MY LIFE

I was born in Sweden back in the late 1950's. I was the only boy in our family, and I had three sisters. My school time was sometimes up and sometimes down but I finished school with an ok grade.

Most of my adult life I have been working as a paramedic in Sweden. For more than 27 years I have been helping people with my ambulances and paramedic co-workers. 

I have also worked with disabled people and people with physical health problems. With kids who have needed special treatments because they had chosen the wrong way against the laws and with young refugees who had arrived in Sweden from different countries. For a while I even worked at a prison and with some grown up people that had a new chance to start again with something other than crime.

For more than 20 years I was also travelling around Sweden as a lecturer - I still do sometimes. I did most of my lectures in schools and talked with kids, teachers and other grown up people about violence, the consequence of using violence and what you can do to yourself with a positive attitude to your own life, whatever your background history looks like.

Some of my life experiences have affected me more than others and sometimes I feel myself a little bit restless. I am a worldwide traveler but right now I try to live my dreams and that is to write songs and lyrics.

UNITED NATIONS

I have also worked as a U.N. soldier 4 times in my life. First, I was in southern Lebanon in a small village called Naqoura in a Swedish U.N. hospital 1983-84 “L07” and 1987 “L14”. In 1991 I went with a group of 500 Swedes down to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and a “Swedish General Hospital” “SA01” during “Desert Shield” and “Desert Storm”. In 1993-94 I was in the civil war in Bosnia “BA01” as a paramedic, with 850 other Swedish troops. My company was located near a village with the name Vares. Every time I have been out as a U.N. soldier, I have been working in the medical care units.

These missions have affected me very much, but it has also given me friends for life. You can read more of some of these friends under DESSERT STORM.

MUSIC

Music has always been a part of my life; everyone in my family has played instruments or been a singer. I started playing trumpet at the age of 10 and singing in the choir in our church about the same time. Some friends and I started a local band when we were teenagers. We played out some and we learned a lot and had a lot of fun.

I played trumpet in the military music court at the Swedish parade of soldiers changing the guard for a while back in the beginning of 1980’s. Later, in the 1990’s I was a lead singer and played guitars and percussions in a local cover band with the name “Two Inch Four”.

I have played guitar and sung on Swedish radio and T.V. a couple of times and in a Swedish documentary film about one of our missions during the civil war in Bosnia “BA01” 1993-94.

I have always brought my guitar with me during my missions and I have written songs to clear my head after some special situations one can be involved in during a war. These songs have given me some friends and now I will tell you about some special friends I met during “Desert Storm” in Saudi Arabia in 1991.

DESERT STORM

During my mission in Saudi Arabia I met a lot of people who have been out in the desert on different missions. Their stories affected me, so I wrote a song and gave it the name “Thoughts in the Desert”. I played it a couple of times and suddenly I was contacted by a team from “209th BPAD” (an Army Reserve Unit from Rome, Georgia) - they were in Riyadh during the war. One of these guys name was/is Russell McClanahan. They interviewed me and broadcast some lines from my song out to the troops.

After the interview I played and did a show together with some of my Swedish friends at some army places as a U.S. mobile hospital unit “The 144th Evacuation Hospital of the Utah National Guard” and a Patriot base not far from our own base camp.

One man I met - his name was Sal Bate - so sad but I have lost contact with him - lived in New Jersey. He was a lawyer back home in the USA and in Saudi he was a commander for some mobile hospitals. He wanted me to send him the song when he was back in the USA after the war ended. He told me he had some contacts with people at Radio New York and he wanted them to listen to my song. I sent him the song, but they said the song arrived too late after the 4th of July, so all the parades were over. End of that story.

Anyhow, I decide to travel to USA to visit my friend from “Desert Storm” and I did my first trip back in December 1994.

First, I visit Sal Bate in New Jersey and I spent some time at his place and in New York. After a couple of days, I took the Greyhound bus and went down to my friends from the “209th BPAD” in Rome outside Atlanta Georgia.

I stayed at my friend’s home - most of them are musicians - and we played a lot of music at their places. On this my first trip I met a new music friend - Calvin Snow - and he has meant a lot to me and my music skills.

After that I went back to Sweden from my first visit, I stayed in contact with all my friends in USA via E-mail and cards.

ROME and CHIAHA

Calvin Snow contacted me again in 1999 and told me that he was going to record a CD of his own and he wanted me to join on some songs. I accepted his offer, so I went back to USA and Rome, Georgia in October 1999. I stayed at Calvin’s place and we spent most of the time in the studio ”Seven Hills Recording” and practicing at his place.

At the same time, I was visiting my friends from “Desert Storm”. Russell McClanahan was the master of ceremonies for the local “Chiaha Harvest Fair Festival” in Rome. Calvin and I were invited to the festival and we played and sang a couple of our own songs together.

When Calvin’s CD “Take Care of Her” was complete he sent me some copies to Sweden. I really liked the result, and I am on three of the finished songs - You can listen to these songs from this website. In one of the songs, “Can I Do Less” you can hear a spoken voice at the end. That is me and I am talking Swedish after I translated the original lyrics.

If you want to contact Calvin Snow for more music you can reach him at this E-mail: brick_painter@Yahoo.com

Well, time kept running and suddenly it was the year 2019. After years of E-mails and cards my friends from Rome and I decide that I should come over once again to celebrate 20 years since the last time we saw each other.

I went over to Rome and Georgia again in October 2019 and we had a lot of fun. We were playing a lot of music both at home but also in “The Harvest Moon Café”, “Floyd Hospital” (Me and Russell) and “Seven Hills Retirement Home” (Me, Calvin, and Lynn).

I also had the chance to play at “Chiaha Harvest Fair Festival” again. This time I was playing and singing solo and my friend Russell McClanahan was still the master of the ceremonies. You can hear this performance and Russell's introduction on this website……………………

These are some of my life and musical experiences; I hope this will inspire some of you to live your life fully, chase your dreams and be true to yourself.

Best regards

T.C. Sweeper