PUTNEY, Vt. – Next Stage Arts and Twilight Music present multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and singer Keith Murphy with The Band of Amber, consisting of Ty Gibbons, Anand Nayak, Richie Barshay, and their special guest Jenna Moynihan, at Next Stage, on Friday, April 11, at 7:30 p.m. Since their debut performance at Next Stage in June 2024, the quartet has expanded its repertoire and refined its ensemble sound, adding Scottish fiddler phenomenon Moynihan to the mix for this show.
Murphy began forging a distinctive sound in the world of traditional song at an early age, growing up surrounded by the rich tradition of folk songs, ballads, and dance music of his native Newfoundland. Over the years, and through his travels as a musician, he’s incorporated elements of many other traditions, including the repertoire of his adopted home in Vermont. He is a noted instrumentalist, and well-known for his playing with Nightingale, Childsplay, Boston Revels, Tony Barrand, Hanneke Cassel, Yann Falquet, and his most enduring collaborator, his wife and fiddler Becky Tracy. He is also the founder and artistic director of the Brattleboro Music Center’s Northern Roots Festival.
Formed to support Murphy’s most recent solo project “Bright as Amber,” The Band of Amber incorporates bass, drums, and electric guitar over his fingerstyle acoustic guitar and singing of old songs. Nayak (Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem) is a Grammy-nominated producer and multi-instrumentalist who crafts beautifully sensitive and atmospheric textures on electric guitar. Barshay, who has played with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Natalie Merchant, and Bobby McFerrin, and is a member of the Klezmatics, is a drummer of astounding range and musicality. Gibbons is an acclaimed composer for film and TV, and a member of the Vermont indie folk band Red Heart the Ticker. As an acoustic bass player, he melds an understanding of traditional folk song with his other wide-ranging musical talents.
A versatile and inventive five-string fiddler and vocalist, Moynihan will open the show with a solo set, and then sit in with The Band of Amber. She also performs in a duo with Scottish harpist Mairi Chaimbeul, as well as with the Seamus Egan Project, and Hanneke Cassel Band.
Next Stage is located at 15 Kimball Hill in downtown Putney, Vt. 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.