RENAY (DK)

Performing:

• FRIDAY: Full band show + writers round

RENAY – Denmark’s best kept secret!

He doesn’t sound like the others. His story isn’t like the others either, and neither is his voice. Now you no longer have to settle for hearing him on the radio or in a lucky moment at one of his many jobs.

The sound and voice are anything but Danish. Soulful, funky, warm, authentic and with deep roots in the very best of the great foreign scene. But the man himself has his feet buried in Jutland, while his musical and Danish/African heart has always beaten for the very big ones over there. And then it’s good to be able to live up to that and them. Renay can do that.

“I put everything at stake when I play and sing. It has to feel good and be alive – both for me and for the audience, and I never go on stage without that. Music must be full of soul and life and chances, and therefore I give everything every single time,” says the man, who, by the way, can boast several million streams.

And if you think Stevie Wonder or Bill Withers when you listen to the big voice, it’s not entirely wrong. They are just two of Renay’s sources of inspiration and a couple of the reasons why he hasn’t jumped on the Danish-language music wave that seems to be working right now. Because his heart beats for something else.

“The vibe in my music naturally draws threads back in time and to great American soul artists. An LA vibe, which I just love very much, and which I give to my audience. But it must always be cozy and intimate, because I am the opposite of a provocateur and just want to be there in the music and give everything to the audience.”

He will do that LIVE, while he finishes writing his album and follows up on one of the singles, Fire To The Dancefloor, and on the EP he released a couple of years ago.

With him, he has a young band with musicians from the absolute top shelf. They also play with a long list of the biggest artists in Denmark, including Andreas Odbjerg, Tobias Rahim, Mads Langer, Dopha, Christopher, Annika Aakjær and Jonah Blacksmith, among others.

Renay Nielsen: vocals & guitar / Nikolaj Lippert: bass / Kristoffer Jeberg: drums / Johannes Hieronymus: guitar / Nikolaj Anthon Berg: keys / Jakob Viberg Elleriis: perc