Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Sofa Salon #9 @ Joe's Bar

Sofa Salon @ Joe's Bar
Donnerstag 25. November / Thursday November 25thSchönhauser Allee 157, Prenzlauer Berg 10435 Berlin
Musik: Ned Collette (AUS) + Mute Swimmer (UK) + Poesie: Robert Grant (UK)

This is the last Sofa Salon for 2010. I hope to see you there!

ENG:
SOFA SALON returns to our second home, Joe's Bar in Prenzlauer Berg, with a night of wry and literate songwriting and poetry. We feature literary Australian singer-songwriter Ned Collette in his last Berlin show for 2010, the playful, experimental folk music of Mute Swimmer (UK) and the poetry of Robert Grant (UK), convenor of Berlin poetry showcase Beat Street. Starts 9pm. Entry is by donation to the artists.

DE:
SOFA SALON zurück zu unser zweites Zuhause, Joe's Bar in Prenzlauer Berg, mit schiefes und belesen Musik und Poesie. Wir verfügen über literarische australische singer-songwriter Ned Collette (letzte Berlin konzerte für 2010), der spielerische, experimentelle Folk Musik der Mute Swimmer (UK) und die Poesie des Robert Grant (UK), Gründer Berlin Poesie Auslage "Beat Street". Beginnt 19:00. Eintritt: Spende für die Künstler.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Sofa Salon #8 Thank You!

Sofa Salon Berlin - Wohnzimmer Konzert-Serie.

Sofa Salon #8 Thank You!
Musik: The Alma Church Choir (DE) + Lina Paul (DE) + Poesie: Mr. oCean (AUS)

ENG:
What a wonderful SOFA SALON night! A heartfelt welcome to the new people that came along, offered future living rooms, bought CDs and added themselves to the mailing list. My thanks also to the return guests and my gratitude to Neil the Barman and Sascha for their assistance. What beautiful performances from The Alma Church Choir, Lina Paul and Mr. oCean.

The last Sofa Salons for 2010 will be Thursday 25 November at Joe's Bar, Prenzlauer Berg, and an early December living room concert at Sofa Salon HQ.

DE:
Ein wonderschön SOFA SALON! Ein herzliches Wilkommen auf die neues Menschen, die entlang kam, bot Zukunft Wohnzimmer, kaufte CDs und hat sich auf die Mailingliste. Mein Dank geht auch für die Stammgäste und meine Dankbarkeit für die Hilfe von Neil und Sascha. Wirklich schöne Aufführungen von The Alma Church Choir, Lina Paul und Mr. oCean.

Die letzte Sofa Salons für 2010 sind Donnerstag 25. November bei Joe's Bar, Prenzlauer Berg, und ein Anfang Dezember wohnzimmer konzerte bei Sofa Salon Hauptsitz.


Watch a video for The Alma Church Choir song Ubuntu. Andreas told me 'Ubuntu' has various meanings in different African languages, and said Nelson Mandela explained it this way: "A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?"


Wednesday, October 27, 2010

NEW SOFA SALON EVENTS

Dearhearts,

ENG:
After the wonderful performances of Mark Steiner and Emilie Zoey Baker in September, there's more singer-songwriter and poet actions as Sofa Salon presents two sparkling new events for you!

TOMORROW NIGHT - THURSDAY 28 OCTOBER
Sofa Salon returns to the comfiest new bar in Prenzlauer Berg - Joe's Bar - for Sofa Salons new monthly Berliner Songwriter Series featuring Australian Gothic Folk from Waywardbreed, High Drama Bossa Nova from Roland Satterwhite and shimmering poetic performance from Sandra Serala. Doors 21:00. Entry by donation. Schönhauser Allee 157 10435 Berlin (opp. Kulturbrauerei)

SATURDAY 6 NOVEMBER
A wonderful lineup of German singer-songwriters. I saw The Alma Church Choir at SIN Bar a year ago and dreamed of having them play in my living room. Now it's happening and they bring the talented Berlinerin Lena Paul with them for an evening of ambient folk/country wonderment.

Book your places at sofasessions@gmx.de.


DE:
Nach dem wunderbaren Auftritte von Mark Steiner and Emilie Zoey Baker im September, Daher würde der Sofa Salon wie auf den nächsten Schaumwein Gigs in der Serie anzukündigen:

MORGEN ABENDS - DONNERSTAG 28 OKTOBER
Sofa Salon kehrt zum gemütlichsten neues bar in Prenzlauer Berg - Joe's Bar - für Sofa Salons monatlich Berliner Songwriter Serie mit Australische Gotik Folk aus Waywardbreed, High Drama Bossa Nova aus Roland Satterwhite und schimmernde poetische Leistung von Sandra Serala. 21:00. Eintritt Spende. Schönhauser Allee 157 10435 Berlin (neben Kulturbrauerei)

SAMSTAG 6 NOVEMBER
SOFA SALON zurück ins Wohnzimmer am Samstag 6. November mit eine wunderbare Lineup von deutschen Singer-Songwriter. Ich sah The Alma Church Choir bei SIN Bar vor einem Jahr und träumte von ihnen mit in meinem Wohnzimmer spielen. Jetzt ist es passiert, und sie bringen die talentierte Berliner musikerin Lena Paul mit ihnen für einen Abend der Umgebungstemperatur Folk / Country Staunen. 19:00. Eintritt 5€.

Buchen Sie Ihre Plätze bei sofasessions@gmx.de

Monday, September 6, 2010

News and Gigs / News und Konzerte

Hallo,

ENG:

It's been a while since the fabulous Sofa Sessions gigs for the Moabit Kulturtag back in July. People are still talking about the wonderful performances and atmosphere.

In the meantime, I've had many Wasp Summer/Mesalina gigs to play and a name issue to resolve. I was really surprised to find there has been another wohnzimmer concert series called Sofa Sessions running in Berlin (great minds an' that). The convenor asked that I cease and desist using the name.

So the new name for my living room concert events is the Sofa Salon. Same amazing mix of music and poetry. Same lovely living room.

Therefore, the Sofa Salon would like to announce the next gig in the series:

Mark Steiner (NOR) + Emilie Zoey Baker (AUS) + guests
Tuesday 21 September, 19:30-22:00
Sofa Salon HQ, Berlin-Tiergarten


Book your spot via sofasessions@gmx.de
DEU:

Es ist eine lange Zeit gewesen, seit Juli's Sofa Sessions für die Kulturtage Moabit. Die Leute sind noch im Gespräch über die erstaunlichen Leistungen und Atmosphäre.

In der Zwischenzeit habe ich viele Wasp Summer/Mesalina Gigs hatte. Ich hatte auch einen Namen Problem zu beheben.

Ich war überrascht, es hat ein weiteres Wohnzimmer Konzertreihe in Berlin berufen worden Sofa Sessions. Große Geister denken genauso. Der Convenor gebeten, dass ich nicht mehr aufhören und mit dem Namen.

So der neue Name für mein Wohnzimmer Konzertveranstaltungen ist das Sofa Salon. Gleiche erstaunliche Mischung aus Musik und Poesie. Gleiche schönes Wohnzimmer.

Daher würde der Sofa Salon wie auf den nächsten Gig in der Serie anzukündigen:

Mark Steiner (NOR) + Emilie Zoey Baker (AUS) + guests
Tuesday 21 September, 19:30-22:00
Sofa Salon HQ, Berlin-Tiergarten


Buchen deine platz durch sofasessions@gmx.de

Info on Mark Steiner:
Norwegian-based Mark Steiner possesses a rich, sophisticated troubadour voice which conjures images of smoky European bars in his dark, lush, swampy songs overflowing with lust and sadness.

“Anyone who even has a passing interest in brooding, dark, underground rock… should start paying attention to Mark Steiner.” - Rip It Up Magazine (Australia)

“Mark Steiner sounds like an optimal mixture of Nick Cave, Stuart Staples and cult figure Kim Salmon… He’s an artist who stands out with heaps of honesty and authority. Broken is Mark Steiner’s step up to the musical elite of rock…” - Nordlys (Norway)

Information on Emilie Zoey Baker:
Emilie is one of Australia's foremost slam poets: feisty, feminist, playful, worldly-wise. She comes to Berlin as a guest of the Internationales Literatur Fest Berlin 2010 for the Internationale SLAM!Revue.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Sofa Sessions at Joe's Bar

On Friday 9 July, Sofa Sessions, Berlin's most intimate music, poetry and art showcase goes from the wohnzimmer into Prenzlauer Berg's gemütlichsten new venue, Joe's Bar.

The fourth Sofa Session features Eric Eckhart (USA), Wasp Summer (AUS), Ken Burke (IRE), mr oCean (AUS), Wayward Breed (AUS) plus special guest performers.

The show begins at 8pm
Eintritt: €3
This is a non-smoking event

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Cheery! How Little Musicians Make Online

Click on the title or this link. This is a fascinating infographic that indicates what musicians selling their music have to sell in order to make the (USA) minimum wage. There's debate as to how accurate the data is (if you read the comments) but even as a rough calculation, it's pretty telling stuff.

Our first review

Thanks to mr oCean, inaugural Sofa Sessions poet, for this fine, comprehensive review of the weekend's three Sofa Sessions shows for Moabit Kulturtage. You are very kind, sir! Click on the title for the link to the review.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Sofa Sessions success

Oh! The first three Sofa Sessions were a complete blast! Three days of intimate, warm and soulful performances from some of my favourite Berlin singers and songwriters. Our fantastic, attentive and supportive audiences. Performers and audience chatting in the breaks. Contacts made. CDs sold. Art appreciated. Tablecloths burned.

Amongst the many highlights, here's four images strong in my mind:
* A roomful of people sang harmony with Eric Eckhart and Miranda, Lotta and Floyd
* Daniel Hoth's incendiary poetry readings really affected the audience with his intensity, truth and flow
* Claire from Bocage danced on bare feet and sang her heart out
* The many kitchen conversations, hugs and connections made after the shows

Several people cried at the music, including me. I am buzzing that we made something so relaxed, so simple and so warm that gave some community energy back to this beautiful city. I say "we" because the Sofa Sessions happened and ran so beautifully due to the efforts of many. I would like to publicly thank the following:

Cosima Diehl, Lena Tjäder, Dr. Claudia Beelitz and the Moabit Kulturtage crew, Frau Rosinov, meine nachbarn, Neil Leslie, Christina Fischer, Leena McCall, Cameron Wilson, Craig Thomson, Gaby Bila-Günther, Daniel Skornicka and all the performers and artists. Please click on the links, go to their MySpace pages and websites, support them and see more shows.

I will post photos and video in the next week or so. Keep an eye out here for the next Sofa Sessions gig, join my Sofa Sessions E-Mail Liste and tell your friends.

Live music is the shit!

Much love,

Ms. Sam

Monday, June 14, 2010

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Artist Links

You can find the MySpace pages of the Sofa Sessions artists on the right. Please have a listen.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Künstler/Artists for Moabit Kulturtage Sofa Sessions

Sofa Sessions showcases Berlin's best local and international indie pop, folk and rock singer-songwriters, pairing them with great poets and visual artists.

Sofa Sessions debuts for the Moabit Kulturtage festival Juni 18-20, 2010. All sessions are 5€. Drinks available. Children welcome.

To reserve your place, please email sofasessions@gmx.de with your preferred date/s.

Freitag 18. Juni - Eric Eckhart (USA), Simon Eugene (UK), Mesalina Trio (De/Aus/Swe) and poets mr oCean (AUS) and Gaby Bila-Günther (De/Aus) um 20 Uhr.

Samstag 19. Juni - Wasp Summer (AUS), Kiki Brunner (DE), Bocage (FRA) and poet Maria Maddalena (It) um 14 Uhr.

Sonntag 20. Juni - Miranda Gjerstad (SWE), Christina Maria (CH), Grand Salvo (Aus) and poet Daniel Hoth um 14 Uhr.

Visual art is from Christina Fischer (USA), Leena McCall (UK), Neil Leslie (UK), Gaby Bila-Günther (De/Aus) and Daniel Skornicka (De).