WINTERBLOOM IS ANTJE DUVEKOT, ANNE HEATON, MEG HUTCHINSON & NATALIA ZUKERMAN
Winterbloom is a collective of four successful, internationally touring singer-songwriters – Antje Duvekot, Anne Heaton, Meg Hutchinson, and Natalia Zukerman. While carving their own paths in indie Folk, Americana, Pop and Singer-Songwriter music, each have celebrated one another’s accomplishments on the road, and fostered the spirit of collaboration in the Boston music scene back at home. Duvekot, Heaton, Hutchinson and Zukerman first successfully toured together as “Winterbloom” in November 2009, receiving rave response to both the fresh new recordings and popular live shows (see below). They banded together again to write and record a new song “The Alchemist” for the OurStage Lilith Fair competition.
They decided to apply to the regional Lilith Fair competition as a collective to honor the collaborative spirit of both the Boston songwriter scene and the Lilith Fair. To make it even sweeter, they invited original Lilith Tour alumna Rose Polenzani to join them! Over 7 million votes were cast across the country by fans, and Winterbloom was selected to represent Boston. At Lilith, Winterbloom offered a special collectors compilation CD called “Winterbloom at Lilith Fair.” It features studio recordings from each artist, a song from their winter holiday album together called “Winterbloom: Traditions Rearranged” and also includes five homespun recordings from the band’s rehearsals leading up to Lilith Fair, so people could take home a little of what they hear at the festival.
VIDEO
Antje Duvekot – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eji97jgOgFw
“ranks with the most intense and beautiful singer songwriters on the planet” -Dave Marsh, former Music Editor, Rolling Stone
Anne Heaton – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy91MH3msBw
“tender, amusing, barbed and spiritual” -The Washington Post
Meg Hutchinson – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81xd9uhgZHE&
“A master of introspective ballads” -Performing Songwriter
Rose Polenzani – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xza4bpfZtZ0
“No one can touch her” -Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls
Natalia Zukerman – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6msEhGkT6UM
“bluesy folk-rock tunes, burnished croon, serious guitar chops” -TimeOut NY
WHAT NEXT? SUMMER FESTIVALS, LILITH, AND A GERMAN HOLIDAY
While it began as a seasonal holiday project, Winterbloom took on a life of its own. The chemistry in songwriting, performance and spirit has led to further collaboration – and growing enthusiasm. Here in Boston, fans have come to cherish the nights these women perform together. The warmth the songwriters brought to winter prompted the Boston Music Festival to ask them to perform also in summer. And thus Winterbloom has taken on new meaning – not only providing winter relief from the holiday blues, but further to represent the beauty and art that comes from hard-working practitioners of the songwriting craft and the true spirit of musical collaboration.
Winterbloom reunited to appear together at The Boston Music Festival on June 6th, and will be taking their holiday tour to Antje’s homeland of Germany this winter (with a handful of dates at select US venues in MA, CT, NY and NJ, too, due to popular demand). The local Boston area show this December will be at Circle of Friends Coffeehouse in Framingham. More details at www.winterbloom.com
HOW DID WINTERBLOOM COME TO BE?
In September 2008, Cambridge MA’s Club Passim manager Matt Smith booked four of the artists to perform in-the-round together at their popular “Cutting Edge of the Campfire Festival.” A rare occasion, since by that time all were already sell-out headliners at the venue individually. In that performance, the four women had so much fun, and audience response was so positive, they immediately booked three more shows together for that December. The first full show they played together was at The Living Room and presented by New York’s WFUV “On Your Radar” hosted by John Platt.
In 2009, Duvekot, Heaton, Hutchinson and Zukerman reunited to create, write, arrange, record and perform together officially – and thus “Winterbloom” was born. They released a holiday EP entitled “Winterbloom: Traditions Rearranged” which received major media attention. They performed shows across the MidWest, NorthEast and MidAtlantic regions and appeared on nationally syndicated programs like NPR’s Mountain Stage and Folk Alley, XM’s The Village and The Loft. In the Northeast area specifically, they appeared on WUMB,WERS, WKZE, Maine Public Radio, New Hampshire Public Radio and were featured in The Boston Globe during Christmas Week (no small feat).
REVIEWS
They received rave response to both the recordings and live shows:
“supergroup adds kick to the holiday season”
“going to replace Bing Crosby”
“a work of beauty, passion and intellect”
“one of my favorites of this year”
“captured an amazing array of emotions”
“Smart, witty, provocative and fun…”
“both fresh and familiar…”
“cast a warm glow”
“the Lilith Fair of holiday EPs”