Next Stage Arts and Twilight Music present multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and singer Keith Murphy with The Band of Amber (Ty Gibbons, Anand Nayak, Richie Barshay) and special guest Jenna Moynihan. Since their debut performance at Next Stage in June 2024, the quartet has expanded its repertoire and refined its ensemble sound, adding Scottish fiddler phenomenon Moynihan to the mix for this show.
Keith Murphy began forging a distinctive sound in the world of traditional song at an early age, growing up surrounded by the rich folk song, ballad, and dance music traditions of his native Newfoundland. Over the years, and through his travels as a musician, he’s incorporated elements from many other traditions, including those from his adopted home in Vermont. A noted instrumentalist, he is well known for his work with Nightingale, Childsplay, Boston Revels, Tony Barrand, Hanneke Cassel, Yann Falquet, and his most enduring collaborator—his wife and fiddler, Becky Tracy. He is also the founder and artistic director of the Brattleboro Music Center’s Northern Roots Festival.
Formed to support Murphy’s latest solo project, Bright As Amber, The Band of Amber blends bass, drums, and electric guitar over his fingerstyle acoustic guitar and singing of traditional songs. Anand Nayak (Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem), a Grammy-nominated producer and multi-instrumentalist, creates beautifully sensitive and atmospheric textures on electric guitar. Richie Barshay, whose impressive resume includes collaborations with Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Natalie Merchant, Bobby McFerrin, and the Klezmatics, brings astounding range and musicality as a drummer. Ty Gibbons, an acclaimed composer for film and TV and member of the Vermont indie folk band Red Heart the Ticker, melds his deep understanding of traditional folk music with his other wide-ranging musical talents as an acoustic bassist.
A versatile and inventive 5-string fiddler and vocalist, Jenna Moynihan will open the show with a solo set before joining The Band of Amber. She also performs in a duo with Scottish harpist Mairi Chaimbeul, as well as with the Seamus Egan Project and the Hanneke Cassel Band.
