Home

I am back home.
Came back just over a week ago and have been resting and spending time with Yrsa and Humle.
Tour has been great. Was the longest one for me so far, and I must say I am still quite exhausted. But happy. And that´s the main thing.
I want to thank everyone who has helped me out with shows, accomodation, food, conversation, seightseeing, coffee and clapping their hands after me playing my songs.
As always it has been a pleasure and I feel very fortunate and humble being able to do what I do.

The last couple of weeks of the tour I was really lazy with the blog. I guess it had a lot to do with me being tired. Sorry about that.
Here´s a little recap of what happened the last five days in Germany.
Needless to say Spain was an amazing experience to me. I would like to thank Jose Luis and Pep for setting everything up. Thanks Manel for the little gift going to Barcelona. Thanks Pilar for the olive oil. Yrsa loves it! Of course also thanks to Theo, Elena and James for hooking me up with thge best accomodation ever. I am gonna seriously start training table tennos and continue whipping your ass Theo. Believe it! And thanks to all the lovely spanish people coming out to the shows!

After a long long trip from Barcelona to Berlin I pretty much spend the whole day on the sofa doing nothing. Eating chips and watching tv. Getting really tired by now.

Up to Kiel the next day by train. British soccer fans everywhere. Fulham are gonna get their asses kicked. Brits don´t know that yet though and act as though the war was just over.

Meet up with Johannes who´s just come in from England aswell and play two tired and jetlagged sets.

In Berlin my favorite little family comes and picks me up at the station. We get in the old Audi and head off to lovely little Hans Wurst for a lunch. I have a tofu burger with fries and Joas has a whole barrel full of fun and tries to charm a swedish couple at the next table. Of course with great success!

Over to Björn´s place for some well needed sleep and then I go pick up dear friend Conrad in Neuköln for some good old swedish rock action at NBI where friends of ours were playing on the evening. Funny how you can be on tour for five weeks and still choose to go to a live show on your day off!

Halle the next day. Rain is pouring down the whole day. Meet up with my friend Andi who´s come in from Hannover and have a nice walk and a coffee and talk about stuff. Go to a nice little vegan imbiss and I stuff my face with two excellent tofu burgers.

Show in the evening is strange. Friends from Leipzig and Hannover come over and we have a good time. Then the party takes over and the live sets really get quite ruined by rowdy people. I play three songs and decide to do an acoustic set in an adjoining room. Works out well and I play a few really silly covers. Evening ends with a group of us having a nice little drink at a bar close by. Quiet. Nice. Calm. Social. Everything the show lacked!

Long trip to Aachen. But sun is shining and we see a funny sausage sign. Mood is good.
Arrive in good time and I have a little walk around town. My father is from outside of Aachen and I have never been there. Seems nice although I would have liked to have some more time to spend. Soundcheck is nice and fast and we head up to Waltraut´s flat for some nice food.
The whole evening is amazing. We play two great sets and everyone is great. Mark and Anne come over from Duisburg and we hang out after the show telling funny stories from the past.

Early start the next day to arrive on time at the festival outside of Kassel.
Sets are short and stressed but we meet up with some friends and everything is great. Decide to go to Hamburg already the same day and spend a long time in the car. Dear friend Sabine drives in her old volvo from the festival and we meet up in Hamburg for some food. Johannes goes to bed, but I am reluctant to end the evening. It´s the second to last one of the tour and I want to suck every bit of juice out of this whole experience. The juice ends up being beer. But that was totally expected. That along with us ending up on the Reeperbahn.

Great day the day for the last show. We get up early and head out on the town. Sun is shining and we stop for coffee and food here and there. Spend the whole day in Shanze and I fall asleep in a café and wake up just in time for the soundcheck.
A lot of people show up for the show at Astra Stube and we both play excellent sets. Nice last evening and we go to bed tired and happy.

Back to Sweden and Malmö where we spend the last night at Jonas´ and Helenas place. Eat great thai food and have a few drinks and then early to bed to get a head start in the morning.

That´s about it. I don´t really want to write anymore. Makes me sad thinking it is over. I had a great time. Everyine who´s met me on the way will know this.
I´ll see you soon. If you´re german possibly as soon as in late July. More info about that soon.

Now. Movie. Popcorn. Sleep.

Love ! B




Scanned guitar at train station in Paris.


Cheese, bread and beer at a little restaurant in Paris waiting for the night train to Berlin.


Eating falafel with Saara, Joas and Björn in Berlin.


The monster Johannes Mayer.


The monster trying to decide on what sausage to get. Bockwurst looks very cheap to me!


Promoter Niels and Johannes outside Astra Stube. Last night.


At the tax free shop in Puttgarden. Look at the guy in the back with the beer!


And of course I couldn´t help but getting a "few" cases myself.

Berlin

In Berlin again after a terrible 25 hour train ride. Staying at my dear friend and booker Björn´s house. If you haven´t met him yet, here he is. In all his glory.

Lleida

Hey everyone.

Last few days in Spain have been truly brilliant.
Been staying with Pep who runs the lovely little label American Typewriter for a few days in Lleida and now I´m in Barcelona for a few days. Show tonight and I am really looking forward to playing again
after two days off.






















Mr Pep Gaya. The man with the cash!


Most of the last days have been spent resting. Reading and watching an endless number of Six Feet Under-episodes on my computer. Really just taking it easy eating good and walking alot.

Two days left in Spain and then I´m getting on a train monday morning to go to Berlin for a nice free day with Björn, Saara and Joas. Should be really good!

Talk to you later. B

The sun also rises!

Spanish tour wagon!

















Enrique being very tired on the morning after the show.


















Lovely rice salad in Barcelona!

















Venue in Vic.

















The tree. Look. A tree!

















Playing in Santander.


































Sitting at a desk in the small town Aitona just outside of Lleida in Catalonia, Spain.
Staying with my lovely label guy Pep for the two days off before the show in Lleida on Wednesday.
And I think a few days of rest is just what I need. Already done some laundry and I can´t wait to wake up in the morning and put some clean clothes on again!
Had to swap cd´s for socks in Vic a few days ago, and today I have been walking around in some really strange nylon underpants I bought in a chinese shop in Santander.
Ok. Enough about my dirtyness.

I love Spain! I fucking love it.
Played four shows so far and they´ve all been great and grand.

Drove up to Berlin directly after the show in Wroclaw and slept a few hours at Björn´s and Saara´s place. Then up to catch a train to Barcelona. Seemed to take forever and I got really tired after a while, but still unable to really get some sleep. Arrive in Barcelona early morning and then new train to Murcia which is further down south. Arrive just in time for soundcheck and take a taxi to the venue. Tired.

Meet up with a danish band(forgot the name guys, sorry...) that I am opening up for. Nice young men and we struggle with the classic question if we should talk english or swedish/danish. We ended up doing a bit of everything and playing two great sets. Place unfortunately half empty. Much due to a big champions league game featuring Barcelona. Damn you Zlatan!

Off to the hotel straight after the show for a well deserved shower and a nice soft bed.
Not enough sleep as always, and I am off already around nine the next morning to head to Castellon.

Lovely Enrique meet up at the train station and we go over to his and Delia´s house where the show is taking place in the evening. Meet up with Iwan(please forgive me if I misunderstood your name) and have a lovely walk, stop for potatoes at a Tascas, and eat a good meal at a vegetarian restaurant. Castellon seems to be a nice little town. No traffic in the centre, everyone is just walking around. Sun is heavy and it´s proper summer weather. Great!

Show in the evening is great. I play in the beatiful old house Enrique and Delia live in, a nice little crowd come out and we have a great dinner after the show prepared by lovely Jose Luis. Thanks for everything man!

Off to Vic the next day. Pretty long ride, but I am in an excellent mood and come in pretty early to town. Sit down in a café and order a coffee and a fresh orange juice. Do some work at the computer and then have a walk around town and find the venue.

Great little cave of a place it is. Apperantly some kind of a cow stable from when the city was once founded in the roman era. Amazing place. And nice nice people. Pau and Eduard. Thank you so much! I play a great little set and hang out with an american guy called Michael after the show. Thanks for a great evening. Hope to see you soon again somewhere, somehow.

Breakfast at Pau´s parents house. Starts really bad with me spilling coffee over the entire hallway. I spend my first tiny bit of morning energy cleaning up that mess and cursing myself for pouring coffee in my lighter so I can´t have my morning cigarette. Later, after thinking more closely about this idiotic scenario, I curse my addiction for tobacco. But that´s later. First curse the lighter.

Off to Barcelona to try and figure out how I´m gonna get to Santander for the day after. Have no clue and noone really knows how to get there the best way. I end up buying a one euro map and trying to sort it out best I can. Buy a ticket for Bilbao and hope for the best. The train ride seems endless and I arrive in Bilbao at 10 pm. Tired, hungry and probably in one of my worst moods I stumble around town with my shit to try and sort out some kind of accomodation. Ring a doorbell for Pension Martinez and manage to sort out a room for 20 euros from a lovely little old lady using our hands as the main means of communication.

Go out to see the town and walk around for hours. I feel much better. Stop for a beer here and a tortilla there. Go to some strange dance bar where traditional basque music is being played and men in funny clothes dance with eachother. I am having a blast! End up watching a Barcelona game in a nice place with a huge pile of food in front of me.

Wake in the morning and have an excellent breakfast. Tortilla de Patata I believe it´s called. It´s all I´ve eaten so far I think. Omelette with potatoes. But it´s good! So I´m not complaining.

Come to Santander in time to check into the hotel and have a nice shower. Wash some clothes and go to the venue for soundcheck. Venue is an amazing place. They do all kinds of things in there. Concerts, theatre, dance, circus. And there´s a big tree in the middle of the room. Looks amazing and I know it´s gonna be a good evening.

Meet up with Pep and his friend Manel and have a little dinner upstairs and get to know eachother. Showtime is early and a good crowd come out despite the rain and it being a sunday. sound is beautiful in the great big space and I play one of my best sets of the tour. Thank you so much for having me guys! I hope to be back very soon!

So. Now it´s dinner at Pep´s place. Me, Pep and his mother Pilar. I am gonna make a salad.
Talk to you soon!

Hasta la victoria siempre!
B

Hold on Magnolia!

Ray on the train to Winterthur.

















Who is this little fellow? Anyone know?






















Micke from Solander the morning after the show.


















Audience at house whow in Leipzig.

















Never go to Leipzig without going to UT Connewitz and breathe!

















Poland.

















Poland.

















Gallery/venue in Zielona Gora.
.....................................................................................................................................

Hey hey hey.

It has been a while since I wrote. Been staying busy and happy throughout the last few german and polish dates. Stumbled across some car related trouble towards the end of our stay in Switzerland, but it was nothing big and we kept on rolling into Germany soon enough.

Here some stuff about the last week or so.

Day off in Aarau.

We had to cancel the show at my friend Marco´s place in Rorschach last Monday because the brakes of the car kind of got stuck and we didn´t dare to go on. Lovely Lisa and Oli at Kiff helped us out very kindly in organizing a workshop, cheap parts and ridiculously cheap labour to get it fixed. Thank you so much for that guys. So we stayed an extra night in Aarau after the short train ride from Winterthur. Had a nice dinner at a crepe place in town and went to bed nice and early. Up in the morning to drop Ray off at the station and send him off to Paris. Which coincidentally is where the train I am on right now is headed.

Fürth

Up to lovely old Fürth the day after Aarau. Long drive alone in the car, and I missed having Ray there besides me going crazy over some strange drumming signed Charlie Watts. By the way Ray, I have listened to that twelve bar song on the singles collection trying to make out what the fuck Mick is singing and so far I have come up with this: - Dadadadadadadadadadadadadadad, man you better behave.

Met up with Martti and Line in Fürth after having a short walk through a sunny and cute little town. Had a drink and wrote some post cards in a café and set about trying to cure my cold with some ginger and lemon tea. I am not kidding, but I think I easily drank two litres of that shit that day.

Show in Fürth was great, although my voice was starting to get real rough. Had a real nice time after the show and then walked back to Christian´s house for some well deserved sleep. Slept in Christian´s sons bed and didn´t pay attention to the lego scattered on the floor when I walked in. Quite a nostalgic kind of pain treading on pieces of lego barefotted. Haven´t done that in years.

Nürnberg

Touring should be like this everyday. Punched in the address for the venue in Nürnberg and my friend James in the GPS machine tells me it´s six kilometres. Barely time enough to smoke a cigarette before I have to pull up at the venue to park the car. Perfect!

Tonight I am playing with a couple of people from Sweden. Some of them I knew already so I was very much looking forward to the evening. Great venue, great people, but unfortunately kind of half empty. Big soccer game between Bayern München and Lyon and since Nürnberg is located in Bayern it is easy to understand why there weren´t shitloads of people. As if I ever play to shitloads of people!

Show turned out to be a great one anyhow. I don´t think I sold a single album after the show, so maybe I am the only one who liked it, but I really got that good feeling singing and playing. Really connected with the songs and with myself. Doesn´t happen very often and it´s a great feeling. Losing the sense of time and space for a few seconds.

Ulm

After Nürnberg it was time for me to make a completely new acquaintance. Ulm. Never been there before, and came in early to have some time to take it easy. Checked into the hotel, had a shower and a well needed two hour sleep before heading into town for a bit of a stroll. Ate so much Käsespätzle I was almost not able to stand up.

The venue is an old bordello/dance club and nothing has really been changed, so it´s a strange little place I´m playing. I am quite sure the people who used to be on that stage did not wear jeans and a t-shirt. Played a great little show to a great little crowd and made friends with a nice young medicine student named Micha. Had a few drinks with him and talked about Spain and children and about music. Off to bed. Long drive the next day.

Leipzig

Long drive to Leipzig, but I´m in a good mood. Leipzig is of course my favorite town and I am excited to get there and meet up with dear friend Tobi. Go by his new work and have a nice cup of coffee in the burning sun.

Off to good old Deli next to UT Connewitz for yet another amazing tofu burger with fries. I am so full I can hardly walk and take the car down to Hotel Seeblick for a coffee. Reading Carson McCullers and smoking cigarettes. Lovely day and I´m in an excellent vagabond type mood!

In the evening I play a show in a huge flat with so many people it´s hard to move. A great party and I met up with some friends and had a good time. Thanks for having me in your home guys! After show off to Hotel Seeblick again for a drink and about eight packet of cigarettes. Wake up the next morning feeling like an ashtray!

Breakfast at Zest and then off to Poland!

Poznan

I arrive in Poznan late. After a couple of weeks on the german autobahn I calculate to make the drive in four or five hours and end up spending a good eight in the car. Think of this if you go travelling by car in Poland. Average speed: 50km/hour. That´s it.

Anyhow. Meet up with the people at Meskal, play a short set in the loud and smoky bar and then hang our with lovely people. Thanks so much for taking such good care of me.

Wake up early in the hostel although I really needed some sleep. Americans out in the hallway making so much noise it is rediculous. Americans on holiday in Europe. Is there anything worse?

Go down town to the old city square and have a coffee, write some postcards and have a walk around. Beautiful city and I would have loved to stay longer, but I am not taking any chances this time, so I decide to leave early to make it on time to Zielona Gora.

Zielona Gora

Come in early. Park the car and ask some guys for the way to the venue. Turns out I am practically parked in front of it. Easy. Good start. Good feeling!

Go for a walk around town. The sun is beating down like a drum on my head and I drink lots of water. Sit down in different spots, smoke cigarettes, read, write, drink water.

Find a nice looking restaurant and order a salad. The waiter looks strangely at me. And so does all the other guests. I don´t feel welcome. They stare at my tattoos and look at me as if I was a rapist or something. I eat my salad, don´t tip and get out of there. Fucking assholes.

Over to the venue to meet up with Woitek and Caroline. The venue is an art gallery and the space is just amazing! High high ceiling and amazing acoustic. I run around the place playing my guitar and shouting out loud. I feel very good about playing. And the show turns out great. Probably one of the longest sets I played on the tour. I think I play 15 or 16 songs. Haha. But eveyone seemed happy and I was in such a great mood.

Go with some nice people to a bar around the corner for a drink before bed. Have a great evening with them. We talk about all kinds of stuff and I really really start to love Poland. Thanks for taking such good care of me!!!

Wroclaw

Do some boring computer work at the gallery office in the morning and then head off to Wroclaw. Meet up with promoter Pawel and spend a few really nice hours with him before the show. Early show and a great one. Talk with some nice people and then unfortunately I have to go. Need to go to Berlin to catch a train to Spain. And that´s where I´m at now. But more about that later. Now I really need to go buy some underpants!

Love! B

Aarau x2

We´ve had a few exciting days. Exciting in all kinds of meanings of the word.
After Luxembourg we went back to germany to play a show in Karlsruhe. I have been there quite a few times before, but that was years ago so I was very excited to get to Café Nun, a place everyone has spoken good of to me.

Café Nun is amazing. To me it was the highlight of the tour so far. Coming in, drinking coffe, soundchecking and eating a great meal. Everything was bursting with kindness and pleasure and I knew it was going to be a good evening. The show went excellent, I don´t know how many encores I played, but I enjoyed every single minute of being on stage. Then after the show we sat and talked for hours. Just me and Ray and the guys who set up the show. I am sorry if I miss out on any names. But. Wolfgang, Andi, Mark, Dennis and everyone else. Thank you for an amazing experience!

After a breakfast in high style we leave for the swiss adventure. Starts in Schaffhausen on Friday were we support a swedish band called Hellsongs. They´re basically a cover band who do old metal songs, and I think their crowd was not so into soft singer/songwriter-stuff on a Friday evening. It was very nice however to meet Daniela again although it is always way too short.

Off to Basel early on Saturday where we meet up with lovely Christine and have a walk around the city eating a falafel down by the Rhein, before meeting up with Jan and everyone else at the house where we´re playing the show. A nice crowd comes out and we play to neat little sets in the completely unfurnished livingroom. I met good friends Victor and Aline and we decided we´d spend some time together soon. Maybe do a trip or something in the fall. It is lovely meeting so many nice people on tour. Really one of the best things about it if not the most important. But always it is too short. I wish I had the money to play one show a week and hang out with friends inbetween!

So we quickly say goodbye and head to Aarau to play an evening show at Kiff, a lovely venue where I´ve played a couple of times before. But then of course it happens. The old Audi90 starts making weird sounds and we pull over on the side of the road. The right wheel seems to be the problem and we drive carefully the few kilometres we still have left to the venue. Two kind young men at the venue follow me out to troubleshoot the old vehicle and find out it is the right brake that is making the noises. So we park the car over night and head to Winterthur by train. But before that we play a really nice crowd in Aarau. Sami, Jan, Natalie, Christine and a couple of other guys come over from Basel and I play a really relaxed and fun set. Feels great to be into the game!

Winterthur yesterday was great. I get really frustrated going by train and I wonder how I´m gonna manage 8-9 hour rides in Spain. I feel I have no control of where I´m going. And I can´t get out and I can´t relax. I bet there´s a word for that.
Winterthur is a lovely little town and we go by foot to the venue guided by a very kind man we met in Schaffhausen. Thanks for the help! Off to the local radio station for a quick interview and live session and then down to the venue again. Meet up with Mr and Mrs Vargas and have a great evening talking about pink little elephants and minarets. Nice to meet you guys and have some time to sit and talk.

So today we slept in and took an afternoon train to Aarau to go to the garage where the car was being repaired. Thank you Oli and Lisa for all the trouble you went through for us. It really means the world to us.

Now bedtime. I have a bit of a cold and I´m going to try and sleep it away.
Talk to you soon. B

Luxembourg

Promoter Fred in Luxembourg. Double-bearded and ready!






















Ray in front of cherry blossoms!






















Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. A very serious man.

















Hanging out in Willi´s kitchen in Köln. Thanks for having us guys! Really a pleasure.

















Part of wall in Köln.






















Ray rocking the merch trolley!

















Kolumba Museum, Köln.






















Ray in the stairs up to Kolumba.






















Motoki. Best venue ever! Köln.

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Hey Hey Hey!
I am feeling great. The tour is going so well, Ray is such nice company, shows are great and everyone is treating us so well. Best days of my life.
Played a lovely little show in Luxembourg yesterday set up by Fred at D:Qliq. As usual he took excellent care of us and a nice little wednesday night crowd came out to what I think is probably one of the best shows we´ve both played so far. Ray sounded excellent and I had a real good experience on stage. Really getting into the songs and the singing.

Café Lübke in Trier was a great evening just as last year. Anja and Caroline cooked great food and Thomas was wizzing by now and then to make it a very pleasant evening. Big nice crowd and a nice hangout after the show. Slept on sofas in the bar and woke up to one of the nicest spring days so far this year. Had a nice little walk around Trier with Anja with some sightseeing and coffee. The cherry trees turned the city into a fairytale and it was a beautiful day!

Now it´s off to Karlsruhe. Look forward to that. Everyone is telling us Café Nun is a great place so we´re very excited to find out they´re right!

I add some pictures from Köln aswell so you don´t miss out on anything!

Take care. Bis bald! B