UPWARD PATH

Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit’s profile is rising

Johanna Söderberg is getting ready to perform at The Anthem in Washington, D.C.

It’s the fourth night of tour, and she’s already enjoying herself.

The musician and her sister, Klara, make up the folk duo First Aid Kit.

The two have been busy this year, with lots of touring and releasing two projects — “Ruins” in January and the EP “Tender Offerings” this month.

“It’s been very busy for us in a good way,” she says in a recent interview. “We’re also making stops in a few places we’ve never been on this tour.”

One of those is Albuquerque.

“I don’t know what took us so long,” she says.

The Söderberg sisters release the EP “Tender Offerings” today on Columbia Records.

The four-track EP features songs that were recorded during the “Ruins” album sessions.

Söderberg says that whittling down the tracks was a tough process and that the four on the EP were perfect for one another.

“‘Ruins’ is more of a breakup-themed record,” she says. “And these songs are beautiful in their own way. We wanted to have a space for them to live and breathe.”

The sisters have been working together for 11 years now.

Söderberg can see the growth of both women — personally and professionally.

“We were kids when we started this band,” she says. “We were both in our teens. We’ve grown together closer, because we spend a lot of time together. Sometimes, I wonder if we’d see each other as often if we didn’t have music. It’s a scary place to go. I know that we’re making music for a bigger cause. It’s bigger than us. There’s nothing like getting on stage and being able to share our creation with others. That’s why we get up and keep moving forward with music.”

Over the course of 11 years as a band, there has been plenty of hard work.

The sisters have watched the band’s profile rise.

In fact, next year the duo will head back to their native Stockholm to embark on a stadium tour.

“We used to go to this stadium by our house. It holds like 13,000 people,” she says. “We’re going to be performing in that. This is the same venue we would watch Britney Spears perform. It’s humbling to think that we’re going to have this opportunity to play in our hometown.”

Folk duo First Aid Kit recently released the EP “Tender Offerings” and will perform in Albuquerque for the first time on Sept. 21. COURTESY OF NEIL KRUG