Wow, what an amazing Urkult experience! Definitely the most fun gig I’ve had, fantastic crowd, they gave us 2 xtra numbers (we took something like 5), and they still wanted more! But we “quit while we were ahead” and enjoyed hanging out (despite the fact that someone stole my iPhone…left it on a table to record the concert – live and learn!).
A highlight of the concert was when at the end of our first encore “set”, an American artist – George Kilby, Jr – hopped up on stage and jammed with us on Love is All, trading solos with the esteemed Mr. Mats Burman, both on guitar. What a burst of energy! We had to give the people some fiddle tunes as an extra encore, complete with Irish ring-dancing!
At breakfast, George asked me and Maria if we wanted to guest on one of his songs, When the People Sang (https://soundcloud.com/mark-pucci/george-kilby-jr-when-the) which is like an ode to the spirit of the 60’s, very appropriate for Urkult, hehe. Being up there with his all-American band was trippy, I felt like I was suddenly just visiting Sweden from abroad, not living here somewhere in-between nationalities…good vibes, anyhoo!
BIG thanks to the band – what musicians!: Fredrik Schützler (oud and flamenco guitar), James Bradley Jr (drums), Marcos Colmenero (bass), Maria Carlman (flute and voice), Mats Burman (acoustic and electric guitars), and Mia Törngren (percussion).
Another highlight from Urkult was hearing and meeting Leah and Chloe Smith from Rising Appalachia (http://www.risingappalachia.com/). I especially like the blending of American folk music with West African drumming – very cool! When I asked if they were going to play in Sthlm before they leave on Thursday, they said no but that they would like to play a house concert, so I called Izzy Young, the man who put on hundreds (probably thousands) of concerts in his legendary Folklore Center in Greenwich Village in the late 50’s/early 60’s and which relocated to Stockholm in the 70’s, now called the Folklore Centrum! http://folklorecentrum.se/ These concerts included the first NYC concerts for none other than Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell, and countless others! So it was a big honor to play there in 2009 and I’m sure Wednesday (tomorrow) night’s concert with Rising Appalachia will be amazing! Oh yeah, it’s all acoustic there, and bring your “axe” (e.g. fiddle) for jamming afterwards!! 7 pm, 80 kr.
Rising Appalachia Folklore Center event: https://www.facebook.com/events/151956431667993/
And the next Diipak concert is at the Fotografiska museum which I’m really looking forward to, on the 29th of this month. It will be the last outdoor concert there this year! So “passa på” as they say here – take advantage of the opportunity and the nice price (FREE)!!
The band for Fotografiska: Chuck Anthony (electric guitar), James Bradley Jr (drums), Magnus Malmros (cello), Marcos Colmenero (bass), Maria Carlman (voice/flute), and Mia Törngren (percussion).
Facebook event for Fotografiska: https://www.facebook.com/events/565434733498970/
Enjoy the last month of summer!!! (or winter, if you live below the equator…)!
Diipak