Coming from Norway, the hot Texas weather is a challenge for Sondre Lerche. Before his May 20th show at Emo's in Austin, the climate change greeted Sondre with a nasty cold that was a bit rough on his voice. But nobody would have known any better after hearing his set of beautifully melodic songs. Most of the songs were accompanied by Sondre's acoustic guitar, blending strong chords with his unique voice to make a magical pair. Things were amped up when Sondre jammed out with an electric guitar, encouraging the audience to join in. The crowd was very responsive to the young and talented Norwegian, and sang along with the "na na na's" in the chorus of the upbeat "All luck ran out."

And though he claims to be a little off of his game with the cold, Sondre gave an amazing performance with the racing paced "Sleep on needles." The crowd became more and more comfortable with him as the set went on. They were quite amused when, in between two of the songs, he asked in the most polite manner if anyone wanted to buy an album or a t-shirt from the merch guy in the back, making sure everyone knew that 'they didn't have to, but it would be nice'.

Sondre has been to Austin before, for this year's SXSW music conference, and is steadily growing a fan base here and throughout the rest of the United States. This comes as no surprise, since his debut album "Faces Down" had already went gold his native Norway in 2002. Without a doubt, Sondre Lerche will be one artist to watch for this year.

-elise
bandchat.org correspondent