12/4/09 – Wayne Bledsoe, Knoxville News Sentinel
“Four singer-songwriters (Antje Duvekot, Anne Heaton, Meg Hutchinson and Natalia Zukerman) combine for this sweet mostly acoustic collection, which includes the funny and sad break-up song “Thanks for the Roses (Merry Christmas).” This is one of my favorites this year.”
12/4 – David McGee, The Bluegrass Special
“It’s unclear at this point exactly how down with Father Christmas the four impressive gals of Winterbloom really are, but they sure have made their holiday EP a memorable event, acerbic and reverent all at once.”
David McKee’s in-depth, thoughtful review can be read in full at:
http://thebluegrassspecial.com/archive/2009/december2009/winterbloom-traditions-rearranged.php
Here are some snippets…
“Their evocatively packaged seasonal EP, Traditions Rearranged (the title should be a dead giveaway of what’s to come), features front and back cover paintings (by group member Natalia Zukerman)”
“If you’re beginning to sense our Winterbloom friends evincing a Scrooge-like capacity for putting a damper on others’ good times, you might be right. But stay with them, because things are not always what they seem.”
“Heaton’s contribution to this warm scene is “As You Are,” her jazz-tinged keyboard murmurings supporting her lilting melody”
“Hutchinson’s falsetto vocal flights echo Joni Mitchell’s technique for expressing the wonder of certain self-revelatory moments, leaving the song’s abrupt ending to suggest chapters yet to come.”
“Zukerman’s whispery, understated vocal and tasty lap steel fills lend the performance a striking, mysterious feel that begs repeat listenings to suss it all out.”
“Traditions Rearranged is a work of beauty, passion and intellect.”
“Mlle. Zukerman, Hutchinson, Duvekot and Heaton have a vision and a voice uniquely theirs, embracing and blending influences from their diverse cultural backgrounds into a scintillating musical backdrop for some well-considered original lyrics, be they ironic, stinging, melancholy or self-affirming.”
“Accompanied by Heaton on piano and her own guitar, Hutchinson gets totally immersed in the wondrous event described in “O Holy Night” as she deliberately and reverently intones the lyrics in a restrained arrangement of stark, commanding allure.”
“Duvekot (who in fact was born in Heidelberg, Germany) on the penultimate number, a stunning a cappella rendering of “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night)” sung in the original German as composed by Franz Xaver Guber and Fr. Joseph Mohr in 1818, a reading so pristine and exalted, spiritually profound and imbued with awe and humility, as to brook favorable comparison to the Vienna Boys Choir’s moving interpretation.”
“Traditions Rearranged challenges listeners to work a bit harder for its pleasures than does most seasonal fare, no matter the loveliness of its music or of the singers’ voices, but the reward for digging deeper is an experience more enriching than its modest packaging ever betrays.”
12/3 – Michael Whittaus, The Hippo
Winterbloom — the seasonal side project of Antje Duvekot, Meg Hutchinson, Anne Heaton and Natalia Zukerman — doesn’t play standard holiday fare.
Chestnuts like “O Holy Night” cozy up with “As You Are,” Heaton’s ode to forgiving dysfunctional families. Then there’s “Thanks for the Roses (Merry Christmas),” where an errant boyfriend’s insensitive gift provides the catalyst for a long-overdue breakup. Sighs Duvekot, “When have you ever seen me wear a thong?”
“That certainly was the first folk song with the word ‘thong’ in it that I’ve ever heard,” said Meg Hutchinson, who sang harmony on the track for the quartet’s recently released CD. The group will perform at the Tupelo on Thursday, Dec. 10.
Each member of Winterbloom wrote a song for the album. In addition to the Heaton and Duvekot originals, Zukerman re-imagined the Yiddish folk tune “Tumbalalaika” as “The Riddle Song.” Hutchinson wrote “The Magi,” inspired by the O. Henry story which, she said, “had meaning in a relationship at a time when I was too broke to buy presents, so I bought the book for my partner at the time. Needless to say that relationship didn’t work out — thus the song.”
Though the disc includes Heaton’s playful version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and a lovely Duvekot/Hutchinson a capella duet of “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night),” the mood is more December than holiday.
“We didn’t want to make it a purely religious record by any means,” Hutchinson said.
Best capturing this melding of secular and mystical is their cover of “Rexroth’s Daughter,” a Greg Brown song about longing, coping and holding out hope. It begins with a reference to “the coldest night of winter.”
“I was thrilled that Natalia brought that song to the project. I’m a huge Greg Brown fan,” Hutchinson said. “He’s still my favorite living songwriter. Well, there are a few others but he’s way up there … you don’t always know exactly what he is saying. You just know you’re profoundly moved. Within each verse there’s this tiny little world, and somehow they’re strung together in a way that works. It’s kind of like a beautiful poem.”
Winterbloom grew out of an in-the-round show the four did in Cambridge, Mass., at the Club Passim Campfire Festival’s 10th anniversary in September 2008. The one-time performance led to a short tour a few months later. “We were touring in December with no holiday repertoire at all,” Hutchinson recalled. “We realized if we were going to do this again, we’d need some material.”
“None of us really had any expectations going into it, so I guess we were really surprised. We had something fun and pretty and not just another straightforward holiday record that makes all of us cringe, but something that had all this depth,” she said.
11/30/09 – Bill Lynch, Charleston Gazette in review of Winterbloom’s appearance on Mountain Stage
“Songs for the night ranged from the silly, The Richie Collins 3-0′s rockabilly version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and Winterbloom’s slightly ticked off for the holidays “Thanks For The Roses” to John Cowan’s undeniably reverent “Go Tell It On The Mountain.” [...] The singer/songwriter collective called Winterbloom also provided some alternatives to Christmas cheer with songs about loneliness, loss and the song about ditching your loved one at Christmas because he’s kind of a jerk. Winterbloom’s five songs captured an amazing array of emotions.”
11/26 – Jim Musser’s Music Beat, Iowa City Press-Citizen
11/23 – Heather Miller, Lyrical Venus Radio Hour, KRUU 100.1FM Iowa
“… Winterbloom manages to be both fresh and familiar, which is perfect for that holiday time where you have a fine line of wanting to hear those old favorites but at the same time can be a little worn out on the same old things. I’m pretty sure that once you hear these gals working together, you’re going to want to dive into their other work as well!”
11/19 – Mac McLanahan, Artistic Director, Rose Garden Coffehouse – guest column on Wicked Local
On a wintery November night, four highly accomplished women singer/songwriters cast a warm glow over more than 200 people this past Wednesday night at one of WUMB Radio’s free member concerts. The quartet — which includes Antje Duvekot, Natalia Zukerman, Anne Heaton, and Meg Hutchinson — combined original and traditional holiday fare and presented it in a most imaginative way. The title of their brand-new, debut album says it all — “Winterbloom: Traditions Rearranged.”
Each woman has a successful solo career going for her, but the real magic materialized when they joined forces for this special seasonal project. They combined their voices and instruments (guitars, keyboard, and Dobro) on familiar chestnuts like “O Holy Night” and far lesser known gems like Anne Heaton’s “As You Are.” In each case, the arrangement was crafted with great care and creativity to produce a sound completely different from what might have been expected.
My personal favorite? It was “Silent Night,” actually sung in crystalline 4-part a cappella harmony in German! It was breathtaking. Just to hear “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” was worth the price of admission. Come to think of it, there was no price of admission for WUMB members. Thanks, WUMB! I complimented Antje on “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” and she said that’s the way she always heard it in her native Germany when she was growing up. What seemed so unusual to the audience was completely natural for her.
After this debut performance in Boston, the show goes on the road to New York City; Washington, DC; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Rockland, Maine; and numerous other stops in between. WUMB (91.9 and streaming live on the web at wumb.org) recorded the show for airing on two future dates including, of course, Christmas. Their web site should be offering full details about the broadcast.
11/13 – Bill’s Music Forum
Winterbloom is a supergroup of sorts that have just released an acoustic-based EP containing 8 tracks inspired by the holidays and the chilly season. While most of the songs have an overt holiday message, or are a traditional favorite, others are original tunes that can be played anytime of year.
Winterbloom strikes me as something the Indigo Girls might have gently dripping out of their speakers while decorating their holiday tree. Put another way, Winterbloom is sort of like the Lilith Fair of holiday EPs…these are not the bright and brassy carols you usually hear this time of year. They are soft, but lyrically sharp, and full of as much melancholy and sarcasm as they are Christmas cheer.
My favorite is their original tune, “Thanks for the Roses (Merry Christmas)”. Penned by noted singer/songwriter Antje Duvekot, this ditty has quite a unique spin for a Christmas song, and is useful for those who’d rather push their significant other in front of a sleigh instead of dangling mistletoe. I also love the acoustical interpretations of holiday favorites such as “O Holy Night” and the simple piano and vocal of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”.
“Traditions Rearranged” is a refreshing break from the usual fare we are bombarded with this time of year, and the voices and harmonies are wonderful. Definitely worth putting on your list.
http://billsmusicforum.blogspot.com/2009/11/review-winterbloom-traditions.html
Where did you grow up? How would you describe holiday/winter time/traditions where you are from?
I grew up in Wilmette, IL, a town outside of Chicago.
How many people are/were in your family growing up? What birth order are you?
There are 6 people in my immediate family. My parents and four kids- I am the oldest and I have 3 younger brothers. My maternal grandparents were always around for Christmas Eve as well.
When you were little, what religious, familial, school or other traditions do you remember observing? (ones you liked & didn’t like)
We usually did some hunting around town for Santa assuming, of course, that he probably parked his sleigh by Lake Michigan (which was only a few blocks away), we would ride with my grandparents down to the lake to look for the reindeer. I really always felt like we were just about to spot a reindeer! It was very exciting because it seemed logical that Santa would park his sleigh at Lake Michigan 
. We also went to mass on Christmas Eve.
Do you identify with a particular religion or philosophy? Was your religion/philosophy different growing up?
I was raised Catholic and I draw on a lot of those teachings and traditions to this day although I consider myself more generally spiritual and draw on other spiritual traditions as well. I was a philosophy major in college so I have a lot of them in my head but there isn’t one I particularly identify with. I mostly enjoyed the mystics like St. Teresa of Avila (who likened the spiritual self to a house and talked about the all the rooms inside of us) and St. Ignatius. Today I am a meditator, not a regular church goer although I enjoy going when I do for holidays, etc.
As a grown up, what things do you do every winter? At the holidays?
Every winter I like to make peanut butter ball cookies because my grandmother used to make them. My mom almost always made really good soup. I still usually go to Chicago for the holidays. I get very nostalgic for the holidays.
What is the story behind your winter song?
The story behind my song is that my dear friend Tammy Lynne often reminds me to see people as they are in this moment and not to drag expectations from our mutual history into it because people are always changing and nobody likes to be treated like the person they were. People want to be seen as they are. I had the idea that this probably happens most at the holidays because we have so many memories of past holidays. The people and examples in my song are made up but I identify, and hope others do as well, with the sentiment.
Where did you grow up? How would you describe holiday/winter time/traditions where you are from?
I grew up in the small village of South Egremont, just outside Great Barrington, in western Massachusetts. It’s a tiny little town with one store/café, a beautiful old Inn, and a post office. I lived in the same house my whole life. The village is preserved as a “historic district.” Most of the houses are still painted white with black shutters. Our house was painted a different color and was right before the “historic district” sign. I always felt a little left out. I loved Egremont because the town provided little Christmas trees to all the houses in the village and everyone put white lights on them. It was magical driving home in the snow. Like something out of a picture book.
How many people are/were in your family growing up? What birth order are you?
I have three sisters, I’m the middle one.
Do you identify with a particular religion or philosophy? Was your religion/philosophy different growing up?
My parents sent us to a Waldorf school and considered themselves Anthroposophists when we were young. The schools were founded by Rudolf Steiner and I suppose there was a certain element of Christianity in our childhood. Mostly observed around the holidays. We didn’t go to church regularly or anything, though my parents are both very spiritual. They found God in poetry and nature, and felt it was up to us to come to our own beliefs.
As a grown up, what things do you do every winter? At the holidays?
The holidays used to always revolve around my amazing grandmother in Vermont. We had a ton of cousins and it was always a huge gathering and lots of eating. I loved those times sitting with my grandmother hearing stories about her childhood and all the ancestors I never knew. She passed away a few years ago. Now we are trying to find new traditions but we are a bit lost I’d say.
When you were little, what religious, familial, school or other traditions do you remember observing? (ones you liked & didn’t like)
My mom and dad always read us a prayer before bed. It was written by Rudolf Steiner and is called “ A Prayer for Little Children Who Themselves Already Pray. “ From my head to my feet I am the image of god. From my heart to my hands I feel the breath of god. When I speak with my mouth I follow god’s will. When I behold god everywhere, in mother, in father, in all dear people. In beast and flower, in tree and stone. Nothing brings fear, but love to all that is around me.”, … I can’t believe those words come back to me after twenty-one years.
We also had this funny tradition when we were kids with this book called “The Little Lamb of Bethlehem.” My parents told us that an elf or a fairy came and hid it in our Christmas tree every year. We had to find it. Then we all sat on the floor by the tree and dad read it. Now my sister keeps bringing it to Christmas even though we’re all grown up. My dad always gets choked up now and has to pass the book to one of us.
Was music a part of any of those traditions? Tell me how…
I loved making the advent wreath. We’d go out to the woods behind our house and pick little pine branches and weave a wreath with five candles for the center of our table. We’d sing carols around it every Sunday night and light a new candle every week until Christmas.
What is your favorite holiday or winter song?
Hmmm… I think Silent Night because my grandmother had a music box crèche that played that over and over for so many years. It had a wonderful little manger scene with all the animals gathered. When we were older mice bit off the arms of the baby Jesus. That was disappointing. O Holy Night is another favorite because I got to sing in a choir as a small kid. I did a performance with all these booming adult voices and the organ in this church and I was overwhelmed with how beautiful it was when everyone sang the minor chords of “Fall on your knees oh hear the angels voices.” I remember an old woman pinching my big fat rosy cheeks that night. I was embarrassed because I was feeling so grown up.
What is the story behind your winter song?
I’ve always loved the story “The Gift Of The Magi” by O. Henry. To sum it up, there is a young couple who are in love. They want to buy each other gifts but they have no money. She goes to town and sells her beautiful hair to buy her husband a chain for his watch that his father left him. He goes to town and sells his watch to buy her beautiful combs for her hair. This always seemed so romantic. Then when I was broke and couldn’t buy my partner a proper present years ago, I bought that book instead. I suppose that’s the sorrow in my song, and the love found/lost. And maybe how the best things that stay with us from a relationship have nothing to do with the physical gifts.
Why create a holiday album? Why with these other women?
To make ourselves nuts! Well I respect them all tremendously and have a blast collaborating. We’ve never gotten the chance to play more than a few shows all together. It’s a great way to liven up the holidays. Mix up our remarkably different faiths, non-faiths, humor and fun. We had only three days in the studio to learn this, and some of us even wrote our songs the day we recorded them. Some magic happened in that little window of time. We had no idea what we’d come up with, recording there in the midst of August, but I’m surprised to find it really touching and lovely.
Are there markets/towns/venues/charities on this tour of particular meaning/significance to you that you’d like to share?
I’d really like to connect with the food banks in each city where we’re playing. I’d love it if the audience would each bring some non-perishable and hopefully useful food item to donate. I’d also love to do something for kids that may not get gifts this year.
