Pinelina dnevna soba

Contact

Pinelina dnevna soba

Erjavčeva cesta 25, SI-1000 Ljubljana

Phone386 (0) 4 023 4085

Founded byRok Košir

Pinelina dnevna soba, which translates as Pinela's Living Room, is a residential concert venue in Ljubljana established in 2010 by Rok Košir, a producer, booking agent (Bakalina Velika, Etceteral) and manager (Damir Imamović, Širom). Pinelina had mounted and produced concerts by artists from Slovenia, the wider region and the rest of the world. It has become something of a prestigious tour stop for domestic and international artists, with applications and proposals far exceeding the number of slots available. The venue runs an average of seven or eight concerts a year between September and May.

Concept and beginnings

The idea for Pinelina dnevna soba originally sprang from a single concert given by local Ljubljana band Pinela, fronted by Košir's wife Mateja, who wanted an intimate atmosphere in which to showcase the new songs they had been rehearsing. The family's large, acoustically generous apartment turned out to be the ideal venue. Some time after that, via contacts with Glitterbeat Records boss Chris Eckman, the apartment hosted a concert by Robert Fisher, late frontman of Americana legends Willard Grant Conspiracy. Its success gave the Koširs the idea of putting on a regular series of shows, expanding out from a small circle of friends through word-of-mouth and, very soon after that, a mailing list.

Košir's original idea was to feature primarily singer-songwriters, being perhaps the best fit for both his interests and the size of the room, which can hold 50 people comfortably but has, on many occasions, exceeded that. But while singer-songwriters made up the bulk of the early shows (Slovenian legend Tomaž Pengov in one of his last concerts, Boštjan Narat, Damir Imamović in an early Ljubljana appearance), the venue soon branched out to take in various strands of Americana, rock, folk, jazz, experimental and world music. That desire for variety continues to inform the venue's music policy moving forward.

Highlights

From an early, fairly tight focus on Slovenian and regional artists, Pinelina swiftly threw its net more widely, progressively including a number of top names from the Americana and near-Americana scene (Chris Cacavas, Chris Brokaw, Dan Stuart). Two of Glitterbeat's biggest African acts, Tamikrest and King Ayisoba, have also appeared, while the experimental scene has been represented more strongly as the years have passed, particularly in the form of the internationally acclaimed Širom, who have often used Pinelina as a sounding-board for their work-in-progress. Košir's interest in sevdah has been well-served by appearances from Damir Imamović, solo or with Sevdah Takht, and Jusuf Brkić.

Other projects

Pinelina has partnered with Janez Trdina Cultural Centre (KCJT) in Novo mesto, with artists playing shows at both venues on a cost-sharing basis.

Since 2018, Pinelina dnevna soba has co-produced a short summer series of concerts with the International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC). These take place in front of the MGLC building (Tivoli Mansion), which is situated in the heart of Ljubljana's showpiece public park.

See also

• Glitterbeat Records

External links

• Interview with Rok Košir, Delo, September 2020 (in Slovenian)
• Interview and feature, Dnevnik, July 2018 (in Slovenian)

Performances

• Igralom (2019)
• Chris Eckman & The Last Side of the Mountain Band (2017)
• Daniel Vezoja (2017)
• Širom (2016)
• Janez Škof & Marjan Stanić (2013)