Abalone Dots

ABALONE DOTS
Sunday, March 22, 2009
@ 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville, TN

The bluegrass community is made up of a group of some of the most supportive fans as well as some of the most raw and talented artists. You can’t really look around any given event involving bluegrass, such as the IBMA’s, and not find a pocket of the hotel filled with outstanding musicianship, whether it be someone that is signed to a label and making a living from it, or just simply someone who came over to jam right off of the street.



Sweden however is not the first place that comes to mind when you start to think about great bluegrass based acoustic folk music, but that is where Abalone Dots hail from and they will make you think twice about Sweden’s bluegrass community. The all female foursome has recently scored a Swedish Grammy, has had much success with their album “Traveler,” and recent single “Solo,” and after performing at Austin’s South By Southwest Festival, made their way over to Nashville to show Music City what they are all about with stops at the famous Bluebird Café and on this night 3rd and Lindsley.



Without wasting anytime they dove right into their set with “Long Lonely Road.” Viktor, the lone male band member on stage sat behind the drum kit plucking the banjo while bassist Louise Holmer took on the lead vocals of the song and they didn’t hesitate to showcase their incredible four part harmonies as the chorus rang out throughout the intimate venue. The crowd cheered in approval as the song came to a close and you got the sense that they were certain that they were about to see a performance that showcased talented musicianship and great vocals like they haven’t seen before.



The banjo plucked it’s way into “Devil’s Blues” as they continued showcasing their harmonies as acoustic guitarist Rebecka Hjukstrom took over the lead vocals. Halfway through the song, Viktor switched instruments and began to hit the drums, something that is almost unheard of within’ the bluegrass community, but added a certain degree of depth to the already powerful song.



Elin Mork, the fiddle player stepped up to the mic and began, “We are so happy to be back here in Nashville all the way from Sweden. We were here last year and we had a great time and this time we are here for a couple days, through Thursday and have a lot of fun planned,” she finished as Sophia Hogman made the switch from mandolin to cello.



“So I wrote this next song when I was miserable,” started Rebecka, “But I am happy now just so you know,” she finished as the band played “Summer Nights,” And as the final notes were hit the crowd roared with an enthusiastic cheer bringing a smile to the girls faces.



“This next song is a murder song that Elin wrote,” started Rebecka as Elin chimed in, “I was miserable when I wrote this one.” The crowds laughed along with the band with Elin’s wit and charm. “But you know how there are always those bluegrass songs where a guy kills a girl for no particular reason,” stated Rebecka, “Well we said we need to put a stop to this and on this one the girl kills the guy,” she finished as Elin stated, “But she did have a reason for killing him,” before she took over the lead vocals on “The Ballad of Lee McKay.”



As the crowd was applauding the song as it came to a close Elin exclaimed, “This girl knows how to kill huh?” causing the crowd to once again laugh with her and the band. “This next song was one that Rebecka wrote last time we were here called “Over Georgia.” We weren’t in Georgia at all but she got her vibes going so here we go,” finished Elin as they went into “Over Georgia.”



Louise approached the microphone as the song came to a close and began, “This next song is our first single from our last record “Traveler.” And it is the first song that we made a video for and it’s a very impressive video really,” she said with a chuckle, “I’m standing there with my bass and my hair flowing,” she finished as they played “Solo.”



“Thank you all for listening to us tonight,” began Rebecka,” you can visit us on myspace, it is abalonedotsmusic after the thing, ya know that thingy. Abalone Dots wasn’t available so we had to add music to it, but that’s where we are at on the web. But this last song is one that I wrote about Nashville and I actually wrote about a place called The Station Inn and last time we were here I found out that was a real place,” she finished as they rounded out their set with “Traveler,” that ended with a pounding drum beat that seemed to pound right through the audience.



Abalone Dots is a band that brings a very unique flavor to an old style of music. The blending of instruments that range from cello, to mandolin, to viola, etc… combined with their four part harmonies and drums makes for an eclectic blend of bluegrass with a classical influence mixed in to make an already impressive sound that much more impressive as they showed the crowd at 3rd an - Today's Country Mag