Leon Majcen
Juan and I were invited to record bands during the Tønder Festival at Løgumkloster Refugium, a mid-century refuge attached to an 800-year-old monastery in rural Denmark.
First up, Leon Majcen, an American with Balkan roots, playing Tønder on his first trip to Scandinavia, en route to Bosnia to roast a lamb with family to celebrate his birthday.
We started our day at the festival, enjoying the music of James McMurtry, and looking forward to his festival set later that evening, along with Shakey Graves, Fantastic Negrito, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Emily Scott Robinson and so many more. When it was time to hump it over to the monastery, Mille from Folk SPOT Denmark graciously offered us a ride in her efficiently-sized car. Four grown men and an unreasonable amount of recording equipment later, we owe Mille a huge thank-you for getting us there in a car that was never supposed to accommodate any of us🤘😁.
As we walked the halls of the refuge, searching for the right location to record, we realized that this would be our only opportunity of the weekend to record outdoors in the garden. We decided to set up in the peaceful garden in the middle of the refuge attached to the monastery, maybe the most serene location I’ve ever been.
While we were setting up, Leon saw a robot cruising around, cutting grass. Like a Roomba, but for lawns. By the time we finished setup and soundcheck, the helpful little robot had fucked off around the corner to a different part of the garden. Leon thought it’d be fun to have the li’l guy working in the background of the wide shot, so he picked it up and brought it closer to us. As he set it down, its alarm started screaming bloody murder, convinced it was being stolen. We tried to assure the robot it hadn't been stolen, but it kept screaming until Juan suggested that we “send it home” to its docking station, which finally set it at ease.
That shit was very funny. Extremely, objectively funny. Satisfied that we had done the Lord’s Work, we got to the real business at hand: recording two songs from Leon’s fifth full-length album, The Leaving Kind.
Special thanks to Tønder Festival Creative Director Maria Theessink, and to M.C. Hansen, Rasmus Wehner, and Mille Raaby Jensen from Folk SPOT Denmark for making this happen.
Recorded live at Løgumkloster Refugium during the Tønder Festival on August 27, 2026.
00:26 - “Don't You Cry”
06:38 - “Honeybee”
Audio by Juan M Soria
Video by Brad Wagner
Leon Majcen: https://www.leonmajcenmusic.com/
Tønder Festival: https://tf.dk/en
Folk SPOT Denmark: https://folkspotdenmark.dk/
Løgumkloster Refugium: https://www.loegumkloster-refugium.dk/
A/V Production: https://www.iknowweshould.com/
