Spirituell bergensvenn

Conversation after Leven's course on “guitar-based songwriting” for local musicians at Hagstrøm (Ole Blues with Norsk Musikkråd). Leven says he made his professional debut in Bergen in 1967, together with an American gospel singer, and fell in love with the city at once; its “spiritual aura” is like coming home and reminds him of a small town on the Scottish west coast where he lived for a long time. Tours are normally just work for him – except in Bergen, where he always takes a day off. On Friday he comes to Garage with the “virtuoso The Celtic Soulmen”, the only place where he wants to play in Bergen. The concert in Førde the day before was “a bit wild”, most of the guests drunk.

What became of the planned live album of the Doll by Doll concert at Garage in 1997, Leven does not know – he forgot about it, and it does not mean much to him, so many people record his concerts. He prefers to tour alone: in bands one person always gets depressed and infects the others until nobody is talking to anybody any more.

From the seminar: images are the most important thing, which is why he always carries a notebook; you should write with your heart and not analyse. He deliberately allows himself only one cliché per song, warns against “biblical” images such as deserts and suggests drastically more interesting alternatives; American country singers use so many clichés that it becomes surreal and therefore exciting (k. d. lang). Caption: Leven plays a 58-year-old guitar that once belonged to Doc Watson.