The Faroe Islands Podcast

It's festival season in the Faroe Islands, and our favorite three days in the calendar are pretty much here. We talk to the music director of the G! Festival about which bands to look out for at this year's event.

And we are, indeed, still in fundraising mode. If you can help us reach our modest goal, you can throw some coins in the tip jar (or open guitar case, whichever metaphor works for you) at our gofundme page. And thank you for everyone who has already donated. It has really made a difference.

Brimheim is a Faroese/Danish musician who has a deep musical pedegree in the Faroe Islands. Last year, critics singled out her G! Festival performance as a highlight of the event. Following that performance, she sat down and talked to us. She talks to us about her journey to her triumphant G! Fest perfromance, and how she considers herself a Faroese nepo-baby, but also an outsider in the Faroes. Brimheim's latest album is called RATKING and it's getting positive notices on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Also, we've got a brief update on the resolution of the Faroese labor strike.

We're also in fundraising mode. If you can help us fund this odd project we're involved with, head over to our gofundme page and show us some love.

On this episode, we talk to Ragnar Olafson about his new book, Definitely Maybe. It's a book about music in the Faroe Islands and attempts to answer that age-old question: "How can a country so small put out so much music?" This is a subject that has intrigued this podcast for more than 15 years. We'll also hear a little bit from Ragnar's band Árstíðir.

We'll also hear some sound recorded high atop a hill overlooking the strait that separates Streymoy and Eysturoy.

On this mini-pod, we explain why there hasn't been a new podcast in the last five months. Unlike other episodes, there isn't much about the Faroe Islands. But never fear, a new podcast that has actual audio from the Faroe Islands has just posted, too.

This week, we offer a very special episode of the podcast. We talk to Elin Brimheim Heinesen about her new album, which is a collaboraion between Elin, musicians, composers, and arrangers in three different countries, and Elin's late father Jens Pauli Heinesen. Elin has set some of her father's poems to music and set them to an orchestral arrangement. Also, she's translated those poems into English and recorded English-language versions of those songs. The album is gorgeous and emotional and we spend more than 30 minutes talking about how the album came to be, about the life and work of Jens Pauli Heinesen, and his impact on Faroese culture.

We'll also hear some of the songs. We open with a bit of A Chasm Of Precious Time  and Sorrow Is Beautiful, Too and near the end you'll hear a little of The Chasm Deep Within. 

If you'd like to buy a copy of the album on vinyl or CD (and we highly recommend you do) it's for sale on the TUTL website.

Also, Atlantic Airways has started selling tickets for its 2024 flights between the Faroe Islands and New York. If you'd like to learn more, head on over to the Atlantic Airways website.

On this episode, we launch our 16th season of the podcast by tying up some loose ends from our last show, then we head to a church and struggle to describe some absolutely gorgeous music.

If you want to see the highlights of the football (soccer, for all you Americans out there) match, you can watch them here.

On this podcast, we talk about history being made, both big and small.

We start with a bried update on the remarkable rise of KI Klaksvik in the Champion's League qualifying rounds. They've already dispatched teams from Hungary and Sweden, and now stand poised to knock out a team from Norway. They've already become the first Faroese football team to qualify for the group stages of a European tournament. History, indeed.

Then we talk to the CEO of Atlantic Airways about the historic opening of air service between the Faroe Islands and New York.

And finally, we'll visit a long vanished river that has been brought back to life... in the form of a fountain.

Also, we're still in fundraising mode and could definitely use your help to nudge us over the finish line. If you're able, please visit our gofundme page and show us a little love. 

On this podcast, we talk about the 20th edition of the G! Festival. We'll hear some of the artists who will perform in Gota next week, and hear about the amenities and atmosphere you can expect at the three-day celebration of music.

After that, we'll hang out in a hotel lobby like we're Duke Fame (that's a deep cut).

We're also still in fundraising mode. You can help us pay for another season of podcasts by heading over to our Gofundme page and showing us a little love.

On this episode, we visit an old salt silo on Suduroy that has been converted to a performing arts center. We'll hear our impressions of the place back in 2010, when it was abandoned and in pretty rough shape. Then we'll see how it's been transformed into what it is today. There will be music. There will be food. There will be a bit of vertigo as we ascend a small spiral staircase. What more could you want?

Also, we're still in fundraising mode. If you can help us head back to the Faroes to record more episodes of this show, head on over to our gofundme page and show us some love.

On this episode, we talk to Glenn Larson who heads up Faroe Music Export (FMX). We talk about the music scene in the Faroe Islands, the challenges of promoting music from a remote country, and how this Norwegian ended up living in the Faroe Islands.

Also, we stand in a big parking lot where we can see both the future and the past of the Faroe Islands at the same time.

At the top of the show, we announce our fundraising campaign for the year. We're heading back to the Faroes to record more episodes of the podcast, and we could use a little help. If you can help, here's the link to our gofundme page.