PUTNEY, Vt. – Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present a singer-songwriter showcase featuring Paper Wings, Jason Scaggs, Emily Margaret, and Michael Roberts on Friday, Jan. 30, at 7:30 p.m., at Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill in Putney, Vt. Southern Vermont-based singer-songwriters Scaggs, Margaret, and Roberts will perform an in-the-round set, followed by the Nashville-based duo Paper Wings.
Longtime friends and collaborators Emily Mann and Wila Frank, known together as Paper Wings, dream up warm, pastoral folk songs suited to wandering through a forest or field, quiet contemplation, and long winding journeys. With delicate banjo and spellbinding harmonies so close you often can’t tell their voices apart, Mann and Frank deliver dynamic performances emboldened by the strength of their sincere songwriting. The duo has an uncommon ability to tastefully reference nostalgic sounds of American folk music while maintaining their own compelling style of artful and unpretentious lyricism. The strength and solitude one finds in the wilderness is a theme throughout their writing, and they lovingly transport listeners to open landscapes in which to find comfort and ask the questions which we all have in common.
Scaggs’ music feels like a crossroads where Appalachian roots meet the adventurous spirit of southern Vermont. His songs carry the warmth and grit of traditional bluegrass, but he bends those traditions with groove-forward rhythms and unexpected melodic turns. There’s a raw, lived-in quality to his vocals – equal parts storyteller and front-porch philosopher – that gives each performance an intimate, human edge.
Emily Margaret, an 18-year-old singer-songwriter from Guilford, Vt., began her musical journey early, picking up the ukulele at age 4, the guitar at 7, and writing her first song by 9. Margaret has refined her craft under the guidance of industry veterans, including June Millington at the Institute of Musical Arts, and two-time Grammy Award winner Sonya Kitchell. Influenced by R&B and jazz, her music explores deep emotions with lyrical sincerity, and her voice transitions seamlessly from delicate to powerful, offering a captivating blend of raw emotion and sophisticated melodies.
Roberts is a guitarist, improviser, singer-songwriter, and sound researcher living in Vermont. He founded the indie-folk band Wooden Dinosaur, leads the Americana honky-tonk party band The Rear Defrosters, and composes ambient guitar and folk albums through his solo work. As a bandleader and sideman, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Newport Folk Festival, the Mongolian National Sports Stadium, the Thing in the Spring Festival, and has shared bills with Iris Dement, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, the Devil Makes Three, the Suitcase Junket, and Chris Smither, among many others. Seven Days Vermont calls Roberts “a Vermont treasure.”
Advance tickets are available discounted at www.nextstagearts.org. Next Stage will provide a beer, wine, and cocktail cash bar. For more information, call 802-387-0102.