Guest post written by and photos provided by HEK.

I gave away all my books and put my records in storage. I gave up my apartment and walked to the bus station holding a guitar and a suitcase.

I was on my way to the airport. With a one-way ticket, I flew to New York to meet up with Luke Armstrong, Julianne Mason and Tom Hoy to join them on tour, and from their to go after my dreams. I can´t believe how my whole life has been a string of random events. Growing up in Iceland, I never would have dreamed that something like this was possible. When I first started writing music, I never imagined it would lead me to where it has.

I am a songwriter and a poet. I feel that in my soul. Sometimes this is a curse, because it is not easy to make a living off of this. When you spend your life doing something that is not your destiny, a little part inside of you screams to be let out.

At the beginning of the tour,  I arrived in New York and found my way to Julianne Mason’s apartment. The first show was in Brooklyn the day after. I was glad not to be playing in the first gig, because I had hardly touched a guitar for 3 months. During those three months, I had been working in landscaping 14 hours a day 6 days a week saving up money for  the trip. It was hard work, made me go crazy, but I showed up for work every day knowing that every moment that passed, I was closer to my dreams.

The show was great. Wherever this would lead, I felt like I was doing what I was meant to be doing. I have a song called “On my way” and that´s where I felt I was, on my way. Somehow the stars had aligned in my favor, and even though on the tour we are in a van going from place to place, I felt more at home than I ever did in Iceland. My mother lives in Spain. My brother in Europe. My father is dead. It is nearly impossible for a musician to make a living in Iceland. You can get free beer for playing, but no one buys records, and venues mostly do not pay anyone but the biggest acts.

I had a great time at the first show drinking Whiskey and chain smoking the night away. We woke up at 7 am the morning after and packed the van. I think I was still drunk. The first drive was long. It took us 18 hours to get to Iowa. we listened to a 60s radio station and stopped off at fast food joints that rarely had anything that a pescatarian like me could eat. I had a lot of fry´s and coffee, which feels pretty American to me.

I had no idea what to expect from this tour. I write this on day 12. We have  2 shows left. But I don´t want this life to end. It is here, playing music that people that can relate to, that makes me feel most at home. I want to keep going. Maybe I will be able to. Maybe I won’t. The important thing is that I am going to go for it. I feel like I am risking a lot. My new album is out, and I have another one that I recorded in Iceland just before I came. I really believe that I could do something with this. People who have heard this new album, people whose opinion I trust, they tell me there is something special about it.

I am thankful to everyone I have met along the way. Some people in Iceland have an understanding of America which is not correct. People told me, “Everyone has guns in America and they will shoot you if you go.”

What has surprised me most, is how everyone I meet seems to want me to make it. People I have never met, they listen to my music, they talk to me, and they offer me encouragement. Who are these people? I wonder. Why do they want to help me? To everyone who has come to our shows, bought my CDs, thank you. I am doing this for you and for that part of my soul that tells this is my destiny. I promise to play hard, to never stop being inspired, and to try to make it.

I can’t name all the good people who have helped me along the way, but you know who you are. From my heart to yours, thank you.