Svavar Knútur is an Icelandic troubadour, raised in the rugged north of Iceland and based in Akureyri. He travels with a guitar and a ukulele, and builds his concerts the way the old Icelandic kvöldvaka worked — the evening gathering where songs, stories and jokes came in the same sitting.

The songs come from darker ground: Iceland’s long winters, its shame-filled history, and the human condition seen from a small island in the north. But anyone who has been in the room knows the other half of it. The laughter is not a break from the sad songs; it is what makes them bearable.

He names Nick Drake, Will Oldham and Kris Kristofferson as his touchstones, with Leonard Cohen, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell and Nick Cave not far behind. He sings in Icelandic and English, and has toured Europe, Canada, Australia and the UK.

In 2024 he completed a fifteen-year artistic project chronicling a journey through the lands of grief — from his 2009 debut Kvöldvaka through Ölduslóð (2012), Brot (2015) and the Ahoy! albums, Side A in 2018 and Side B in 2024. The cover art of every record in the cycle was made with his daughter: an ever-developing series of portraits of the artist and of the progress of the journey.

He is also a carrier of the tradition he came from: Amma, his second album, is a tribute to traditional Icelandic folk songs, recorded live in concert on guitar, ukulele and piano.

In his own words on the cycle: “Contrary to common expectations, the story is not as dark as some people might think, as the journey through grief is also a journey of discovery of light, love, beauty, gratitude, and purpose.”

He adds: “Hope is always a key theme in my songs, even the darkest ones.”

He was the first recipient of the Anna Pálína Árnadóttir memorial award for excellence in Icelandic folk music, given for his continued exploration of new waters in modern folk music and a tireless effort to bring the heritage of Iceland to young audiences. Amma spent two weeks at number one in Iceland, and his 2023 collaboration with Lucy Ward and Adyn Townes earned a four-star review in The Guardian. With his band Hraun he reached the final five of the BBC World Service’s Next Big Thing.

He performs solo, with guitar and ukulele, and needs very little: one DI, one microphone and a stand. Duo and full-band configurations are available on request.