Pinelina dnevna soba

Pinela's Living Room (Pinelina Dnevna Soba) 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). As at December 2020, it had mounted and produced over 70 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.

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 (and will continue) to inform the venue's music policy moving forward.

The venue runs an average of seven or eight concerts a year between September and May.

Selected list of artists

2020

Bowstrings (Slovenia), Irena Tomažin (Slovenia), Mohammad Reza Mortazavi (Iran)

2019

Mónika Lakatos & Mihály Rostás (Hungary), Chloé Mons (France, ft. Chris Eckman), Dan Stuart (Green on Red, USA), Niko Novak (Slovenia), Igralom (Serbia)

2018

Pinelina In C (Slovenia), Bowrain (Slovenia), Żywizna (Poland), The Frictions (Slovenia/USA), Ernst Reijseger (Netherlands), King Ayisoba (Ghana), Todd Clouser, Gustavo Nandayapa, Žiga Golob & Misha Marks (USA/Mexico/Slovenia/NZ), Tony Buck (The Necks, Australia)

2017

Daniel Vezoja (Slovenia), My Buddy Moose (Croatia), Drago Ivanuša (Slovenia), Chris Eckman & The Last Side of the Mountain Band (USA/Slovenia), Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society (USA), Jelena Popržan & Damir Imamović (Austria/BiH), Derek Gripper (S Africa), Širom (Slovenia), Hugo Race & Michelangelo Russo (USA/Italy), Ana Ćurčin (Serbia)

2016

Zoc (Slovenia), tAman (BiH/Slovenia), Dan Stuart, Fernando Viciconte & Don Antonio (USA/Italy), DVA (Czech Republic), Širom (Slovenia), Jusuf Brkić (BiH), Anthony Coleman (USA), Brother Dege & The Brotherhood (USA, Ireland), Malamor (Slovenia)

2015

All Strings Detached (Slovenia), Damir Imamović Sevdah Takht (BiH/Croatia/Serbia), Fee Reega (USA), Toni Kitanovski Trio (N Macedonia), Russ Barenberg (USA), Branko Završan (Slovenia), Chris Brokaw (USA), Dennis Bovell (UK, DJ set)

2014

Litošt (Slovenia), Thalia Zedek Band (USA), Neca Falk (Slovenia), Terry Lee Hale (USA), Chris Cacavas (USA), Amy LaVere & Will Sexton (USA), Najoua (Slovenia)

2013

Tolmun (Slovenia), Scott McCloud (USA), Chris Eckman & Žiga Golob (USA/Slovenia), Lori Goldston (USA), Tanino Duo (Argentina), Janez Škof & Marjan Stanić (Slovenia)

2012

Zoc (USA/Slovenia), Uršula Ramoveš & Fantje z Jazbecove grape (Slovenia), Susana Baca (Peru), Brina (Slovenia), Tamikrest (Mali), Hugo Race (Australia), Katarina Juvančič & Dejan Lapanja (Slovenia)

2011

Tomaž Pengov (Slovenia), Žiga Golob (Slovenia), Boštjan Narat (Slovenia), Severa Gjurin & Dejan Lapanja (Slovenia), Andrea Schroeder & Jesper Lehmkuhl (Germany), Chris Eckman (USA), Damir Imamović (BiH)

2010

Pinela (Slovenia), Willard Grant Conspiracy (USA)

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.

Three of the most resonant shows of the past few years have been Chris Eckman & The Last Side of the Mountain Band, the 50th concert at the venue and one that reunited some of Pinelina's earliest supporters and musicians; two stunning performances of Terry Riley's In C, which featured an ensemble of ten Slovenian musicians; and a rare appearance by New York experimentalists Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society.

Funding and collaboration

Throughout its history, Pinelina has been supported mainly through audience contributions (which the organisers refer to as a "compulsory voluntary contribution") to cover travel and accommodation costs, and a small fee for the musicians. Some financial support has been forthcoming for the last three years from the Slovenian Ministry of Culture (rolling one-year project-based applications).

Pinelina has also recently partnered with Kulturni center Janeza Trdine (KCJT) in Novo Mesto, with artists playing shows at both venues on a cost-sharing basis.

Other projects

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.

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)