Interview and first San Francisco show with Swedish teenage sister duo First Aid Kit

Klara, 17 and Jöhanna, 19 Soderburg are First Aid Kit

“When I fall in love with music...I want to share.” That was the email I received from a friend of mine the Fall of 2008 introducing me to First Aid Kit’s cover of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song.” I fell in love too and can’t wait to check out the two Swedish teenage sisters play the Bottom of the Hill next Tuesday, June 2nd.

First Aid Kit is Jöhanna and Klara Soderburg, ages 19 and 17. They grew up in a suburb south of Stockholm getting an early start making videos in a forest near their home and posting them on youtube and myspace. The cover caught the attention of fellow Swedes the Knife, who released the EP Drunken Trees on their label Rabid Records last year. Earlier this year Wichita Records released the full length album The Big Black and the Blue.

The Fleet Foxes cover might be what draws you in, but their original music is what keeps you there with lyrics well beyond their years and vocal harmonies perfectly intertwining the girl’s strong voices.

Other than a quick jaunt to South by Southwest earlier this year, this is the duo’s first American tour. I caught an email interview with Jöhanna, the older of the two sisters. She talked about writing songs with her sister, advice for other female musicians and how the Internet has helped First Aid Kit on their way.

Read the interview here

Lady Gaga outs Don't Ask Don't Tell?

I wonder if Congress' willingness to repeal the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy in the military had anything to do with this video... It also shows how damn bored our boys are over in Afghanistan.

Asking for help in saving a friend's life: be the stem cell match for Elissa Froman!

"He who has a why to live, can bear almost any how" - Friedrich Nietzsche

If one of your best friend's little sisters had beaten cancer twice and it had come back for the third time you would be posting your first ever non-musical entry on a music blog too.

And hey, I met Becky at music camp, so this is musical. She was my roommate in college and majored in oboe performance and psychology. She's now a Music Therapist at a home for the elderly in Skokie, IL. I've been there and watched what joy she brings to many people that can't remember their own names. I couldn't do it, I'm glad she does.

But this is about her sister Elissa! Lissy, as she is called, is an amazing person. She's been working on Capitol Hill since she started college and has worked for various Civil Rights Lobbyist including the National Council of Jewish Women and Reform Judaism. She's smart, strong, funny and a very loving person. She might also be a woman you wouldn't want to mess with, but you didn't hear that from me :)

Read her blog She Who Has a Why here.

A couple months ago, Lissy's cancer came back for the third time, she has Hodgkin's lymphoma. As most of you know, this is serious folks. Beating cancer once and then twice is an amazing thing to do before you're 27. But a third time? We are really scared now.

Lissy and her family are looking for a match for her platelets, not her bone marrow if you were wondering, the registry is just called that. If you are inspired to help, or at least see if you can help, please go to Be the Match and register. It takes about 15 minutes and they will send you a free kit to see if you are indeed a match for someone in need of bone marrow (just a simple cheek swab!). Maybe you will be Lissy's match and help save her life! Tell your friends! Repost on your blogs! As Becky has told me, a good match can mean the best and worst for Lissy's future.

I've signed up, I'm waiting for my kit to come in the mail.

Lissy was recently admitted to Rabbinical School. We want her to go. This woman will make an amazing Rabbi.

Read more about Lissy here