Josefin Winther

Josefin Winther was born in 1986 in Bergen, Norway. She grew up in a big family with five siblings, and a guitar-playing father. From a young age she became acquainted with music and performance, singing classical arias and training her voice; during the same years she played cello in a youth orchestra. At thirteen she began to play guitar and to write her own songs. Her teenage years were filled with transitions: a child became a young adult, and turned from a dedicated classical musician to a performing artist and songwriter; she turned her focus from athletics and basketball to music, and spent her nights and weekends rehearsing and playing shows around Norway. At nineteen Josefin was signed to indie label Your Favourite Music, in Bergen, and the same year she released her debut EP. It received critical acclaim and roused excitement for her first full-length album, scheduled for release the next year. But at that point Josefin decided she had her own ideas for where she wanted her career to go, and left Your Favourite Music. In 2008 she released her debut album, Be Proud or Stay out of It, produced by Kristian Fanavoll Tvedt. She later tattooed the phrase on her left forearm. Josefin and her band toured extensively to promote the album, and the line-up changed often: it took its toll on the musicians to keep up with with the tour and with an extremely ambitious young woman, who had her eyes set on the stars, and was willing to do everything to reach her goal. Her debut album was received with critical acclaim. She was named, "Norway's own PJ Harvey", "Bergen's reply to Patti Smith" and a "rising star on the pop-rock sky". Late in 2009 she started recording her second full-length album, which was released on her own self-titled label, Josefin Winther. The recordings completed, Josefin moved to Iceland, and stayed there during the fall of 2010 writing new material, and recording music videos. Raising Armies was released February 2011, again produced by Kristian Fanavoll Tvedt. 2011 was filled with extensive promotion and constant touring. Among other things, she performed live on national TV, introducing herself to 700.000 viewers. Three singles were released from Raising Armies: “Horizon”, “Trend” and “The Beginning”. After touring Norway and Northern Europe in September, she moved back to Iceland, and started preparing for new songs to be released in 2012. As a kick off for the new year, she released “Why do they try?” In 2012 she will be releasing two new songs each month, one being a fully produced song arranged for band, and one being an acoustic solo performance recorded in-studio. In December 2012 the top ten releases will be put on a full length album and released in digital and physical formats. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.