Folk singer Sofia Talvik will perform at 8 p.m. on Aug 19 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Tickets for Talvik’s performance are available on the BCT website, and doors will open 30 minutes prior to the show.
Born in Sweden, Talvik’s take on Americana and folk are undoubtedly influenced by her Nordic roots, according to her webpage. Talvik’s acoustic, classic sound – heard in her seven albums – has earned her comparisons to major singer songwriters like Joni Mitchell. The BCT compared Talvik’s performance style to intimate gigs in ‘70s speakeasies or coffee houses on their website.
Talvik, who’s toured across the United States for more than a decade, said that life on the road wasn’t always her plan.
“I thought, ‘If it doesn't work out, I'll just go back home,’” Talvik said, laughing. “What's the worst that can happen?”
After being gifted a guitar for her 18th birthday, Talvik began teaching herself how to play and writing her own songs. After a few years, she began performing in Sweden and put out her debut album, Blue Moon, in 2005.
Talvik performed shows around Sweden and continued to work on music while maintaining her day job as an art director and graphic designer for magazines. Boredom seeped in after 10 years in the design industry, so Talvik said she spoke with her husband about her next steps.
“I wanted to just go on tour full time, but it's not like you can just leave everything and do that,” Talvik said. “And (her husband) said, ‘Why not? Why don't we do that?’ And so I said, ‘Okay,’ And then we both just quit our jobs and went on tour.”
Since then, Talvik and her husband have toured all over the United States in an RV, booking venues around national parks or other beautiful places they wanted to explore.
“The great thing is I get to see so much of the world that not a lot of people get to see,” Talvik said. “If you're from Europe and you come to the US, most people just go to New York or Miami or Los Angeles or something like that. They don't really go and travel the country so much.”
Talvik said she’s thrilled to be touring and traveling again since the COVID-19 pandemic canceled her 2020 tour for her most recent album, Paws of a Bear. One day, Talvik said she’d love to perform at a major venue like Red Rocks. For now, Talvik said she’s excited to book intimate, personal venues like the BCT.
“It's nice to have that intimacy where you can see the audience,” Talvik said. “If you're in a really big venue, it's all black. And maybe you can hear the audience, but you still feel like you're completely alone in the room, it's a weird feeling. I like to see the audience and almost have a conversation with them.”
During her years touring across the United States and Europe, Talvik said she has connected with several people along the way. A friend and fellow musician David Allgood will perform with Talvik for some shows along her tour.
Allgood, former manager of the Bama Theatre in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, started the music series “Acoustic Night” in 2003. The program eventually attracted musical acts from all across the world. Talvik emailed Allgood some of her songs – he thought she was great, so he went on to book her performances at the Bama.
After Allgood posted a Facebook video of him playing bass at a music festival last October, Talvik messaged him and asked him to come along with her on tour.
“I was flattered that she asked me. It's fun, I'm happy to do it. I really think we sound pretty good together. If we didn't, she would get rid of me,” Allgood said, laughing.
Allgood said he’s excited to be working with Talvik, and enjoys touring with her, his wife and Talvik’s husband. To Allgood, Talvik’s down-to-Earth storytelling during her performances is her greatest strength; it creates a sound that Allgood compared to Mitchell, Judy Collins and Buffy Sainte-Marie.
“She honors the history of folk music within her own songs,” Allgood said.
