PUTNEY, Vt. – Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present an evening of contemporary folk music with Antje Duvekot and Pete Bernhard at Next Stage on Sunday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m.
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 Number One 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, Antje 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. This fall, Antje celebrates the Sept. 15 release of her fifth album “New Wild West.”
Opening the show will be guitarist and vocalist Pete Bernhard, frontman of folk, blues, ragtime, rock ‘n’ roll trio “The Devil Makes Three.” Growing up in a small community in southern Vermont in a family rife with musicians, Bernhard was first drawn to traditional blues, but also studied the style and aesthetics of music traditions like New Orleans R&B and country. He headed west as a young man, first to Nashville, then on to Washington, and finally to Santa Cruz, Calif., where he formed “The Devil Makes Three” with fellow Vermonters Lucia Turino and Cooper McBean. Pete has three solo records released on his own label Kahn Records.
Next Stage is located at 15 Kimball Hill in downtown Putney, Vt. Tickets can be purchased online in advance, or at the doors for an additional fee. There is also a livestream option. Advance tickets are available at www.nextstagearts.org. Next Stage will provide a beer, wine, and cocktail cash bar. For information, call 802-387-0102 or visit the website above.