First Aid Kit with Samantha Crain

The Swedish duo First Aid Kit comprises sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg (born 1990 and 1993, respectively), hailing from Enskede, a suburb south of Stockholm. Yes, they are very young, but the pure music they create speaks of bygone times and old souls. The emphasis is on narrative lyrics accompanying playful melodies with intense, dense harmonies.

The musical journey of Klara and Johanna began with singing along to the pop songs that leaked into their childhood home, radio hits by Britney, Christina and so on. However, it was not until happening upon the music of such venerable artists as Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, that the sisters discovered how music that could touch them in a way that those radio songs could not.

Klara describes her first encounter with the song ‘First Day of My Life’ by Bright Eyes as a revelation. With authenticity and honesty having struck a deep chord within, this is what came to characterize the music of First Aid Kit. It has the feel of forest folk songs, full of enchanting storytelling, and as on EP highlight ‘Jagadamba, You Might’ a sense of compelling, ancient mystery. Their music has much in common with artists like Vashti Bunyan, Devendra Banhart, Bright Eyes, Joanna Newsom, Karen Dalton or The Carter Family.

At 13, Klara was given her first guitar, and the sisters started playing music and composing songs together in the spring of 2007. The first lyrics, melodies and harmonies came quite quickly. Then came another song. And another. And another.

The warm ember glow of ‘Tangerine’ was recorded at home and sent it to a Swedish radio hoping it would get attention. It immediately went on air and was listed as one of the best songs of the summer 2007. In April 2008, First Aid Kit’s 7 track debut EP ‘Drunken Trees’ was first released in Sweden on The Knife’s label, Rabid Records.

Wichita Recordings is re-releasing ‘Drunken Trees’ with a bonus track, the sensational and much You-Tubed cover of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song,” along with a DVD with 3 songs performed and recorded live in the Swedish forest.

First Aid Kit have just released their debut full album The Big Black and the Blue, and the critics are gushing.
"The Soderberg’s voices have to be heard to be believed, two wondrous, earthy, mournful and uplifting sounds that intertwine with mesmerising fashion throughout this remarkable debut album….astonishing stuff." (The List 5/5)
"gorgeous melodies and heart-melting harmonies." (NME 8/10)

Oklahoma singer/songwriter Samantha Crain opens.

Tickets are on sale now from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), Cedar outlets, and online at Ticketweb. All Cedar shows are all ages.

First Aid Kit

Prodigious Swedish siblings Klara and Johanna Söderberg, AKA First Aid Kit, have been gathering fans apace since the release of their ‘Drunken Trees’ EP in February 2009. They are proud to have since released their glorious debut full length, The Big Black...

Samantha Crain

Sometimes music is a collision of opposites. Realities clash and coexist, and the tension that results is scary and strange, but undeniably beautiful. Maybe that's why Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers embody so many conflicting unities and clashing...