Picked Up by Musician of the Week
I mentioned the KEXP sessions on Youtube last week. Its a radio station from Seattle who had a couple of Icelandic musicians playing live at their studio. And while browsing them I discovered a few brilliant artists.
One singer I came across was Pétur Ben and his song Something Radical. Beside the video, I’d never seen him live and mainly listened to his songs on Gogoyoko where you can also tune in if you want to hear more of his songs.
But Iceland is a beautiful island with, in my opinion, something of a village flair. Therefore you never know who you might meet when hitchhiking around Iceland. As I’ve been hitchhiking back and forth to Reykjavik along the south coast for the last few months I got to meet some brilliant and amazing people on the way. And, important to mention, I didn’t have a single bad experience!
I got lifts from a few friendly tourists who where glad to get tips of where to go. I shared plenty of small talk. I got more lifts from Icelandic farmers, cap and bus drivers, former members of the Icleandic rescue team, and town folks from young to very old. I got to hear loads of local gossip and stories, had Icelandic culture and history lectures, met a Swiss photographer who showed me his faveourite photo spots along the way, and among all of those, I also got a lift by Pétur Ben who had just finished hiking the Fimmvörðuháls.
Of I course I put my foot in it, not knowing it was him. We started to talk about Icelandic music and Icelandic artists and I mentioned that I also like that other guy, Pétur Ben. Duh!
But great trip, nice guy and here one of his songs which I very much like.
I am Mel i’m an artist, student, and traveller. I’ve spent the last few years traveling around Ireland, Germany, and Finland. Most of my works have been inspired by those travels and by my friends.
http://melfranz.wordpress.com
