Ellis Paul doesn’t just write songs; he’s a guitar-carrying reporter who covers the human condition and details the hopes, loves, losses of those he observes, turning their stories into luminous pieces of music that get under your skin and into your bloodstream. And much like the artists who have influenced him, everyone from Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon to the singer-songwriter who is undoubtedly his greatest inspiration, Woody Guthrie, Paul weaves deeply personal experiences with social issues and renders them as provocative works that are as timely as they are timeless. Born and raised in Maine, Paul attended Boston College on a track scholarship and in the evenings became a fixture on the city’s open mic circuit. After winning a Boston Acoustic Underground songwriter competition, he caught the ear of folk luminary Bill Morrissey, who produced his indie album Say Something in 1993. This led to a seven-album contract with Rounder Records and the 1994 album, Stories.
His songs have appeared in several blockbuster films (Me, Myself, and Irene; Shallow Hal, Hall Pass) and have been covered by award winning country artists (Sugarland, Kristian Bush, Jack Ingram). Through a steady succession of albums of his own – a remarkable 23 releases so far – and a constant touring presence around the world, Paul’s audience has grown into a loyal legion of fans. Along the way, he has picked up an impressive number of awards including the prestigious Kerrville New Folk Award, 15 Boston Music Awards, An Honorary Doctorate from the University of Maine, the 2019 International Acoustic Music Awards Artist of the Year and most recently his album, The Storyteller’s Suitcase, was named the 2019 NERFA Album of the Year.
His new album “55” touches on the necessity of gratitude in a difficult era of the pandemic and divided political stances on his own imprint, Rosella Records.
Antje Duvekot has solidified her reputation as one of Boston’s top singer songwriters with “Big Dream Boulevard” her debut studio release and “the Near Demise of the Highwire Dancer” and “New Siberia” her follow-up albums.
The debut CD was produced by Seamus Egan, founder of the Irish super group, SOLAS and the project was released on songwriter Ellis Paul’s label and quickly attracted international attention for Antje. It was voted “#1 Folk Release of 2006” by the Boston Globe and was named to the “Top10 Releases of the Year” by National Public Radio’s, Folk Alley. Her follow up albums “the Near Demise of the Highwire Dancer” and “New Siberia” were produced by Richard Shindell and along side with Richard feature other “folk royalty” such as John Gorka, Lucy Kaplancky and Mark Erelli.
Antje has extensive touring experience, criss-crossing the US and Europe many times. She is a compelling live performer and has been invited to play some of the top festivals including The Newport Folk Festival as well as the Mountain Stage, Philadelphia and Kerrville Festivals. Internationally, she’s headlined the The Celtic Connections Festival in Scotland and the Tonder Festival in Denmark.
Over the past decade, Austin-based troubadour Rebecca Loebe has been steadily building her audience the old fashioned way: driving hundreds of thousands of miles in an old station wagon, performing in listening rooms and theaters across the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, and the UK. During her last radio interview in England, an announcer for the BBC declared “Your voice should be available for free on the National Health!”
Her singing voice landed her on national television when she was cast on the first season of NBC’s The Voice. Ask her about that experience and she’ll proudly tell you that, since her mentorship with Adam Levine, “His career has really skyrocketed and I’m just so proud of that boy.”
Lately she’s been indulging a sneaky pastime. “I like to write catchy songs about topics that are meaningful to me, but use fun hooks to put words in people’s mouths.” She admits, “My favorite thing is to get people singing along before they even realize they’re singing about women’s equality or their own self-worth.”
In 2019, she released her fifth studio album, her first collaboration with the Grammy nominated Houston-based record label Blue Corn Music. The genre-bending album borrows equally from the worlds of intimate folk, ear wormy pop, and no-holds-barred Americana.
Refusing to pledge allegiance to any single genre was a creative gamble that has paid off in a big way: Give Up Your Ghosts has received the best press of Loebe’s career including praise from Billboard, Rolling Stone, and legendary rock critic Dave Marsh, who said: “Once I put it on I couldn’t take it off.”
