Anna & Elizabeth – An evening of all new ballads and crankies
Anna & Elizabeth bring their intimate and haunting traditional music & mesmerizing multi-media show to Sandglass Theater, Sunday, November 6, 2016 to share and celebrate a new cycle of work, inspired by ballad singers of the 1930s and 1940s in Vermont and Virginia—the states where they grew up. This dynamic duo is returning to Sandglass Theater with brand new music and brand new crankies.
The pair based in rural Virginia and Baltimore, springs from the unique talents of Anna Roberts-Gevalt (fiddle, banjo, guitar) and Elizabeth LaPrelle (ballads, banjo), and their shared desire to inspire people with the beautiful soul of Appalachian roots music. Powerful harmony singers steeped in knowledge of mountain tunes, ballads and stories, the young women are gifted storytellers and visual artists reviving the lost art of “crankies,” scrolling storyboards made of sewn fabric or cut paper.
Begun four years ago with the simple goal of bringing ballads back to the small nooks and crannies of rural Virginia where they lived, their project rapidly grew, bringing them to stages and festivals across the US, collaborations with Ben Sollee, The Murphy Beds, Wayne Henderson & Riley Baugus, artist residencies at universities and summer traditional music schools, and performances at The High Museum of Modern Art in Atlanta and the Sharq Taronolari festival in Uzbekistan.
Their first album “Sun to Sun” was just re-released on Free Dirt Records in 2016; their second, self-titled album, “Anna & Elizabeth,” also on Free Dirt Records, is a collection of 16 traditional songs thoughtfully gathered and interpreted, guiding listeners through the duo’s intense personal connection with each song, for an experience that is as warm and intimate as their one-of-a-kind live performances.
Elizabeth LaPrelle was the first recipient of the Henry Reed Award from the Library of Congress at age 16; won the 2012 Mike Seeger Award at Folk Alliance International; has released 3 solo ballad albums; and was called “quite simply the best young Appalachian ballad singer to emerge in recent memory” by fRoots Magazine.
Anna Roberts-Gevalt is a blue-ribbon fiddler and banjo player (West Virginia State Folk Festival; Kentucky Fiddle Contest); the artistic director of East Kentucky’s traditional music institute, the Cowan Creek Mountain Music School; a 2014 fellow for OneBeat, a US State Department sponsored international music residency.
Tickets for this show are $16 general and $13 for students and seniors, and are available online at http://sandglasstheater.org. Getting tickets in advance is highly encouraged as seating is limited. Reservations may also be made by email at info@sandglasstheater.org or by phoning the box office at (802) 387-4051. Reservations are payable by cash or check at the door. Sandglass Theater is an accessible, 60 seat theater in the heart of Putney, Vermont.
Popular ballad & Crankie duo returning to Sandglass Theater by very popular demand.
Sunday November 6th, 2016 at 7 PM
Anna & Elizabeth
