I had a secret dream for many years: to go on tour! Simple as that. But with no finished music of my own I never got away on that tour. So when winter was approaching Sweden I took my sun- and warmth loving self and went on tour south anyway, without music. Instead I created the music together with musicians along the way and recorded an album. Here is my story:
First step, and I´m off!
I left Stockholm on an icy cold day, November 11th in my dear little van Ingrid that I had just bought and converted into a mini home. It was a thrilling feeling knowing that I would drive all the way to Spain and maybe even further, on my own, in this tiny little van. Will you carry me the whole way Ingrid?
This is me celebrating that I´m finally going on this dream making trip and that the fundraising campaign was successful! Thank you all my precious supporters, you are gold!
Eyes steadily on the thermometer, driving south over the icy highlands of Småland on slippery summer wheels, snow piling up on the side of the road with my heart in my throat, Ingrid swaying unsettling when passing trucks on the road.
Making the first song - I can do this!
Eventually after a welcome stop at my dear friend Fridas place in Jönköping I came to Malmö and my first collaboration; the magnificent and bright minded Anna Thorstensson on cello. I will tell you more of that magical meeting in the next blog post since I first want to give you an overview of the whole trip. What I can say is that we did make a sweet song about big and small every day thoughts, lonely cats and taking one step at a time. It was a wonderful feeling to get the first song done, ah, yes I CAN do this!
My route through Europe
From Malmö I then travelled on to Helsingborg, then the countryside outside Lund, over the mighty (and very windy) Öresunds bridge to Denmark feeling like I was Luke Skywalker in Starwars, driving into the night (I will tell you more of him later), then on to Berlin and towards fairy tale city Freiburg and the Schwartswald forrest, through misty mountainous Bavaria, on to the Pyrenees in France, and south to the mediterranean sea in Spain and the caves of Granada. (The thermometer steadily rising :)) Then back up to the Pyrenees again over glaciers and down to Italy. All the time meeting up musicians and artists and creating new tracks, blowing open my limitations of what I thought I was capable of, learning SO much.
Then something strange happened...
In Italy I was with my dear friend, the fantastic painter Christoph Souques, making a concert/ exhibition when we were surprised by strange news of a virus. The Venice Carnaval was cancelled and we started to feel uneasy by this huge phenomena that just grew and grew. So just before I had time to create the collaborative track with piano maestro Andrea Pellegrini, that I was fortunate enough to play with, we had to leave the country quickly. Big signs of warnings about the virus flashed all over the motorways, it was an eery feeling.
Once in France, the lockdown became stricter and stricter and news of the virus was pumping out 24/7. At first I was (almost guiltily so) happy to be stuck in this gorgeous mountain village among friends and musicians, but as days became weeks and months and I no longer was able to go out or meet people I finally decided to listen to my freedom bird, go against recommendations and travel home.
So I drove home through Europe during lockdown on empty roads, that is a story on it´s own that I will tell you later. Driving off the ferry and on to my own home land was a wonderful feeling, ah Sweden!
Where I´m at now - the production of the album
So what am I doing right now? Getting unstuck in my production phase, ha! Yes that´s right, I will not pretend that this is an all through glorious process where everything just flows like the wind ;) No, I´m learning by doing all the time and I´m so grateful that I´m able to do that. That I have the time, resources and support from friends. One step at a time. But I am now officially unstuck and going on this phase of the album, and I can´t wait to release it in a couple of months!
Thats all for now! Take care everyone, see you soon!/Caroline
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