Friday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. — PUTNEY — Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present a contemporary folk singer/songwriter twin bill with Antje Duvekot and Mark Erelli at Next Stage on Friday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance, $24 at the door, and $5 for the livestream.
Antje Duvekot (left) and Mark Erelli (right)
“Antje and Mark have been central figures in the New England, contemporary folk music scene for the last 20 years,” says Twilight’s Barry Stockwell. “They’ve headlined so many memorable Twilight Music shows in that time that I jumped at the chance to bring them together for a twin bill – two of the finest singers and songwriters that I know on our stage for one night only.”
Antje Duvekot is a German-born, American-raised singer/songwriter whose songs have been critically praised for their hard-won wisdom, dark-eyed realism, and street-smart romanticism. Her bicultural upbringing and relative newness to English have helped shape her unique way with a song, giving her a startlingly original poetic palette. They are the keys to the powerful, even revolutionary, empathy that informs everything she writes. She has won some of the top songwriting awards including the Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, the Kerrville Folk Festival Best New Folk Award and the Boston Music Award for Outstanding Folk Act.
Since the release of her debut studio CD “Big Dream Boulevard,” which was voted #1 Folk Release of 2006 by the Boston Globe and was named to the Top 10 Releases of the Year by National Public Radio’s Folk Alley, Duvekot has been touring extensively, criss-crossing the U.S. and Europe. She is a compelling live performer and has played at major festivals, including Newport, Mountain Stage, Philadelphia, Falcon Ridge, Great Waters, and Kerrville. Her most recent studio release, “Toward the Thunder,” centers around themes of courage, resilience and striving for something better, and as with most of her writing, a sense of hope and perseverance shines through the songs.
“Duvekot has gotten hotter, faster than any local songwriter in recent memory. Her songs feel at once fresh faced and firmly rooted, driven by the whispery sensuality of her voice.” – The Boston Globe.
Mark Erelli has toured internationally as a solo artist for the past 23 years, appearing onstage everywhere from coffeehouses to major folk festivals (Newport, Philadelphia, Shrewsbury) to Fenway Park, where he sang the national anthem before a Red Sox game. He has won music awards ranging from the Kerrville Folk Festival Best New Folk Award to Grand Prize in the International Song Contest. In recent years, Erelli has gained notoriety as a multi-instrumentalist sideman and producer, accompanying Grammy-winning artists such as Lori McKenna, Paula Cole, Marc Cohn, and Josh Ritter everywhere from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry to London’s Royal Albert Hall.
In addition to producing two records for McKenna, Erelli’s own diverse discography includes collections of western swing, lullabies, bluegrass (with his band “Barnstar!”) and songs of stirring social conscience, as well as several highly-acclaimed collaborations with artists such as Jeffrey Foucault. His song “By Degrees,” on which he was joined by Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, and others, was nominated for the 2019 Song of the Year at the Americana Honors and Awards. Erelli’s latest album “Blindsided’’ combines the exuberance of his signature sound with the wisdom that comes with over 20 years of songwriting.
The Boston Globe says: “Erelli’s not going to blindside you. He’s going to give it to you straight.”
