United States—The acclaimed alternative folk band from the Arctic of Norway, Adjágas, is set to have their introductory tour across the United States beginning July 3 and continuing through July 16. Supporting Adjágas are some of the best independent bands America has to offer, in part to welcome them here for their first tour across the States and also to show support for the culture of the indigenous people of the Scandinavian Arctic, the Sámi people. Along the way, Native American communities and musicians will also greet their European cousins to Indian Country. The two-week tour, which begins in Los Angeles and ends in New York City the first two weeks of July celebrates Adjágas ability to cross world-bridges in both culture and sound with the independent music scene and our indigenous heritages.
Adjágas is Sara Marielle Gaup and Lawra Somby—joikers (from the word joik, pronounced “yoik” and is a combination of singing and chanting) of Sámi origin from Norway. Both are backed by an experimental folk band. Joining Adjágas tour is Max Crawford on trumpet and banjo (of Poi Dog Pondering, the Archer Prewitt band and Wilco recordings). Joiking is an integral part of Sámi history, tradition and culture and bands as well known as The Sea & Cake, Ethan Gold and Native musicians including Blackfire and Brent Greenwood, are coming together to support Adjágas by sharing double-billed acts in their hometowns.
On July 3, Adjágas will have a concert at the Hotel Café in Los Angeles with Ethan Gold whose recent album “Songs From A Toxic Apartment” received rave reviews from music journals such as Pitchfork and Glide magazines for his combined natural and electronic sounds including string sections and synthesizers. Opening for the main acts are Too Cute To Kill from Oklahoma, Willem Broad (of the FIM band) and Archer Black from L.A. The globally known Navajo punk rock band, Blackfire, will welcome Adjágas to their hometown of Flagstaff, Arizona where they will host a community event at the Taala Hooghan and again at the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock on July 7. Adjágas will then travel to Santa Fe and perform for an art installation project, “The Due Return” at the Center for Contemporary Art. In Oklahoma on July 10, Adjágas will share the stage with Oklahoma’s Deerpeople and Fiawna Forté, two bands that recently graced the 2011 SXSW Film and Music Festival as part of Oklahoma’s music showcase at the Buffalo Lounge. Ponca powwow singer, Brent Greenwood, Adjágas and Fiawna Forté will also have unplugged performances during Adjágas welcoming party at the This Land Press (Oklahoma’s first new media company) backyard, with teepee and all. Chicago’s favorite indie musicians, Archer Prewitt and Sam Prekop of The Sea and Cake, who have heavily influenced bands like Broken Social Scene and The White Stripes, will introduce them to their local scene on July 13 at the Empty Bottle. Adjágas will end their tour in New York City, opening for Jimbo Mathis & The Tri-State Coalition at Littlefield NYC in Brooklyn and have a solo performance with The Dust Diver Flash (Laura Ortman and Bee & Flower’s Dana Schecter) in Manhattan’s Cine M Art space. Spy FM radio will have a special focus on the tour on his show The SPY’s Eye on NDN Country.
[SPECIAL NOTE: Adjágas tour is supported through the Norwegian government and Sámi cultural organizations and is a not-for-profit tour. If you would like to help provide additional support for the tour and thus help spread the beauty of the Sámi culture and music, click here: BRINGING ADJAGAS TO AMERICAN AUDIENCES. To submit to our 501(c)3 umbrella organization go here: and donate to a tax-deductible organization via PayPal click HERE.]
Integral to this tour are the friends along the way who have helped bring this together, Joe Kennedy of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Ethan Gold, Archer Prewitt of The Sea & Cake, Wes and Maura Studi, Julie Porter of The Oklahoma Film & Music Office, Jason Silverman and Filip Celander of the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe, Berta Benally of Blackfire, Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan of New York, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian, Kyle Reinhart at the Scandinavia House, Ferris O’Brien and D.G. Smalling of Spy FM Radio.
Adjágas is a well-known act and popular band in Europe, having opened the Glastonbury Festival in back in 2007 as well as performing at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver in Canada. Adjágas’ music is based around the concept of the joik, a traditional musical form which describes something not with its words but its sounds. Each member of the band brings their own personal generational and cultural memory to the songs and collectively the band takes listeners on a journey into the heart of their legacy.
For current event schedule, see the EVENTS section at top. Additional tour dates may be announced and with detailed information on how to obtain tickets to the shows. For more information and updated schedules, please contact Killer Whale PR+M: Michelle Svenson (918) 810-2368, msvenson@gmail.com + Leah Studie (405) 762-2918, leahstudie@gmail.com, http://www.killerwhaleprm.org
Today’s FREE Listen: “Hás it!” from Adjágas latest album “Manu Rávdnji”
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EXTRA EXTRA! Listen to Ethan Gold‘s “Royal Flush” from his album “Songs From a Toxic Apartment”
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Adjágas and Killer Whale PR+M graciously thank the Royal Norwegian Consulate Generals in New York and San Francisco and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Washington, DC. Additional support for Adjágas promotional and cultural exchange tour has been graciously provided by Sapmimusic and the Sámi Council.
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Killer Whale PR+M 