Interview with Lay Low in Winnipeg Sun

Iceland's Lay Low makes her Canadian debut at the Nuna (now) Festival, but the folksinger is well known in her home country. Her country and blues-tinged CD "Please Don't Hate Me" topped the charts and earned her three Icelandic Music Awards. We chatted with her via e-mail.
Are you a household name in Iceland?
The Lay Low name sounds familiar to a lot of people. It is such a small country, and Reykjavik a small city that sometimes you can end up knowing everyone and everyone knowing you.
How did you become a country and blues singer in Iceland?
I wasn't really planning on staying in a particular genre. But it turned out that my music was a bit country and a bit bluesy sometimes. Those genres are pretty well liked, I would think. There is a big blues festival every year and I think people all over like a bit of country.
Most Canadians have only heard of Björk and perhaps Sigur Ros. What other popular bands are there in Iceland? Do you have any favourites?
There is a lot of bands around here in Iceland. And a lot of good bands, very good bands. Sin Fang Bous, Seabear, Hjaltalin, FM Belfast, Olöf Arnalds, Pikknikk if I have to name a few ... but there are many many more that I like.
What characteristics and qualities do you hear in Icelandic music that you don't hear in music from any other country?
I'm not sure what it is, but it is a fact that we live in an extraordinary country with great landscapes and powerful mountains. It must affect and come through in the music and is inspiring. A small population living on an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, that's what we are.
www.winnipegsun.com/entertainment/music/2009/04/23/9212496-sun.html
Lay Low
"Please don't hate me"
www.youtube.com/v/xt-uv6bcq2g&hl&fmt=18

www.laylow.is
www.myspace.com/baralovisa