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 back at home (at one time they all lived in Boston – Anne is now in Chicago, Natalia in Brooklyn).
One magical show in December 2008 moved them tour together in 2009 as “Winterbloom” with a winter/holiday album they wrote and recorded called “Winterbloom: Traditions Rearranged.” On their first tour in 2009, they played select shows in the US in the Northeast, Midatlantic and Midwest regions including performing live at Folk Alley, Mountain Stage and First Night Boston. They received rave reviews of both the fresh new recordings and moving live concerts, prompting them to reunite in the summer of 2010 for the Boston Music Festival and Lilith Fair. Last winter, they brought their holiday show to Antje’s homeland Germany and also played in The Netherlands. This summer they are pleased to announce that they will be a part of Cayamo 2012. They are writing new original songs for the holidays this winter, and will announce their winter holiday tour dates on Winterbloom.com soon!
GERMAN:
Winterbloom ist eine gemeinsames Projekt von vier erfolgreichen und international auftretenden Singer-Songwritern: Antje Duvekot, Anne Heaton, Meg Hutchinson, and Natalia Zukerman. Die Musikerinnen gehen normalerweise ihren eigene Wege in der Folkszene, in der Popmusik und in der Akustikmusik. Doch seit einem Konzert zur Weihnachtszeit 2008 wissen die vier Frauen aus Boston (USA), dass sie obwohl jede ihren eigen Stil hat, sie sich als Winterbloom miteinander auf einer besonderen Ebene harmonieren. Sie ergänzen sich einmalig auf der Bühne. Sie stehen in der Tradition der Singer-Songwriter, die allein mit einer Gitarre Abende zu wunderbaren Erlebnissen zaubern können. Passend zur Adventszeit haben sie besinnliche Weihnachtslieder in ihrem Repertoire, jedoch auch die traditionelle Liedermacher-Kultur kommt nicht zu kurz.
LIVE VIDEO OF WINTERBLOOM FROM 2009 “TRADITIONS REARRANGED” TOUR
THE ALBUM “WINTERBLOOM: TRADITIONS REARRANGED”
Last year in the US only, Winterbloom released a new holiday album and developed a live show, tailored for winter season. The 8-song EP/album they wrote and recorded together is called “Winterbloom: Traditions Rearranged.” On the album and in the show, they perform new arrangements of traditional holiday songs alongside their own originals and special winter/holiday songs they wrote just for this project. The show plays on elements of their different backgrounds – German, American, Jewish, Unitarian, Christian, Catholic, Northeastern, Midwestern, Urban, Rural, Religious, Secular, Academic, etc… They celebrate not just religious traditions, but also seasonal caroling and family gathering traditions. Witty, intimate, thoughtful, fun.
ABOUT THE WOMEN OF WINTERBLOOM
ANTJE DUVEKOT
“ranks with the most intense and beautiful singer songwriters on the planet” -Dave Marsh, former Music Editor, Rolling Stone
Antje Duvekot was born in Heidelberg Germany. At the age of 13, she moved to Wilmington, Delaware with her mother. She could barely speak English and found solace in the music of folksingers like John Gorka, Ellis Paul and Cheryl Wheeler. She remembers how much she loved singing German folk songs in school. She pays tribute to her German heritage with her new arrangement of “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night)” which she sings with Meg Hutchinson. Duvekot is currently in the thick of the release of her new album “The Near Demise of the High Wire Dancer” produced by Richard Shindell.
OFFICIAL WEB SITE: www.antjeduvekot.com
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eji97jgOgFw
ANNE HEATON
“tender, amusing, barbed and spiritual” -The Washington Post
Native of Wilmette Illinois, near Chicago, Anne Heaton and her brothers were raised Catholic and always went to mass on Christmas Eve. While Heaton still draws on what she learned, and is particularly inspired by mystics such as St. Teresa of Avila, she considers herself a more generally spiritual person as an adult. Her vibey, upbeat holiday song “As You Are” focuses on authentic relationships and seeing people as they are, right now, in this moment. Heaton’s new release “Blazing Red” was called “absolutely gorgeous” by the New York Times online and was featured on NPR’s “Here And Now” Program. She is currently working on “Life Is Alchemy,” a project that tells the transformational stories of people of diverse cultures and experiences through original songs.
OFFICIAL WEB SITE: www.anneheaton.com
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy91MH3msBw
MEG HUTCHINSON
“A master of introspective ballads” -Performing Songwriter
Born in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts, Meg Hutchinson and her sisters were raised to believe that church can also be found on a walk in the woods, or hidden in a good poem. This reverence for language and the natural world is always in her songwriting. At the holidays, Hutchinson family rituals included singing and reading stories and prayers from many different faiths. It’s no surprise that when asked to write a song for the holidays this year, Hutchinson drew upon the O. Henry story “The Gift of the Magi” for inspiration. Hutchinson has been touring in support of her new album “The Living Side,” on Red House Records.
OFFICIAL WEB SITE: www.meghutchinson.com
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81xd9uhgZHE&
NATALIA ZUKERMAN
“bluesy folk-rock tunes, burnished croon, serious guitar chops” -TimeOut NY
Natalia Zukerman grew up in New York City. She refers to herself as being “culturally Jewish,” a distinction that belies that fact that while not observant, she holds certain Jewish traditions dear – food, candles, gatherings, prayers, and most of all music. Zukerman’s new modern spin on the traditional Yiddish song “Tumbalalaika” introduces the four voices of Winterbloom and epitomizes what the album project was all about – taking tradition and making it brand new again. Zukerman also painted the album cover art. In follow up to her recent album “Brand New Frame” produced by Willy Porter, Zukerman’s next release “Gas Station Roses” is anticipated for February 2010.
OFFICIAL WEB SITE: www.nataliazukerman.com
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6msEhGkT6UM
HOW DID WINTERBLOOM COME TO BE?
In September 2008, Cambridge MA’s Club Passim manager Matt Smith booked 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”
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 WUMB Boston Music Festival to ask them to perform in summer, too. And thus Winterbloom took on new meaning – not only providing winter relief from holiday blues, but also revealing the beauty that comes from hard-working practitioners of the songwriting craft getting together in the true spirit of musical collaboration.
LILITH
They reunited in the summer of 2010 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 “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.
WHAT NEXT? 2010/11 TOUR US, NETHERLANDS, GERMANY
Winterbloom will take their holiday show to Antje’s homeland of Germany and The Netherlands this winter, with also a handful of dates at select US venues in MA, CT, NY and NJ. Winterbloom show details >>
UNITED STATES
12/4 Circle of Friends, Franklin MA
12/5 Iron Horse, Northampton MA
12/9 Shelburne VT
12/10 92Y Tribeca, New York NY
12/11 Music at the Mission, NJ
12/12 Katherine Hepburn, CT
NETHERLANDS
12/15 Culture Podium Roepaen, Ottersum, Netherlands
12/16 Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
GERMANY
12/17 Rolling Arts, Dessau
12/18 Frauenkultur, Samstag, Leipzig
12/19 Schlot, Sonntag, Berlin
12/20 Montag, Norderstedt
12/21 Dienstag, Cadenberge
12/22 Rockland Cafe, Mittwoch, Bad Kreuznach
COPYRIGHT: The text of this page of the web site is available for modification and reuse under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License and the GNU Free Documentation License (unversioned, with no invariant sections, front-cover texts, or back-cover texts).
