Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present indie/folk/chamber-pop quintet Winterpills, plus contemporary folk singer/songwriter Antje Duvekot, at Next Stage on Saturday, January 21 at 7:30 pm.
One of the most exciting bands to emerge from Northampton, MA in recent years, Winterpills plays haunting, delicate, dynamic music with shimmering melodies and aching lyrics. Critically praised as a mirror of sorrows and a beacon of hope, the music of Winterpills – true to the band’s name – is medicine for weary hearts.
Philip Price (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Flora Reed (vocals, keyboards), Dennis Crommett (vocals, guitar), Max Germer (bass) and Dave Hower (drums, shaken things) maintain their signature chamber-pop ambience while exploring new ground sonically and lyrically – dense rockers balanced by quiet hymns with an overall diversity in instruments and textures. All of this backs the wandering words of songwriter Philip Price. A performer with a background in ‘90s powerpop (The Maggies) as well as solo-acoustic songwriting, Price formed Winterpills with Reed, Crommett and Hower in 2004, crafting a neat balance of heartrending lyrics, dreamy pop and hushed guy-girl vocal harmonies.
Winterpills’ music has been used in numerous television shows including the hit ABC show “Grey’s Anatomy” and the U.K. series “Skins.” MOJO magazine included their CD “All My Lovely Goners” in its 2012 top 10 Americana list. In 2016, Winterpills released its seventh album “Love Songs” and reissued its self-titled debut album on vinyl to mark ten years together as a band. “I don’t know why Winterpills aren’t one of the most cherished pop bands in the world: Their songs are dazzling” – Rolling Stone
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. Her second CD “The Near Demise of the High Wire Dancer” was voted top album of 2009 by lauded folk station WUMB 91.9 FM in Boston. 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
Next Stage is located at 15 Kimball Hill in downtown Putney, VT. Tickets are $18 Advance / $22 At the Door. For information, call 802-387-0102. Advance tickets are available at www.nextstagearts.org, Turn It Up in Brattleboro and Putney Food Co-op in Putney. For more information, visit www.winterpills.com, www.antjeduvekot.com, www.twilightmusic.org and www.nextstagearts.org.
