posted a non-BBC version via their twitter feed and it got pulled down, too. In fact, here's that tweet from Monday:

For those unable to watch the BBC video of our "Emmylou" performance at Glastonbury, here is a YouTube link: http://t.co/A8xxXTZxWQ
— First Aid Kit (@FirstAidKitBand) July 1, 2013

But patience pays off for you the faithful blog reader, even though you didn't know what was going on behind the scenes, as blog YouTube fave 2Shaymcn, ace Abba and Swedish and British music lover and chronicler, one of the first people I ever subscribed to when I got my YouTube account years ago, has come to the rescue once again, via the vid up top.
http://www.youtube.com/user/2Shaymcn

NME discusses their playlist on the last day of the English music festival here: 
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/musik/rockbjornen/article17051318.ab

I noticed right before watching "Key Largo" for the millionth time on Turner Classic Movies on Saturday night that liberal economist and N.Y. Times columnist Paul Krugman mentioned in a new post that he has officially and finally fallen for Klara and Johanna, finally "gets" them, after hearing their cover of Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot "at the 2011 Polar Music Prize award telecast honoring her and Kronos Quartet.   
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/friday-night-music-first-aid-kit-covers-patti-smith/

Friday Night Music: First Aid Kit Covers Patti Smith http://t.co/da3CZ3IOQ9
— Paul Krugman (@NYTimeskrugman) July 5, 2013

i love that i still see dozens of tweets every day from people discovering @firstaidkitband for the 1st time.they all basically say "OMG!"
— wichitarecs (@wichitarecs) May 8, 2013

You can watch a video of the whole ceremony here: http://youtu.be/AdwHCS9cvT8

Here's another video of them performing "Emmylou" LIVE in Nashville that I'd meant to post here before I left for Stockholm in January.
It was done for MTV USA's The Big and Best of 2012. Uploaded December 12, 2012

Get More: 

http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/864878/first-aid-kit-performs-emmylou-on-concrete-country.jhtml#artist=3022027

My last four blog posts about First Aid Kit are here:
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search?q=First+Aid+Kit

The official music video for Emmylou 

First Aid Kit - Emmylou
http://youtu.be/PC57z-oDPLs

What's that beautiful sound coming from the woods? Sweet harmony! First Aid Kit - "The Lion's Roar"; Wow!

First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar. November 1, 2011. Directed by Mats Udd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=cl5FdvRR4pQ

Så grymt!

There's just no substitute for genuine talent and harmony!

The Lion's Roar is the title track to Johanna and Klara Söderberg's second album, a new 10-track effort that was recorded in Omaha, and which will be officially released on January 24th, whatever 'officially' means these days.

First Aid Kit "The Lion's Roar" Trailer, September 2011.

http://youtu.be/IqK1G_VxKvA

First Aid Kit "Ghost Town" sing-along at Mercury Lounge from hoovesontheturf (sarahana) on Vimeo.

First Aid Kit -Ghost Town (Acoustic, LIVE) at The Mercury Lounge, New York City, November 16, 2011

http://vimeo.com/32283630

The "Hat Tip" for today goes to Sveriges Television's (SVT) PSL blog, who fortuitously for me, posted this video of "Ghost Town" along with some notes first this this morning, Stockholm-time.

When I stopped by SVT's website this morning shortly after I woke-up, as I often do, there it was just waiting for me on a silver platter, as if they'd been reading my mind: Tack!

http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2011/11/18/titta-first-aid-kit-ghost-town/

http://blogg.svt.se/psl/

Today at their official website, http://thisisfirstaidkit.com/ Klara and Johanna announced some March & April dates and locales for their 2012 North American Tour.

So far, naturally, they have nothing at all planned in Florida, because we are, in 2011 -STILL- terra incognita.

As of today, the closest venue they'll be performing for that effort is at The Black Cat in D.C. on March 30th. http://www.blackcatdc.com/

Hopefully, that will change over the next few weeks and somebody in a position to do so in Gainesville, Tallahassee, Orlando, Tampa and and yes, maybe even Miami or Ft. Lauderdale, will get off their ass and get moving and make that show a reality.

Must we always be orphans down here, reduced to only watching YouTube videos of genuine new talent?

They have three dates left in the U.S. touring with Lykke Li promoting her Wounded Rhymes album, before returning to Sweden, and then hitting Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands and then, next year, Australia.

Australia is gonna love them!

Lykke Li - Unchained Melody (The Righteous Brothers Cover) by LykkeLi

To hear Lykke Li's amazing cover of The Righteous Brothers "Unchained Melody"

performed LIVE for triple j Radio in Australia in October, click and take a listen

http://soundcloud.com/lykkeli/lykke-li-unchained-melody-the

Lykke Li - Silent My Song (LIVE), CBS-TV's The Late Show with David Letterman, November 16, 2011.

http://youtu.be/ksyoqJj69yY

That's the Sisters Söderberg backing-up. I didn't see this myself until last night.

If you are a regular reader of the blog and have a good memory, the name Mats Udd, the director of The Lion's Roar video, may ring familiar.

Udd was also the talented director behind the video for Roxette's catchy "She's Got Nothing On (But The Radio)" single from their comeback album Charm School, which I featured in a blog post back on January 15th of this year titled, Look who's back to rock some more? Marie & Per! Roxette - She's Got Nothing On (But The Radio); The Look (LIVE) -Stockholm, 2010.

That blog post also included a few noteworthy videos, including their performance of "The Look" for Crown Princess Victoria and her-then fiancé Daniel Westling, backed by the Swedish Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the music gala the night before the Royal Wedding last summer.

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/look-whos-back-to-rock-some-more-marie.html

Roxette - She's Got Nothing On (But The Radio)

http://youtu.be/f1N-Gf0Fbcg

-----

The official YouTube Channel for First Aid Kit is at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/jagadambarecords

Their Facebook page is at:

http://www.facebook.com/firstaidkitofficial

http://www.facebook.com/firstaidkitofficial?sk=app_178091127385

Lykke Li's official website is at http://lykkeli.com/

See more Mats Udd videos at http://vimeo.com/matsudd

Roxett's official website -and in English- is at: http://www.roxette.se/

Roxette's Vevo Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/RoxetteVEVO

triple j Radio http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/

Meanwhile at Coachella 2012, where the fashionable people frolic & network, Far from the Madding Crowd of South Florida...; see 'Swedish House Mafia' perform LIVE online Saturday at 3:25 a.m. Eastern, 'First Aid Kit' at 5:15 p.m. Eastern on Sunday

First Aid Kit - Emmylou
http://youtu.be/PC57z-oDPLs


Meanwhile at Coachella 2012, where the fashionable people frolic and network, Far from the Madding Crowd of South Florida...; see 'Swedish House Mafia' perform LIVE online Saturday at 3:25 a.m. Eastern, 'First Aid Kit' at 5:15 p.m. Eastern on Sunday





Swedish House Mafia - Greyhound. 
http://youtu.be/PDboaDrHGbA


See the entire lineup and schedule at http://www.youtube.com/coachella and a preview of the festival at: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/coachella/ if you forgot what I wrote about them here previously, see this primer on the sisters Söderberg:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2012/04/coachella-2012-sweden-first-aid-kit-american-roots-music.html

Yes, it's a day at the races here at the blog!





Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)  -Pod Race (Re-edit)
http://youtu.be/sieeyRKGqpY


As you can see, on Tatooine, unlike South Florida, it's a dry heat.
Just like Coachella.
Less believably, a hot princess like Princess Amidala of Naboo walks amongst the hoi-polloi and attends their amusing pod races and nobody- but-nobody bats an eye at her.
On what planet? 
-----
#CoachellaLive 


http://www.youtube.com/artist/Swedish_House_Mafia

Avicii vs. Timoteij remix of "Wake Me Up" & "Kom" = "Kom Me Up," done by Mr. Sjökexet, is amazing! Trending and then some at Hallandale Beach Blog! Completely crazy as an idea, but brilliant and dynamite as reality with Aloe Blacc's amazing voice; #Aviciioncapital, @Timoteij, @ceciliakallin, @bodilbergstrom, @elinathorsell, @johannatimoteij

MrSjokexet YouTube Channel video: Avicii Vs Timoteij - Kom me up (Sjökexetmix) 

Uploaded September 19, 2013. http://youtu.be/VFhABtdzAiI

Melodies (melodiernas)? Oh, yes! In spades!

Sounds completely crazy as an idea, this mixing of Country House and schlager, but brilliant and dynamite as a reality, as heard on Sveriges Radio's P3 Stockholm last Thursday. 

Three different people in Sweden I'd never heard from before, separately emailed me this link and their comments since last week, which is very odd to say the least.

One person I can see, maybe even two, but three different people writing me about the same thing that I hadn't already heard about?
Now THAT'S unusual.

And then, of course, adorable Cecilia Kallin, long one of our personal favorites here at the blog, the lead singer and guitarist of Timoteij referenced it on her very popular
Webstagram feed last Friday just minutes after the song aired.

http://web.stagram.com/p/548994119608663496_229925862/

To me, she seemed, in general, like everyone else -astonished that such a creative Mashup even was contemplated and created, as much as pleased by the wonderful reaction it was receiving, since it definitely  caused a buzz throughout Sweden in certain circles.
All to the good I think as far as creativity goes!

In any case, as crazy and unlikely as it sounds, I think I may've actually first heard about this song -via email- before one of the most well-informed and well-connected people in the world of music in Scandinavia and schlager, Karl Batterbee at Scandipop,
http://www.scandipop.co.uk/ 

https://twitter.com/scandipop/status/381113539009970177

Well if this is what the next decade is gonna sound like, sign me up! Timoteij vs Avicii: 'Kom Me Up' RT @MilkySteve: http://t.co/a0d43vdcny
— scandipop (@scandipop) September 20, 2013

He was smart enough to write about it right away, while I've just been sitting on it, trying to think of a good and logical hook for the readers who come to the blog who would might have no idea who or what I was talking about. 

But then maybe I'm over-thinking it, since that never stopped me before.

Here's the original version of both songs, in case you forget what's been changed... 

AviciiOfficialVEVO video: Wake Me Up (Official Video) by Avicii. Uploaded July 29, 2013. http://youtu.be/IcrbM1l_BoI

Wescertine YouTube Channel video:Timoteij - Kom (Melodifestivalen 2010).  

Uploaded February 27, 2010. http://youtu.be/ASRry6HQ54w

In case you've forgotten the context, the first time you see Timoteij in the Mashup video at the top of today's post, it's the happy moments three years ago when Cecilia Kallin, Elina Thorsell, Bodil Bergström and Johanna Pettersson were waiting anxiously at their tables for the results to be read, and their absolute delight when their name was publicly announced, telling them and the world that they'd advanced to the Finals of the 2010 Melodifestivalen in Stockholm with "Kom," 

Rolling Stone

How Avicii Helped Aloe Blacc Wake Up and Break Out 

Vocalist on smash 'Wake Me Up' chats about his inspirational team-up with the Swedish DJ-producer   

By Patrick Doyle 

August 28, 2013 10:00 AM ET

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/how-avicii-helped-aloe-blacc-wake-up-and-break-out-20130828

If someone in the world can figure out the formula, timing or complementary rhyming scheme to marry the melodies that can make a successful Mashup of Avicci and First Aid Kit, trust me, it will be like Alchemy 2.0, as heads will be exploding all over a few cities and countries I can think of, many of them originating from Country Calling Code 46.

Aftonbladet TV video: Avicii: ”Aldrig meningen att jag skulle göra country” Svenska stjärn-dj:n i intervju om sin nya genre. (Avicii never sensed he'd do Country. Steller Swedish DJ Tim Bergling interviewed about getting into a new genre, Country House.)

September 20, 2013. http://tv.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/noje/musik/article19386.ab

http://www.ultramusicfestival.com/reliveultra

Via my newsdesk subscription I received an interesting press release on Thursday from Universal Music Sweden. 
Well, the long story short, plus what I know and can share with you, is that 24-year old Swedish DJ Tim "Avicii" Bergling has written music history, becoming the first Swedish artist to ever hold the top three spots on the Swedish singles charts, something that neither ABBA or Roxette ever managed to accomplish, though I think it's a bit unfair to compare the pre-digital era with the current one, due to the much-easier system of logistics and distribution that exist now.
All three songs are from his new album, "True, " which is currently number five on the U.S. albums chart.

Those three songs of his that are taking Gold, Silver and Bronze right now in Sweden are:
1.  "Hey Brother"

2.  "Wake Me Up"
3.  "You Make Me"

AVICII SKRIVER HISTORIA – FÖRSTA SVENSKA ARTISTEN NÅGONSIN ATT HÅLLA PLATS 1-3 PÅ SINGELLISTAN SAMTIDIGT 
Pressmeddelande  
2013-09-26 05:35 EDT
http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/universalmusic/pressreleases/avicii-skriver-historia-foersta-svenska-artisten-naagonsin-att-haalla-plats-1-3-paa-singellistan-samtidigt-910292

-----

#Aviciioncapital

Did you miss @Avicii's first show? Well, worry not. Here it is… http://t.co/CrD9SRMXh6 #AviciiOnCapital pic.twitter.com/W6iFDVlr3i
— Gillies & Emily (@GilliesandEmily) September 23, 2013

Avicii Launches Brand New Mix Show On Capital FM - Audio Capital's newest presenter Avicii has launched his brand new 'Levels' mix show.

http://www.capitalfm.com/artists/avicii/news/listen-new-mix-show-september/

I last wrote about Cecilia Kallin in my May 9, 2013 blog post titled, "Smiling Cecilia Kallin! :) Sweet! Nobody but nobody can smile as often when she speaks and with as much appeal as talented and vivacious lead singer and guitarist Cecilia Kallin of Timoteij. She's such a charmer!; #Timoteij, #CeciliaKallin, #BodilBergström, #PontusTidemand, #gopontus"
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/smiling-cecilia-kallin-sweet-nobody-but.html

Programledardebut! http://t.co/jI7N4Dbk0e
— Johanna Pettersson (@JohannaTimoteij) September 20, 2013

The band has been posting much more frequently at their individual Instagram accounts than the official blog at their website, since that generates more immediate reaction, but they are going to try to start posting at the blog more often, so they say... 
@ceciliakallin, @bodilbergstrom, @johannatimoteij, @elinathorsell 
http://www.timoteij.se/category/timoteij/

Plus, there's...
http://statigr.am/tag/ceciliakallin/
http://statigr.am/tag/elinathorsell
http://statigr.am/bodilbergstrom
http://statigr.am/johannatimoteij

On Wednesday you'll be thanking me for introducing you to ANOTHER amazing singer from Sweden: Cecilia Nilsson, a.k.a Cissi or "See See"; Cecilia will sing two songs LIVE on Radio P4 Gavleborg on Friday at 15:30; @CissiNilssonn, @andreasjismark, #inmyroom

Cecilia Nilsson YouTube Channel video: 50 seconds of Cecilia Nilsson singing her first single, "In My Room." Uploaded May 10, 2013. http://youtu.be/0SjBQnl1FNU
Written by Cecilia Nilsson & Andreas Mattsson

Sunday brought some very positive and interesting news from Sweden concerning a Friend of the Blog, Andreas Jismark, 
So good, in fact, that he also shared the news via his Twitter feed, shown below.

The good news concerns a very talented young female singer from Gävle who's part of his talented music stable, and whose first single will officially be released on Wednesday.

To prime the public interest in her, Andreas has teased us, Sweden and the larger world with a clip featuring some of the first single. 
Not too much, lest we get a sugar rush or brain freeze, but just enough to give us a taste and keep us interested in seeing how the story ends on onsdag, Wednesday.
Mañana!

Andreas wrote...

youtube.com/watch?v=0SjBQn…Framtiden är Cissis! På onsdag kommer singeln, här är 50 sekunder!
— Andreas Jismark (@andreasjismark) May 12, 2013

This bit of news follows closely on the heels of the blog post that Andreas had written back on April 29th titled, quite cleverly, Goodbye, See See, Hello Cecilia Nilsson, which detailed some of the very hard work over the past two years that she's put in to make this moment possible.
http://andreasjismark.se/goodbye-see-see-hello-cecilia-nilsson/

Last Fall, some months before I traveled to Stockholm in January and met with Andreas and another great music talent whom he manages, the amazing Anni Bernhard, i.e Full of Keys, whom you'll be hearing more about in the coming days here at the blog, I'd watched this video of Cecilia quite a number of times, since by now you all know how much I love context.
I was looking for clues and hints of things to come.

As it happens, the video is in Swedish, but I still think you'll enjoy it as she speaks about herself and her music interests and desire to write songs that are honest and that will connect with people.

It was recorded mostly at her home in Gävle, a very middle-class Swedish city in the best possible sense of the word, and one that I've written about a few times here in the past, which has not always had the easiest go of things.

Just like growing-up or living in Baltimore or Pittsburgh or Indianapolis makes you a little more in-touch with the rest of the country than would be true in Santa Monica or Bethesda or Brookline, her town is a much-more accurate barometer of daily life in Sweden than many of the sweet upscale neighborhoods in Stockholm that I spent a lot of time in back in January.

Places where money and some degree of influence often helps keep some social problems at bay a little bit longer than it does in Gävle, where you take life as it is.

To me, at least, that means that any songs Cecilia writes and sings will be much more in-tune with the average listener's personal experiences than if she'd been born or raised in Södermalm, and had parents who pushed her around in one of those amazing $800-plus German prams they sell at Nordiska Kompaniet, which I spent some time eye-balling on my last day in Stockholm.

That came after I'd spent time walking at night from my hotel, The Omena in Norrmalm, down to the Royal Palace and then headed back to the hotel via the Kungsträdgården ice skating rink one last time and then the central downtown business district.

NK has an entire area of the store on the 4th Floor not just dedicated to upscale Kids, but to what seemed to be designer baby strollers, complete with a video showing German soccer Moms putting them thru their paces in Frankfurt.

(And do the well-educated Moms ever love to show those prams and their babies off at their nearby coffee shops! Or even the "Social Media" McDonalds I was at.
That is a whole 'nother blog post entirely -upscale Swedish soccer Moms!
They were everywhere! 
Not that I was complaining. )

And, now that it occurs to me, this film was recorded back when Cecilia's hair was much-longer than it currently is, which I know causes her some small distress, something I know about and recognize from having grown-up with two attractive younger sisters with beautiful long hair.


Andreas Jismark YouTube Channel video: See See (Presentation). Uploaded September 5, 2012. http://youtu.be/0syxcoAblN8

Some of Cecilia's hard work and preparation came just a few weeks ago when she spent some time over in Gotland, where Andreas lives, where she rehearsed and even performed at Hammersmith Odeon Visby, which you'll recall is also where Anni/Full of Keys performed, as I mentioned here on the blog at the time.

There was a nice article on Cecilia that appeared in one of the local Gotland papers at the time of her trip and it includes a nice photo of her and the band rehearsing, including Andreas on guitar, which Cecilia also plays.

Stjärnskott i Visby i helgen (Shooting stars in Visby this weekend)
http://www.helagotland.se/nyheter/artikel.aspx?articleid=8210085

One of the quotes I love is where Andreas, a music veteran in all sorts of important ways -as a performer, teacher, promoter, producer and manager- says the following:

– Jag har aldrig stött på en elev som ens är 30-40 procent så bra som Cissi, säger han.

which means that he's never worked with anyone who has even 30-40% of Cissi's natural singing talent and ability, which is really quite something to say for this lover of all things Depeche Mode.

The article headline is a reference to Cecilia being a "shooting star" and encouraging people to come and see her perform now while they can in such an intimate atmosphere, before she hits it big in show biz.

Here's another photo of her and the band rehearsing that same day that's on her Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=151245411721188&set=a.151245378387858.1073741830.149873478525048&type=1&theater
and later at Hammersmith's:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=151245571721172&set=a.151245378387858.1073741830.149873478525048&type=1&theater

I last mentioned Cecilia Nilsson -a.k.a. Cissi or "See See"- in my April 9, 2013 blog post titled, If Miriam Bryant isn't on your musical radar yet, she ought to be ;)  Miriam Bryant - Push Play (Official), Finders Keeper (Official); @MiriamBryant
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/if-miriam-bryant-isnt-on-your-musical.html
wherein I wrote:

Miriam, from Göthenberg, had a gig on Friday in Tranås at Babar, as did another young singing dynamo from Gävle I've been keeping close tabs on by the name of See See -a.k.a. Cissi Nilsson- pictured below, whom I'll be writing about in more detail soon.So much sheer musical talent in Sweden, it's hard to believe sometimes! 

Grymma gig i Tranås igår! #seeseesweden #MiriamBryant twitter.com/andreasjismark…
— Andreas Jismark (@andreasjismark) April 6, 2013

Andreas was actually able to record one of the songs Cecilia performed in Tranås at Babar before Miriam came onstage to perform later, and it's a tune some of you might recognize:


Andreas Jismark YouTube Channel video: Cecilia Nilsson "Never Let You Go" -LIVE at Babar in Tranås, Sweden. April 5, 2013. Uploaded April 6, 2013.
http://youtu.be/xVmsUZCpJqI


Here's a nice newspaper article on Cecilia that ran on Friday in her local newspaper, Arbetarbladet, which has done quite a number of stories on her over the past few years as she's sung and performed at many events all over the area, and developed quite a great reputation with a killer voice:
Hur känns det att släppa en singel? (How do you feel about your first single coming out?)
http://arbetarbladet.se/noje/musik/1.5861796-hur-kanns-det-att-slappa-en-singel-

Friday, Fredag, Friday, Fredag...
For those of you reading this in Sweden -or elsewhere, but who want to check her out via the Internet- Cecilia will be performing two songs LIVE on Sveriges Radio, specifically, Radio P4 Gavleborg, on Friday at 15:30 Swedish Time, which is 9:30 a.m. Eastern U.S./Canada.

Please take a listen to her via http://sverigesradio.se/gavleborg/ and let me know what you think.

But if you miss her, you WILL be able to listen to Cecilia here on the blog at some point soon, because one of the very best things about Sveriges Radio is that they make almost everything they air available online, and best of all, with embeddable code for blogs and websites.

(You longtime readers of the blog will recall that I've posted lots of SR audio material here in the past for Timoteij, Full of Keys, First Aid Kit and other singing artists, as well as various pieces they've done on Melodisfestivalen.)

So, even if you miss her, I'll have her right here where you can take a listen just as soon as it's humanly possible, more than likely, this weekend.

Wednesday morning update:

Cecilia Nilsson - In My Room (Complete Song)

Cecilia Nilsson YouTube Channel: Cecilia Nilsson -In My Room. This is Cecilia's debut single. Uploaded May 13, 2013. http://youtu.be/r3MUHpMTAao

Cissi's new single is available on both iTunes and Spotify.

There's just no substitute for sheer talent!
And when you add a great work ethic to that, the sky is the limit.
-----
More info at: https://www.facebook.com/cecilianilssonofficial
http://instagram.com/cecilianilssonofficial
@CissiNilssonn - https://twitter.com/CissiNilssonn

Andreas Jismark Management 
http://andreasjismark.se
@andreasjismark -https://twitter.com/andreasjismark 
http://www.youtube.com/user/JismarkManagement