THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019 // 7
SOUNDS
OF HOME
AND THE
ROAD
Swedish singer, songwriter
performs in Cannon Beach
By KATHERINE LACAZE
FOR COAST WEEKEND
W
hen Swedish singer and song-
writer Sofi a Talvik began tak-
ing her music on the road eight
years ago, her long tours of the United States
and other countries sparked musings about
home, as both a tangible place and an idea.
“Because of all the touring, I started think-
ing more about home and where is home,”
Talvik said. “When you grow older, you can
appreciate it more. You can see the beauty
that was lost on a teenager.”
As Talvik prepares to bring her Amer-
icana folk-fl avored music to the Cannon
Beach History Center and Museum on Thurs-
day, June 13, as part of her 2019 World Tour,
guests can anticipate joining her on a remi-
niscent journey of her small hometown island
off the Swedish west coast and her experi-
ences being on the road.
As a soloist, Talvik seeks opportunities
to play at smaller, more intimate venues that
incorporate “that ’70s coffee-house feel” and
where she can make genuine connections
with the audience.
Liz Johnson, the Cannon Beach Muse-
Swedish singer and songwriter Sofi a Talvik makes a
stop in Cannon Beach Thursday, June 13, on her World
Tour and will sing from her new album “Paws of a Bear.”
Photo courtesy Jonas Westin
um’s outreach coordinator, said
they look forward to hosting
Talvik. The museum works to
create programs that are “differ-
ent from what else is going on
around town,” Johnson said, and
also seek quality musicians that
will appeal to a wide age group.
Bittersweet memories are
also encapsulated in her single
“Take Me Home,” which made
the Top 10 Folk Radio Charts
when it was released in the U.S.
in April.
Makaki Music
Talvik learned to play piano
Sofi a Talvik performs during her youth. As a teenager,
at 7 p.m. Thursday, she began writing songs to help
Infl uence of home
June 13, at the Cannon teach herself how to play guitar.
Beach History Center
Talvik remembers being a
She put together a demo tape
and Museum.
teenager in a small, coastal town
that was played by a local radio
feeling restless and longing for
station, sparking her venture into
excitement.
music as a profession.
She and her friends would hop on the
Talvik organized a backing band in Swe-
car ferry that traveled from the island to the
den and produced her fi rst album, “Blue
mainland and knock on the side of car doors
Moon,” in 2005. She started a record label
to hitch a ride into the city.
with her husband Jonas Westin in 2006
Visiting as an adult, she views it as a treat
and began touring as a soloist at home and
to return to a place that feels familiar and
abroad.
safe, but as “a restless soul,” she wouldn’t
In 2011, she and Westin headed to the
want to move back permanently, she said.
states on a two-year visa. They were on the
“If I’m at home for too long, I appreciate
road a year and a half, traveling in a 1989
having all the different impressions I get from
Winnebago Warrior.
going to different countries,” she added. “It’s
“In the beginning, we had no idea what
the contrast, I guess, that I like.”
we were doing,” she said. “We played any-
Talvik’s sixth full-length album, “Big
thing we could fi nd.”
Sky Country,” released in 2015, was heav-
Touring and new music
ily inspired by her experiences on the road
Now, she consistently spends six months
and how it infl uenced her perspective of her
each year in Europe and six months in the
hometown, causing her to refl ect on it with
“different eyes,” she said.
United States.
IF YOU GO
What: Sofi a Talvik Folk Concert
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, June 13
Where: Cannon Beach History Center
and Museum, 1387 S Spruce St.
Details: $15. Tickets can be purchased
online at cbhistory.org/product-category/
concert-tickets or by calling 503-436-9301.
She has played concerts in large cities, like
Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City.
Although she has produced sev-
eral albums and been on multiple tours,
the experience is still both exciting and
nerve-wracking.
“It’s really like magic to see [the albums]
come to life with instruments,” she said.
“But then of course you always kind of sec-
ond-guess yourself and question everything.
It kind of goes into different stages.”
The studio album she is releasing this
year, “Paws of a Bear,” has taken “quite a
bit of time to produce,” she said, adding in
between writing songs, she let them “rest
for a little bit” before reviewing and revis-
ing them.
“Once it’s out there, it’s just out there, and
then hopefully you’ll be really proud of it,”
she said. CW