First Aid Kit Releases Full Live Set as Free Download // jack White Produced 7-Inch Single Out 1/18/11

DOWNLOAD: First Aid Kit - 10-Song Set Recorded Live in Sydney, Australia Sept. '10 (requires registration)

Rising Swedish folk-pop duo First Aid Kit are among the latest artists to take part in Third Man Records' Blue Series of releases. The special series of 7-inch records, produced by Jack White and recorded at his own Third Man Studios in Nashville, has featured releases from Wanda Jackson, Laura Marling and Secret Sisters, among others.

For their Blue Series 7-inch, First Aid Kit recorded covers of Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Universal Soldier" (made famous in 1965 by Donovan) and classic blues standard "It Hurts Me Too", a song much loved by fans of Karen Dalton's 1969 folk-blues version. First Aid Kit, comprised of 17 and 20-year old sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg, recorded the tracks with White during the Nashville stop on their US headlining tour in October. Joshua Hedley joins the duo on fiddle for both tracks, while touring drummer Mattias Bergqvist, their father Benkt Söderberg, and Jack Lawrence (The Greenhornes, The Raconteurs), also contribute additional instrumentation on "It Hurts Me Too."

First Aid Kit's Blue Series single comes out on January 18th, 2011.



Links:
First Aid Kit

First Aid Kit Release Video for "Ghost Town" // CMJ Show on Oct. 21st

First Aid Kit's new video for "Ghost Town," off the duo's debut full-length album The Big Black & The Blue (Wichita), premiered earlier this week on Spin.com. Encapsulating the haunting beauty of the song, the Mats Udd-directed video was filmed earlier this summer in Stockholm, nearby their hometown of Enskede, Sweden.

"We filmed it during a beautiful summer's day at a wheat field and a meadow in Stockholm. Mats Udd and his crew did a fantastic job and really captured the spirit of the song. It's inspired by Picnic At Hanging Rock, among other things," explains First Aid Kit's Klara and Johanna Söderberg. "The shooting was a lot of fun, but we got over 100 mosquito bites each (!!). However, it's all for the art, right?"



A "Ghost Town" single will be released digitally September 28th via Wichita and will include a cover of Fever Ray's "When I Grow Up" as a b-side. The cover is a tribute to First Aid Kit's mentor Karin Dreijer Andersson, of Fever Ray and The Knife, who released the young Swedish sisters' debut EP "Drunken Trees" in 2008 on her label, Rabid. The "Ghost Town" single will also be available as a 7" via the Wichita web store and at First Aid Kit's shows.

Later this month, First Aid Kit will begin their second North American headlining tour on September 30th at The Vera Project in Seattle, WA. Ferraby Lionheart will be opening on all dates of the tour and The Sea Of Cortez are also on the bill for the first three shows. The tour now wraps up with a recently announced New York show on October 21st at The Delancey as part of the Saddle Creek/Wichita showcase during the CMJ Music Marathon.

First Aid Kit tour dates:

SEPT. 30 -- SEATTLE, WA, THE VERA PROJECT+*
OCT. 01 -- PORTLAND, OR, DOUG FIR LOUNGE+*
OCT. 03 -- SAN FRANCISCO, CA, BOTTOM OF THE HILL+*
OCT. 04 -- LOS ANGELES, CA, LARGO AT THE CORONET+
OCT. 05 -- LOS ANGELES, CA, ECHO+
OCT. 07 -- AUSTIN, TX, STUBBS JR.+ (Official ACL Pre-party)
OCT. 09 -- AUSTIN, TX, AUSTIN CITY LIMITS FESTIVAL
OCT. 11 -- NASHVILLE, TN, THE END+
OCT. 13 -- CHICAGO, IL, LINCOLN HALL+
OCT. 15 -- TORONTO, ON, EL MOCAMBO+
OCT. 16 -- MONTREAL, QC, LE DIVAN ORANGE+
OCT. 17 -- BOSTON, MA, GREAT SCOTT+
OCT. 19 -- PHILADELPHIA, PA, JOHNNY BRENDA'S+
OCT. 20 -- WASHINGTON, DC, DC9+
OCT. 21 -- NEW YORK, NY, THE DELANCEY (Saddle Creek/Wichita CMJ showcase; 10:15pm set time)

+ Ferraby Lionheart supporting
* The Sea Of Cortez supporting

Links:
First Aid Kit

Sweden's First Aid Kit Returns to the US in October // "Hard Believer" Posted as a Free Download

DOWNLOAD: First Aid Kit - "Hard Believer"

Sweden's First Aid Kit is the poster children for the power of social media as their video cover of Fleet Foxes’ "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" has now gotten over 1.5M views.

The band released their debut CD, The Big Black and the Blue (Witchita Recordings), earlier this year and completed their well-received first US tour in June.

The Big Black & the Blue was recorded intermittently throughout 2008 -2009 with the help of their father, Benkt Soderberg, at their home studio Cellar Door. The collected work transports the listener via shimmering, almost telekinetic harmonies and thoughtful lyrical imagery. The songs on The Big Black & the Blue seep under the skin and claw at you. Surface playfulness is deceiving as the tracks take on a darker hue in moments, creating a surefooted yet interesting balance. By the first strokes of the acoustic fused opener, “In the Morning,” we enter the warm and spell binding nature that is First Aid Kit’s world. Transitioning to the mesmeric “Hard Believer,” where a real-life argument about religion provoked the rousingly urgent line: “And it’s one life / and it’s this life / and it’s beautiful,” then resting in the jauntiness of “Sailor Song,” which is underpinned by a driving Autoharp and a classic lost-love motif. Yet another album highlight “I Met Up With the King” borrows a line from Gram Parsons to marvelous effect and “Heavy Storm” soothes with its loosely swing. First Aid Kit penned all of the material for the album in addition to lovingly designing the sepia-toned artwork.

First Aid Kit is coming back through the US in October and I would assume that a NYC date will be slotted in around the Philly/DC dates.

Here are the upcoming tour dates:
9/30 - Seattle, WA - Vera Project
10/1 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
10/3 - San Fransisco, CA - Bottom of The Hill
10/4 - Los Angeles, CA - Largo at the Coronet
10/5 - Los Angeles, CA - Echo
10/9 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits
10/11 - Nashville, TN - The End
10/13 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
10/15 - Toronto, ON - El Mocambo
10/16 - Montreal, QC - Le Divan Orange
10/17 - Allston, MA - Great Scott
10/19 - Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda's
10/20 - Washington, DC - DC9

Links:
First Aid Kit