PUTNEY — Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present contemporary folk singer/songwriters Mark Erelli and Stephen Chipman at Next Stage on Friday, Dec. 8, at 7:30 p.m.
Erelli has toured internationally as a solo artist for the past 18 years, appearing onstage everywhere from coffeehouses and major folk festival stages to Fenway Park, where he once sang the national anthem before a Red Sox game.
He has won music awards ranging from the Kerrville Folk Festival Best New Folk Award to Grand Prize in the International Song Contest.
In recent years, Erelli has gained notoriety as a multi-instrumentalist sideman and producer, accompanying Grammy-winning artists such as Lori McKenna, Paula Cole, and Josh Ritter everywhere from Nashville's Grand Ole Opry to London's Royal Albert Hall.
In addition to producing two records for McKenna, Erelli's own diverse discography includes collections of western swing, lullabies, bluegrass, and songs of stirring social conscience, as well as several highly-acclaimed collaborations.
Chipman grew up in Boston, where he learned to play guitar at an early age and rode the folk music wave through college frat parties and corner bars in the 1970s.
Forty years later, when he isn't rebuilding old parlor guitars in his Chester, Vt., shop, Chipman returns to his singer/songwriter roots with a collection of songs dedicated to poking fun at himself and the follies of his past.