etb English
Theatre
Berlin International Performing Arts Center

Hailing from Cologne, this young songwriter cites influences ranging from Feist and Matt Corby right through to the old soul classics. Weaving thoughtful lyrics with catchy melodies, Janine Villforth is set to leave audiences mesmerized with a rich smoky voice far beyond her years.

After enchanting our audience as a support act in April 2014, we’re delighted to invite Janine and her band back to ETB | IPAC for a full concert!

Saudia Young sings a ‘Swing Cabaret’ mixture of jazz, blues and dark rock & roll. A Berlin-based New Yorker, Young writes songs as well as tipping her hat to the “dark cabaret swingers from Fitzgerald to Weill to Waits”. Saudia’s sultry voice, stage presence and the excellent musicians – Florian von Frieling (DE) on guitar, Henry Grant (US) on drums  & Dirk Schmigotzki (DE) on contra bass – make this an act not to be missed.

Jamie Collier’s writing style stems from country and blues, with influences from Tom Waits to Gillian Welch. A sensitive acoustic guitar technique, strong melody and a powerful singing voice form the backbone to a captivating performance of storytelling in song. From New Zealand, his musical journey of 9 entirely DIY albums has led him to hold a respectable stance in the craft of songwriting.

Jamie arrived in Berlin in the Winter of 2012, where he entered the Berlin scene, as so many musicians have, busking on the streets and passing the hat in the bars around the city. He co-founded the folk/synth-pop duo The Rad Dads later that year and kick started a mobile recording service to record Berlin’s musicians. Jamie will be joined by some fellow musicians for a memorable evening of songs.

Support act the clockwork faerie

The Clockwork Faerie is the project of Berlin-based Johanna Blackstone. It is Clockpunk & Opera Strange. “To tell a story… That is the meaning of my song. The story of forever… Ticking on and on and on…” The Inventor! (Johanna Blackstone), sings with a pure tone voice that seems like a siren over water, playing a resonator ukulele that couldn’t be more fitting. Occasionally accompanied by The Engineer! (Gerrit Haasler), her songs weave together to tell a story of the Assemblage of The Clockwork Faerie.

She will be joined, in part, by The Harlequina (contact juggling) and The BellyBot (Belly Dancer) to present the ‘Circus of Broken Dolls’, a project that tells the sweet story of one trying to learn from the other through movement and music.

“It’s all about power in the darkest hour… ain’t no free ride, if you want to glide, on it” says Bey on the song Sacred.

This newly formed duo appeals to the cinematic sense of music and the freedom to navigate beyond category. Inspired by the revolutionary 1960’s of Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles, marinated over time, Citizen X finds a new voice in the theater of today’s globalized one-world politics. The duets move through a landscape filled with a sense of spirituality, atmospheric sound bytes punctuated by wide ranging guitar sounds and observant commentary on today’s tumultuous world. Cadillac Eldorados, Sun Ra’s Arkestra and names like Amiri Baraka, Fred Hampton and Huey P. Newton come to mind in a blend of black-a-delic consciousness, bringing a sense of proximity to both danger, beauty and love.

Jean-Paul Bourelly started his musical career in Chicago playing with some of the south side’s most adventurous figures like Phil Corran, Pete Cozey and formed his outlook on music. The city was blazing one night and the next day everything was gone. So was the 60’s in the heat of social change. Bourelly moved his avant blues on to New York performing with Elvin Jones, Miles Davis and Pharoah Sanders before embarking on 14 CD’s under his own name, which include Saints and Sinners (DIW), the rock flavored Trippin and Afro experimental trip, Boom Bop.

Sadiq Bey began his social investigation with performance and poetry in post-insurrection Detroit’s experimental music scene with artists like Faruq Z. Bey, Kenny Cox, poet Dudley Randall and drummer, Roy Brooks. He is best known as the front man for Don Byron’s NuBlaxploitation, Tuskegee Experiments, The Othello Syndrome with pianist Uri Caine and his own projects, schwartzegeist and >Green_man/. In 2008 he received the Berlin Studio Project Award for his electronic/acoustic recording Slow the Ear (Allzeit Musik). He recently appeared at English Theatre Berlin | International Performing Arts Center in the role of Maurice in the world premiere of Alexander Thomas’ play Schwarz gemacht.

Sofia Talvik has emerged like a lady of the forest, bringing a new interesting side to folk music. She plays a unique blend of folk-pop (someone said Neo-Folk). This American genre filtered through her Swedish heritage becomes something totally unique, a blend that has attracted attention from a broad audience all over the world.

Her combination of modal chord changes and beautiful 60’s folk-pop melodies combined with the gentle singing of a 70’s folk songstress will make you think of Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, Jewel and Aimee Mann.

“Of all the voices – and man, they seem to issue them at birth to Swedish women – Talvik has the most faith in hers in an “I don’t need a theatrical gimmick” kind of way.” – Austin Chronicle

support act mc hansen

Danish singer and guitar slinger MC Hansen combines the storytelling of traditional folk music with contemporary country sounds. His music echoes both his Danish heritage and his American influences.
The sound of Scandinavia in American clothes – it’s Scandicana! Imagine Bob Dylan playing chess with H.C. Andersen on Neil Young’s front porch.

A travelling musician since 2003, he plays some 120 shows a year with his own band or as the guitar slinger with The Sentimentals who tour with Jonathan Byrd, Gurf Morlix, Ed Romanoff, Corin Raymond, Ana Egge, Matt Harlan, Dana Cooper and Sam Baker. He’s played the Olympia in Paris and the Hammersmith Apollo in London with Madeleine Peyroux. He tours all year and so far he’s played shows in 12 different countries, toured America six times and released four albums.

His fifth album From Whitehorse to the Crow’s Nest will be released in the fall of 2014.

Long before their fateful meeting, Chester Travis and Tim Hook shared a rich and varied musical history. The past few years have seen Chester release three EPs, score a feature length documentary and tour with Grammy Award-winning musician Kimbra. Meanwhile, Tim’s schedule had him touring Europe, accompanying singers in Vietnam and playing international festivals such as The Great Escape.

Eventually the two would meet while working together in a guitar shop on London’s famous Denmark Street. There they whiled away the days writing together and composing the next chapter of their musical adventure. Now both living in Berlin and drawing on influences such as Elliot Smith and Wilco, the country-folk duo are recording an EP together and taking a full band on the road for a series of festivals and intimate shows in Germany.

This gig marks the second time Tim and Chester have played together at English Theatre Berlin | International Performing Arts Center but their first time with a full band.

Support act: janine villforth

Fresh from performing at Soundcloud’s Kitchen Sessions (a website which has seen her songs played over 50,000 times), Janine Villforth is bringing her 6-piece band to English Theatre Berlin | International Performing Arts Center for the first time.

Hailing from Cologne, the 18-year-old songwriter cites influences ranging from Feist and Matt Corby right through to the old soul classics. Weaving thoughtful lyrics with catchy melodies, Janine Villforth is set to leave audiences mesmerized with a rich smoky voice far beyond her years.

Now based in Berlin, and currently recording a studio EP, here’s your chance to witness a star in the making!