The Tallest Man on Earth

The Tallest Man on Earth plays The Observatory North Park on Saturday, November 14, with Andrea von Kampen opening. The show is part of the tour for his latest album, Just Beyond Endless Mountain, which came out October 9 on Anti- Records.

If you're not familiar with the name, The Tallest Man on Earth is the stage name of Kristian Matsson, a Swedish singer-songwriter who's spent nearly twenty years working within the American folk tradition. He grew up in Vålarna, in central Sweden's Dalarna region, during the 1980s and '90s, surrounded by fiddlers and folk dancers. Those childhood traditions — the polskas, the old field recordings, and the folk dances — are what he drew on to shape the melodies, voice, and songwriting on Just Beyond Endless Mountain. He's cited Bob Dylan as a key influence, and you can hear that lineage in the way he handles a song.

It's a folk record that looks back to the sounds he grew up with in Sweden, and the tour brings those songs to a live stage. Andrea von Kampen opens the night, so the whole evening stays in that acoustic, song-driven territory. The Observatory is at 2891 University Ave in North Park.

Doors open at 7 PM, and the show starts at 8 PM. If you want to eat or drink before the music, dinner and drinks are available at the connected West Coast Tavern, and there's parking in the structure across the street on 29th St.