Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present a contemporary folk singer/songwriter twin bill with Antje Duvekot and Matt Nakoa at Next Stage on Saturday, November 30 at 7:30 pm.
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, Antje has been touring extensively, criss-crossing the US 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. Antje’s fourth studio release, 2016’s “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.
“Antje Duvekot’s provocative, dark-eyed ballads are becoming the talk of the folk world.” – The Boston Globe
Matt Nakoa is an internationally touring singer/songwriter, recently appearing at The White House, throughout India and regularly with folk icon Tom Rush. Growing up on a small goat farm in rural NewYork, Matt discovered music as a means of teenage escape and trained to be a concert pianist. He was ultimately accepted as a vocalist to Berklee College of Music, where he studied alongside soon-to-be Grammy winners St. Vincent and Esperanza Spalding, among others.
After school, Matt landed in NYC’s vibrant piano bar scene, where he quickly became a star performer at Manhattan’s famous Brandy’s Piano Bar. As if illustrating two sides of himself, Matt’s first album “Light In The Dark” (2012) is a sweeping pop opus, while “A Dozen Other Loves” (2014) explores an intimate acoustic palette. Across the board his song craft has garnered awards, including a win at Kerrville Folk Festival’s prestigious New Folk Competition.
“between his piano chops, charismatic stage presence, and heartfelt originals on guitar … he drops jaws.” -The Boston Globe
Next Stage is located at 15 Kimball Hill in downtown Putney, VT. Tickets are $20 Advance / $24 At the Door. For information, call 802-387-0102. Advance tickets are available at www.nextstagearts.org, Turn It Up in Brattleboro and the Putney General Store in Putney. Next Stage will provide a beer and wine cash bar. For more information, visit www.antjeduvekot.com, www.mattnakoa.com, www.twilightmusic.org and www.nextstagearts.org.