PUTNEY — Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music will present contemporary folk singer/songwriters May Erlewine and Clayton Sabine at Next Stage on Saturday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m.
According to a news release, Erlewine, “one of the Midwest's most engaging and passionate songwriters, writes music of substance that feels both fresh and soulfully familiar, and with her trio connects listeners with a powerful, emotional experience.”
Brattleboro-based singer/guitarist Clayton Sabine “makes up songs, too - sometimes they're funny, sometimes they're sad, sometimes he'll sing them.”
Erlewine says she uses her music as a platform for positive change, considers her job a service-oriented one, and carries the torch of the folk-singer activist. Her voice on stage “encourages connectedness and stresses the importance of environmental advocacy, social justice, creative empowerment, and community building as necessary work for everyone.”
Raised in a home full of art and music, Erlewine began writing songs at a very young age. As a teenager she hitchhiked across the country, honing her skills as a performer and absorbing the kind of stories and landscapes that would inform her music.
With a long list of full-length albums, two EPs, and numerous collaborations, Erlewine's catalog is proof of her creative power. Her work has been spotlighted by Rolling Stone and NBC's The Voice. Her songs have been covered by Greensky Bluegrass, Railroad Earth, Sawyer Fredericks (Season 8 winner of The Voice), Joshua Davis (Season 8 finalist of The Voice), Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys, and others.
Whether as a member of the folk/rock trio Relative Strangers or as a solo artist, “Sabine is known for his powerfully and intimately performed songs, rich with wit and pathos. With lyrics that speak to listeners and melodies that haunt, he blends elements of the best of American traditions of rock, folk and pop.”