They were amazing. And great.

PALM CREEK

Palm Creek back in June was the end of our first national tour with the album. It was the culmination of two months of intense touring, after several months of intense bookings and promotions. Needless to say we were emotional, tired and in a daze. The whole tour had gone so well and we were pleased with the coverage and exposure we were getting, our fans growing in numbers and all our hopes and dreams with them. So we were happy and looking forward to celebrating.

We arrived in the evening and found a spot and set our van up in the dark. We were lucky enough to have friends who were also performing who set up with us, as well as our road buddy Louise, and for the first time we had a little festival camp. The next day we started our performances and had a lovely response from the crowd. We also did our first workshop, on songwriting. After seeing Frencham Smith for the first time Fred asked us if we’d sing on a couple of songs with him and Liz and a whole bunch of us, which was both extremely fun (especially rehearsing in our camp) and a privilege.

Our last set was on the main stage on the final night of the festival. For us that was a huge deal, that a festival would give us that stage on that night, and of course we wanted to live up to expectations. So we really gave it our all. I don’t know if it came across, it felt like it did, and mostly I remember seeing my breath in the electric blue light in the freezing June air, filled with this big sound, one of the best we’ve ever had. When our friends Ange and Josh (Swoon) came on to support us on a couple of songs, it felt like we were not just filling the air but also the stage.

As a duo we never have a band or the presence of other people on stage to give us that extra sense of security and confidence. But that night we did for a couple of songs, and it felt so good. It felt so good I almost cried in the climax of Your Heart in My Hands with Ange singing spine-tingling harmonies.

Event though we go through a roller-coaster of emotions at every show (nerves, anticipation, impatience, frustration, fear, excitement etc), it’s not at every show that you feel something in your core. That night was, in fact, euphoric. I felt the sheer pleasure of performing, of expressing, of sharing. None of the heavy stuff, no nerves (there was no time – we had to run from Frencham Smith’s set to ours), no fear of rejection or judgement or stuffing up. There was no mistaking it, and that feeling was promptly followed by gratitude.

Many things made that festival special. It was all the little things like the great company, collaborating with musicians we look up to, trying something new with a workshop, and being able to party after the last set knowing we didn’t have any shows in the coming days, allowing ourselves to relax and celebrate. Almost a year later it still remains one of my favourite and strongest festival memories.

WOODFORD

Thankfully, that year ended with Woodford. Few festivals would’ve been able to measure up to Palm Creek but luckily for us Woodford did. Woodford was something else altogether. For six days we lived festival. It’s so incredible how the equivalent of a whole town is set up over a just a couple of weeks, it’s a cocoon. And I didn’t want to leave. I can be pretty impatient, I don’t like staying in the one place for too long. But I was in no hurry to leave Woodfordia. I couldn’t believe how at home I felt. We set up camp, again, with Betsey next to some drain in the performers area. With our bed, plenty of coffee and food and an awning for the sun we were truly at home the whole time.

We’d get up in the morning, sip coffee and eat breakfast then throw on our clothes and get picked up with our gear by the instrument transport and driven down to the stage where we were performing. Then we’d do our set, each time to an unexpectedly large crowd, and then we’d go back ‘home’ again and decide who we were going to go see next. Just being there was so much fun. We enjoyed every performance we saw, were it music, dance, circus, comedy, and I just felt so at home among all these living-for-their-art people. I’m no martyr for my music and there are plenty of things other than music that get me excited about life, but something about this environment makes me feel like everything that has happened in my life so far was to prepare me for this lifestyle. This is what I am the most qualified at.

Having moved around so much growing up, learning to live in different cultures, speaking different languages, it’s all given me skills for this lifestyle; constant travel, always adapting to new places, new rules, new attitudes, being able to communicate with different people. The uni studies that had nothing to do with music but got me writing and taught me everything BUT the music, that is everything else you need to know in order to live off your music. The culture of music in Leksand (Sweden) that surrounded and consumed me, fuelled many a daydream and showed me that my love of singing was stronger than my fear of performing. And Nick who later showed me that my love of singing is stronger than my fear of not conforming.

I digress. Woodford was a turning point for us, we ‘stepped it up a level’ while we were at Woodford. We don’t know how or why but so many people came to our sets. We would get up on stage, having been hiding backstage warming up and doing starjumps or something similar to get ourselves revved up, and say to each other ‘where did all these people come from?’. That showed in our sales as well and for the first time making a normal living off our music seemed a realistic proposition. At most of our shows since then there’s always been someone who saw us or heard of us at Woodford. Venues know who we are when we ring them to book a show. It’s something for us to return to when we have a low, when we feel undeserving or not good enough.

So that was a little bit about the feelings I go through at festivals, especially great ones like Palm Creek and Woodford. I’m sorry it’s one-sided, it’s hard to be personal if you’re writing for two, and I wouldn’t want to presume to know exactly what Nick goes through even if a lot of it is the same. Maybe you need to ask him to write the next blog. I tell him he should write but it’s not the same coming from your girlfriend!

Liesl xo

They were amazing. And great.

PALM CREEK

Palm Creek back in June was the end of our first national tour with the album. It was the culmination of two months of intense touring, after several months of intense bookings and promotions. Needless to say we were emotional, tired and in a daze. The whole tour had gone so well and we were pleased with the coverage and exposure we were getting, our fans growing in numbers and all our hopes and dreams with them. So we were happy and looking forward to celebrating.

We arrived in the evening and found a spot and set our van up in the dark. We were lucky enough to have friends who were also performing who set up with us, as well as our road buddy Louise, and for the first time we had a little festival camp. The next day we started our performances and had a lovely response from the crowd. We also did our first workshop, on songwriting. After seeing Frencham Smith for the first time Fred asked us if we’d sing on a couple of songs with him and Liz and a whole bunch of us, which was both extremely fun (especially rehearsing in our camp) and a privilege.

Our last set was on the main stage on the final night of the festival. For us that was a huge deal, that a festival would give us that stage on that night, and of course we wanted to live up to expectations. So we really gave it our all. I don’t know if it came across, it felt like it did, and mostly I remember seeing my breath in the electric blue light in the freezing June air, filled with this big sound, one of the best we’ve ever had. When our friends Ange and Josh (Swoon) came on to support us on a couple of songs, it felt like we were not just filling the air but also the stage.

As a duo we never have a band or the presence of other people on stage to give us that extra sense of security and confidence. But that night we did for a couple of songs, and it felt so good. It felt so good I almost cried in the climax of Your Heart in My Hands with Ange singing spine-tingling harmonies.

Event though we go through a roller-coaster of emotions at every show (nerves, anticipation, impatience, frustration, fear, excitement etc), it’s not at every show that you feel something in your core. That night was, in fact, euphoric. I felt the sheer pleasure of performing, of expressing, of sharing. None of the heavy stuff, no nerves (there was no time – we had to run from Frencham Smith’s set to ours), no fear of rejection or judgement or stuffing up. There was no mistaking it, and that feeling was promptly followed by gratitude.

Many things made that festival special. It was all the little things like the great company, collaborating with musicians we look up to, trying something new with a workshop, and being able to party after the last set knowing we didn’t have any shows in the coming days, allowing ourselves to relax and celebrate. Almost a year later it still remains one of my favourite and strongest festival memories.

WOODFORD

Thankfully, that year ended with Woodford. Few festivals would’ve been able to measure up to Palm Creek but luckily for us Woodford did. Woodford was something else altogether. For six days we lived festival. It’s so incredible how the equivalent of a whole town is set up over a just a couple of weeks, it’s a cocoon. And I didn’t want to leave. I can be pretty impatient, I don’t like staying in the one place for too long. But I was in no hurry to leave Woodfordia. I couldn’t believe how at home I felt. We set up camp, again, with Betsey next to some drain in the performers area. With our bed, plenty of coffee and food and an awning for the sun we were truly at home the whole time.

We’d get up in the morning, sip coffee and eat breakfast then throw on our clothes and get picked up with our gear by the instrument transport and driven down to the stage where we were performing. Then we’d do our set, each time to an unexpectedly large crowd, and then we’d go back ‘home’ again and decide who we were going to go see next. Just being there was so much fun. We enjoyed every performance we saw, were it music, dance, circus, comedy, and I just felt so at home among all these living-for-their-art people. I’m no martyr for my music and there are plenty of things other than music that get me excited about life, but something about this environment makes me feel like everything that has happened in my life so far was to prepare me for this lifestyle. This is what I am the most qualified at.

Having moved around so much growing up, learning to live in different cultures, speaking different languages, it’s all given me skills for this lifestyle; constant travel, always adapting to new places, new rules, new attitudes, being able to communicate with different people. The uni studies that had nothing to do with music but got me writing and taught me everything BUT the music, that is everything else you need to know in order to live off your music. The culture of music in Leksand (Sweden) that surrounded and consumed me, fuelled many a daydream and showed me that my love of singing was stronger than my fear of performing. And Nick who later showed me that my love of singing is stronger than my fear of not conforming.

I digress. Woodford was a turning point for us, we ‘stepped it up a level’ while we were at Woodford. We don’t know how or why but so many people came to our sets. We would get up on stage, having been hiding backstage warming up and doing starjumps or something similar to get ourselves revved up, and say to each other ‘where did all these people come from?’. That showed in our sales as well and for the first time making a normal living off our music seemed a realistic proposition. At most of our shows since then there’s always been someone who saw us or heard of us at Woodford. Venues know who we are when we ring them to book a show. It’s something for us to return to when we have a low, when we feel undeserving or not good enough.

So that was a little bit about the feelings I go through at festivals, especially great ones like Palm Creek and Woodford. I’m sorry it’s one-sided, it’s hard to be personal if you’re writing for two, and I wouldn’t want to presume to know exactly what Nick goes through even if a lot of it is the same. Maybe you need to ask him to write the next blog. I tell him he should write but it’s not the same coming from your girlfriend!

Liesl xo

Under the golden glow of Cedar Galleries’ lamp chandeliers, last Friday night’s audience of nearly 200 was relaxed and happy, settling in for a night of good music, food and company.

Support act Andrew Thomson and Emmylou Hocking surprised the crowd with their youthful talent, though it wasn’t till the main act that the audience’s full attention was captured.

Nick Everitt and Liesl Karlsson did not disappoint, their playlist was filled with a variety of songs from both of their albums and their friendly attitude created a warm atmosphere.

Their live sound was top notch and familiar to their recorded versions.

The setting of Cedar Galleries was perfect for the pair’s sweet harmonies and acoustic backings, with steak sandwiches and BYO drinks making for a cheap night.

It was a balmy evening and the duo definitely knew they were in central Queensland with Liesl remarking it had been the “sweatiest day of my life.”

Between songs the duo engaged with the audience, telling stories of the inspiration for their songs, including Nick’s first love song to Liesl.

Overall, it was an excellent night and so successful that gallery owner Angela Scheers is looking at organising a music series with similar style performances.

Gladstone may also be lucky to welcome the duo back for a third performance in the future.

WOMEN’S SINGLETS in grey marle (sizes 8 – 10) or chilli red (sizes 8 – 12). There was a shortage of 12′s and 14′s when we ordered these but we will try to order more next time.

WOMEN’S T’s available in Metal (capped sleeves & slim) and Ocean (standard T) in sizes 8 – 14 (note: most, but not all, colours are available in all sizes. Also, sizes overlap with the men’s shirts, eg 14 = S, all dimensions below)

 

Destination

Including postage in Australia $25.00 AUD Including postage rest of world $32.00 AUD

Colour/style (WOMEN)

Metal (lightweight, capped sleeves) Ocean Grey marle (singlet) Chilli red (singlet)

Sizes (WOMEN)

8 10 12 14

 

MEN’S T’s available in Metal (light-weight T), Merlot (standard T) and Ocean (standard T) in S,M,L,XL & XXL (note: most, but not all, colours are available in all sizes)

Destination

Including postage in Australia $25.00 AUD Including postage rest of world $32.00 AUD

Colour/style (MEN)

Metal (lightweight) Ocean Merlot

Sizes (MEN)

S M L XL XXL

 

 

Size	WIDTH in CMs	LENGTH in CMs
8	41	58
10	44	63
12	47	67
S / 14	50	69
M	53	71
L	56	73
XL	59	75
XXL	62	77
Tolerence +/-	2.5	2.5

 

 

This is the official video for the song ‘Most of My Life’ off Nick and Liesl’s new album ‘Feather’ out online worldwide & in Australian stores on May 6th. The video was made by the very talented film making team Sophie Brown and Samuel Hutchinson.

You can now request to see the video for Most of My Life on Rage by clicking here!

In the week that we’ve been here so far we’ve been driving across the countryside to have dinner with my mum and brother, or lunch with my nan, or going on outings like the ‘torch walk’ we did on the weekend where all the local villages were lit up with candles and torches and chapels were filled with music to celebrate the light in the midst of the winter darkness on the weekend of the All Saints holiday.

It’s the most amazing feeling to be able to just drop in for a visit at my mum’s for instance. We haven’t all lived in the same country for over 10 years. We can even ring each other when we feel like it, without worrying about time differences and cost. It probably doesn’t sound like much, but having some kind of everyday life together for a while feels like the biggest lucury. And Nick and I want to go to as many concerts and local events as possible while we’re here, go to all those cultural things that I miss and whinge about not having when we’re in Australia.

During our little Swedish Sojourn we are living on a big old property out in the sticks built in 1847. It’s perfect for writing and playing as the walls are meter-thick clay and the house is so long you have no idea what’s going on at the other end. And I’ve found an upright piano in the ‘old library’. The room smells like old books and the afternoon sun shines through the window. It’s a creative room, the best room in the house, and we’ve both been writing and just enjoying playing without thinking about gigs, or even having to play together.

Other than our lovely hosts we are sharing the place with 4 horses, 2 dogs, 2 stable cats, a budgie, a rat (thankfully in a cage) and the most adorable little kitten who sleeps in my arms when he’s worn himself out from playing the way only kittens can play. We’ve been helping with the horses and I can’t wait to go for a ride with Lena, our host. We’re certainly making up for not being able to have pets at the moment, and it’s the best medicine after a long tour.

Bye for now. xo

Performance times:

27 Dec 8.45pm @ Duck

28 Dec 10.30am @ Bazaar

31 Dec 12pm @ Bazaar

Or head to the festival website for full programme: www.woodfordfolkfestival.com!

To view the full programme go here (performance and interview from the 15 min mark)
Nick and Liesl live on WEO TV, France October 2011

We are writing from our friends’ place in a little ol’ village called Feluy in Belgium. It is grey, windy and wet outside and we are quite content to sit at our computers for a day after a 6 day stint across three countries.

Full house at Pferdestall in Bremerhaven – great start to the tour!

It is no exaggeration to say that we are having a wonderful time touring in Europe. The shows have been great right from the start with big crowds, friendly venues and great sound. We’ve had so much lovely company along the way, stumbled upon wondrous places, eaten too much good food and also felt rewarded for our efforts.

In September we attended and performed at the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg. It’s a festival and conference all in one, and we got to put our manager hats on for three days and talk to people from all over the world working in all areas of the music industry. It was a great experience for us, something that we’ve always dreaded, probably like most musicians, and surprisingly enough we really enjoyed it! Our showcase went well, in fact we had a full house there too, and we also played a couple of impromptu songs on a double decker bus for NDR radio!

Just finished playing on the bus and about to jump in the car to go to Bremen for the evening’s concert.

We’ve had the usual issues – sickness, traffic, and the dreaded car break-in! Yep, it happened again! Same country, same point in the tour, different car. Only an hour before our performance in Liege, Belgium, someone smashed the window of our car only to find that Nick was asleep in it! Luckily he fled, obviously intimidated by Nick’s size (!), without the computers he was about to grab. And with a lot of help from our friends at Le Tipi we could store our gear for the night, park the car safely till the next morning when Carglass had express-posted a new window to Liege. All within 24 hours… it beats the 4 days it took last year! Don’t think we’ve ever had such a low-stress emergency before!

Our old friends at Carglass. Possibly the most profitable business in Belgium!

After hours on various highways and Autobahn routes, it’s always a welcome break when we do a gig somewhere in the countryside. Here’s Nick revisiting his childhood whilst saving us some food money on the road… Why don’t we have fruit trees along the roads everyhwere??

One of the most exciting parts of the tour was our live performance on WEO TV in France. We turned up not quite knowing what to expect and never having performed on TV before, and as soon as we got there realised it wasn’t just some amateur local station but a proper studio with a full-on set and a whole line-up of special guests sitting out the back getting their make-up done! We were happy with our performance and the little interview that followed – in French – with Nick nodding and smiling while I fumbled with my words! You can view the performance & interview here (it starts around the 15 min mark towards the end).

No, it’s not a real bar… it’s the set of our live performance on WEO TV, France!

There’s been so many highlights on the trip already and we feel this blog doesn’t really do them justice. But it’s a taste of the experiences we’ve had, and if we haven’t shared them with you on here, maybe we shared them with you on stage, or after the performance, or simply on Facebook!

Thanks for reading about our adventures!

Nick and Liesl

We are writing from our friends’ place in a little ol’ village called Feluy in Belgium. It is grey, windy and wet outside and we are quite content to sit at our computers for a day after a 6 day stint across three countries.

Full house at Pferdestall in Bremerhaven – great start to the tour!

It is no exaggeration to say that we are having a wonderful time touring in Europe. The shows have been great right from the start with big crowds, friendly venues and great sound. We’ve had so much lovely company along the way, stumbled upon wondrous places, eaten too much good food and also felt rewarded for our efforts.

In September we attended and performed at the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg. It’s a festival and conference all in one, and we got to put our manager hats on for three days and talk to people from all over the world working in all areas of the music industry. It was a great experience for us, something that we’ve always dreaded, probably like most musicians, and surprisingly enough we really enjoyed it! Our showcase went well, in fact we had a full house there too, and we also played a couple of impromptu songs on a double decker bus for NDR radio!

Just finished playing on the bus and about to jump in the car to go to Bremen for the evening’s concert.

We’ve had the usual issues – sickness, traffic, and the dreaded car break-in! Yep, it happened again! Same country, same point in the tour, different car. Only an hour before our performance in Liege, Belgium, someone smashed the window of our car only to find that Nick was asleep in it! Luckily he fled, obviously intimidated by Nick’s size (!), without the computers he was about to grab. And with a lot of help from our friends at Le Tipi we could store our gear for the night, park the car safely till the next morning when Carglass had express-posted a new window to Liege. All within 24 hours… it beats the 4 days it took last year! Don’t think we’ve ever had such a low-stress emergency before!

Our old friends at Carglass. Possibly the most profitable business in Belgium!

After hours on various highways and Autobahn routes, it’s always a welcome break when we do a gig somewhere in the countryside. Here’s Nick revisiting his childhood whilst saving us some food money on the road… Why don’t we have fruit trees along the roads everyhwere??

One of the most exciting parts of the tour was our live performance on WEO TV in France. We turned up not quite knowing what to expect and never having performed on TV before, and as soon as we got there realised it wasn’t just some amateur local station but a proper studio with a full-on set and a whole line-up of special guests sitting out the back getting their make-up done! We were happy with our performance and the little interview that followed – in French – with Nick nodding and smiling while I fumbled with my words! You can view the performance & interview here (it starts around the 15 min mark towards the end).

No, it’s not a real bar… it’s the set of our live performance on WEO TV, France!

There’s been so many highlights on the trip already and we feel this blog doesn’t really do them justice. But it’s a taste of the experiences we’ve had, and if we haven’t shared them with you on here, maybe we shared them with you on stage, or after the performance, or simply on Facebook!

Thanks for reading about our adventures!

Nick and Liesl

In Australia:

• Triple J – Phone: 1300 0555 36

• 3RRR – Phone: 03 9388 1027

• PBS – Phone: 03 8415 1067

• FBi – Phone: 02 8332 2999

• RTR – Studio:  08 9260 9210

In Germany:

• Fritz – Phone: 0331 – 70 97 110

We are writing from the warm and cosy library in Bendigo on our way from Port MacDonnell in South Australia to Falls Creek in the Victorian Alps. We’ve had a lovely time in South Australia doing intimate and cosy shows in some very special venues in Auburn, Adelaide, Willunga and Mt Gambier. En route to these shows we’ve seen beautiful places and spent a healthy dose of time simply relaxing and enjoying good company, which has been welcome as well as necessary for recharging our batteries before heading to Europe. A big and warm thank you to the people who have generously put us up and spent time with us these last couple of weeks, we feel very fortunate to have met you.

Before arriving in Bendigo we stopped by The Grampians for a couple of nights, as you do. When we left Port Mac (Donnell) all we knew was that we had to be in Falls Creek by Wednesday so we checked the map and whaddayaknow there’s the Grampians along the way. ‘Aren’t they famous or something? Actually, what ARE they?’ I say to  Nick, who quickly looks it up in the Lonely Planet and gives the information centre a ring asking about half day hikes. So Saturday we climbed Mt Difficult. And it was difficult, but not impossible. It took us 2.5 hours to climb 466 meters. We scrambled over boulders, squeezed through crevices, overcame the vertigo that came with looking up at cliffs hanging over us, and eventually reached the summit where we munched on vegemite and cheese sandwiches and half a block of chocolate… Getting down with shaky legs was considerably harder, but the whole hike was an awesome experience. It also helped us sleep through a spooky night of being alone in a Grampians camp site with an empty car nearby after hearing on the news about people mysteriously disappearing in the area… Yikes!

We could go on and on about the lovely experiences we’ve had so far on this trip, but you are probably waiting for some actual music-related information! So head to the tour dates page for our upcoming dates in Australia, the last for a little while as we will be staying in Sweden for a few months this time round. We also have most of our Europe dates confirmed which you can also find there, still a few more to come hopefully. In between newsletters you can always check our tour dates, blog, watch the video or order the album and/or EP at www.nickandliesl.com.

Your help

As independent musicians we rely heavily on the recommendations of our fans. So there are many ways that you can help us become more established if you would like to. Here are a few ways:

FESTIVALS

We often get asked at gigs if we perform at certain festivals. If we could, we would perform at almost every festival there is, but it’s usually not up to us. We apply to many festivals every year, including here in Australia The National, Woodford,Port Fairy, Fairbridge, Nannup, Queenscliff, Wintermoon, Apollo Bay, Mount Beauty, but it is extremely competitive. This is where you can help. You can send them an email to request us! All you need to do is click on the festivals above.

RADIO

You can request to hear us on your local ABC, or on triple j Super Request by any of these methods:

Call: 1300 0555 36

Text: 1975 7 555 (25c)

Twitter: @triplejsr (better for outside Australia)

On their website: www.abc.net.au/triplej/requests/makearequest (better for outside Australia)

TELL A FRIEND

Many of you already do all these things and we thank you dearly for it. If you’re wondering HOW to spread the word, you can play our music for your friends and family, share our Facebook page with your friends, share our tweets, forward this newsletter to people you know in the places we are playing. Every little bit helps!