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Nicolai Dunger: From Soccer to Singing

Nicolai Dunger followed an unusual path to the music industry: He gave up being a Swedish national soccer player to pursue a musical career after being discovered singing on a balcony in the small northern Sweden town where he was born.

A singer-songwriter whose music evokes the emotions of early Van Morrison and the poignant vocals of Jeff Buckley, Dunger has toured or recorded with a diverse roster of artists including Soundtrack of Our Lives, Calexico, Will Oldham and Sufjan Stevens.

His most recent album, Here Is My Song You Can Have It...I Don't Want It Anymore/Yours 4-Ever is surprisingly upbeat, especially considering it was written for the girlfriend he had just broken up with. The album was co-produced by Mercury Rev and recorded in sessions both in New York City and Stockholm, Sweden.

Copyright 2006 XPN

David Dye is a longtime Philadelphia radio personality whose music enthusiasm has captivated listeners of World Cafe® since 1991. World Cafe is produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania.