Antje Duvekot and Ellis Paul to Perform at MCTA
World renown
singer-songwriters Antje Duvekot and Ellis Paul will share the stage of
Mountain City Traditional Arts, 25 E. Main Street, Frostburg, Sunday, March 26
at 4 pm. The show is open to the public with a suggested donation of $15.
Originally
born in Germany and transplanted to the US as a young teen, Antje Duvekot began
to hone her observational skills through a lens of biculturalism when she
picked up a guitar during that move. Some years later, the confessional folk of
Dar Williams and Ani DiFranco gave her license to share her observations, no
matter how personal, in her first emerging songs. She has never let go of that
tenet of vulnerability.
"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. She believes in the redemptive power of the shared secret; and is
utterly unafraid to mine the darkest corners of her life for songs that turn
fear into resilience and isolation into community.” The Boston Globe
Antje has
extensive touring experience. She is a compelling live performer and has been
invited to play top festivals, such as the Newport Folk Festival, Mountain
Stage, Philadelphia, and Kerrville Festivals and others. Internationally, she's
headlined the Celtic Connections Festival in Scotland and the Tonder Festival
in Denmark. Antje has won some of the top songwriting awards, including the
Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition and the "Best New
Folk Award" at Kerrville. In one of the nation's top music markets, she
won the Boston Music Award for "Outstanding Folk Act". She has
appeared on various NPR programs.
Though some
may refer to Ellis Paul as a folk singer, he is more, for lack of a better
word, a singular storyteller, a musician whose words reach out from inside and
yet also express the feelings, thoughts and sensibilities that most people can
relate to in one way or another, regardless of age or upbringing. The
exhilaration of the open road. A celebration of heroes. The hope for
redemption. Descriptions of those things that are both near and dear. The
sharing of love..., intimate, passionate and enduring.
His music
has been shared through commercials, documentaries, TV shows and in the
soundtracks of several blockbuster films, among them three by the Farrelly
Brothers -- “Hall Pass” , “Me, Myself, & Irene” and “Shallow Hal”.
“Some
artists document their lives through their music. Others chronicle their times.
It’s a rare artist who can do both, telling their own story through songs that
also encapsulate the essence of people and places who have helped define their
era overall. Woody Guthrie comes to mind, and so does Bob Dylan. Bruce
Springsteen certainly as well. Yet few others, for whatever genius they may
possess, can relate their own history to the history experienced by those who
find that common bond, be it in a coming of age, living through the same
realities or sharing similar experiences. Ellis Paul is one of those gifted singer/songwriters.”-
Lee Zimmerman (writer/reviewer for American Songwriter, No Depression, New
Times, Country Standard Time, Blurt, Relix, and M Music and Musicians )
Mountain City Traditional Arts is a
program of Frostburg State University and the Maryland Traditions Program of
the State Arts Council. For more information call 301-687-8040.
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