Anke Summerhill

Artist Information

Biography

***VIDEO*** available here:
http://www.youtube.com/ankesummerhill

An Introduction

Whether at an intimate coffeehouse, house concert or at an outdoor festival, Anke invites her listeners into the heart of her music, which she loves sharing with her community.

David Lindley, compared her distinct alto voice to the rich resonance of a cello.

Anke Summerhill and songwriter Doug Wintch form a duo whose sound includes soulful vocals, harmonies, guitars, bass, harmonica & mandolin. Anke & Doug feature their award winning original songs, spanning the range from quirky love songs to rock n’roll to ballads.

Along with their duo tours, Anke Summerhill & Doug Wintch are currently touring with Duncan Phillips & the Utah Phillips Tribute Tour.

Video Samples are available at: www.YouTube.com/AnkeSummerhill


Upcoming & Recent Performances

Caffe Lena, NY w/Duncan Phillips & Utah Phillips Tribute Tour

Club Passim, MA w/Duncan Phillips & Utah Phillips Tribute

SUNDANCE Film Festival Cafe w/Doug Wintch

Intermountain Acoustic Music Association w/Doug Wintch

Art of the Song ~ Albuquerque, NM
Radio Interview w/Duncan Phillips & the Utah Phillips Tribute ~ this interview also included Kate MacLeod, Doug Wintch & Anke Summerhill. To be aired at a future date TBD.

KAFM Radio Room, CO ~ Concert w/Doug Wintch

Moab Folk Camp, UT ~ Beginning Guitar Instructor

Brewin Bistro ~ SLCC UT TV Channel w/Doug Wintch

Utah Arts Festival ~ Trio w/Kate MacLeod & Harold Carr


Biography

Born in Munich, Germany and educated in England, Anke is a citizen of both Canada and the United States.

When Summerhill’s family moved from Germany to Vancouver, British Columbia, she finished high school in a visual and performing arts program, where she began to study drawing. The study of various vocal styles and her love of singing led her to pick up the guitar in high school, so she could accompany herself.

Early on, she joined up with a group of eight fellow musicians and toured regionally in Utah, California & Nevada. During this time she also co-founded the duo, “Stillwater”, and began writing songs, using her powerful gifts of observation and compassion.

Though Anke has traveled extensively throughout Canada and the United States, she still feels drawn to the open spaces of the Utah desert, which she calls home.

To date, Anke has released two full length recordings of her original songs, which have been included in many compilation projects.

She has had the privilege of being a two-time New Folk Finalist at the Kerrville Folk Festival, and has played her songs at festivals, coffeehouses & house concerts across the USA.

Anke especially enjoys exploring songwriting & creativity with others in small workshop settings. It is a wonderful way to bring people of a community together!
In recent years, she has worked with people of all ages in her community and beyond and is continually inspired by the healing power of music. ~ :)


Quotes

“Her lyrics and melodies are sophisticated, expertly crafted and heartfelt, with a complexity that remains accessible.”
~ Intermountain Acoustic Music Magazine

A listener from Illinois wrote: “I LOVE your music and…enjoy listening to your wonderful voice and songs which always make me feel like there is light streaming all around.”



Instrumentation

Anke Summerhill: vocal & guitars
Doug Wintch: vocal, guitars, harmonica & mandolin.
Kate MacLeod: fiddle & vocal
Ken Sager: guitar, mandolin, dobro, vocal
Harold Carr: acoustic upright bass

Lineup & instrumentation varies:
Solo, Duo, Trio or Quartet


Along with their duo tours, Anke Summerhill & Doug Wintch are currently touring with Duncan Phillips & the Utah Phillips Tribute Tour.

Duncan Phillips: vocal & guitar
Anke Summerhill: vocal & guitar
Doug Wintch: vocal, guitar & harmonica
Kate MacLeod: vocal, guitar & fiddle

Lineup & instrumentation varies.

Instrumentation

Line Up & Instrumentation Varies:
Solo, Duo, Trio or Quartet

Anke Summerhill: vocal & guitars
Kate MacLeod: fiddle & vocal
Ken Sager: guitar, mandolin, dobro, vocal
Harold Carr: acoustic upright bass

Discography

***VIDEO*** available here:

http://www.youtube.com/ankesummerhill




Full Length Projects of Original Music:

SHINE ON THROUGH ~ 2004 ~ Sky & Earth Music

THE ROOTS RUN DEEP ~ 1999 ~ Sky & Earth Music/ISG Records


Contributions to Compilation Projects:

Recorded one song: "Miner's Lullaby"
for The Long Memory Project:
A tribute recording of the songs of Utah Phillips.
Released in 2011.

SINGER SONGWRITER HEAVEN - The Songs of Kevin Faherty ~ 2009

ACOUSTIC SKY ~ 2008 ~ Led Sky Records

BEFORE THEIR TIME, Vol II ~ 2002
Memorial Songs and Music,
National Compilation CD for the Benefit of "Hospice VNH ( VT/NH ), Youth Suicide Prevention Association, the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.".

RIVER OF SONG ~2000
An Anthology of River Songs,
National Compilation CD for the Benefit of "American Rivers".

SLICKROCK & SAGEBRUSH ~ 2000
Songs for Utah Wilderness.
Utah Compilation CD for the Benefit of the "Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance".

FOLK UTAH ~ 1993
Utah Singer-Songwriter Sampler



PERFORMANCE HISTORY INCLUDES:

Caffe Lena, NY

Club Passim, MA

The Freight & Salvage, CA

Moab Folk Festival, UT

Sundance Film Festival Cafe, UT

Wodstock Festival, NY
aka Yasgur's Farm Reunion, 2000

Tucson Folk Festival, AZ

New Folk Finalist Showcase
Kerrville Folk Festival, 1996 & 1999

Utah Arts Festival, UT

Brown Bag Concert Series, UT

Heart & Soul Community Concerts, UT

Voted Best Folk/Acoustic Artist
2000 SLCity Weekly Readers' Poll UT

Utah Performing Arts Tour
Selected for the 2001/2002 Utah Artist Roster

Solstice Festival, Santa Cruz, CA

Deer Valley Folk and Bluegrass Festival, UT

KRCL Showcase, 1998

Private Parties & Weddings


Has performed with or opened for:
Duncan Phillips, Doug Wintch,
Dar Williams, Cosy Sheridan,
Ellis Paul, Kate MacLeod, Michael Veitch,
Irene Kelley, Caroline Aiken,
Darryl Purpose, and
The Five Chinese Brothers,
among others.

Links

• Facebook

Audio

• Windowsills
  Listen  
• Wild Bird's Wing
  Listen  
• Queen Spade
  Listen  
• From Up Here
  Listen  
• Stars At Noon
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Queen Spade
• Cat Song

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• CD Review [+ Show ]
  

  author: Martin Renzhoffer, Salt Lake Tribune ANKE SUMMERHILL, "Shine on Through": Grade A On "...author: Martin Renzhoffer, Salt Lake Tribune
  ANKE SUMMERHILL, "Shine on Through": Grade A
  On "Shine on Through," Anke Summerhill's second album, the elegant Utah singer and songwriter continues her maturation as a recording artist. Summerhill surrounds herself with many of Salt Lake City's finest musicians, including Kate MacLeod, who also took the vital role of producer. The arrangements -- and Summerhill's voice -- are stunning without overpowering the simple beauty of her lyrics. "Windowsills" and "If a Day Was an Island" are standouts on an album full of standouts.

• CD Review [+ Show ]
  

  Consistently expansive and deeply compassionate, Anke's new CD "Shine on Through" has coaxed the ... Consistently expansive and deeply compassionate, Anke's new CD "Shine on Through" has coaxed the most timid parts of my soul out into the sunlight.
  This is music I trust.
  

• CD Review [+ Show ]
  

  author: Jayne Darling I have really come to enjoy "Shine on Through". There's a deeper harmony ...author: Jayne Darling
  I have really come to enjoy "Shine on Through". There's a deeper harmony with this collection of songs. The words and music create a beautifully woven fabric that just seem to embrace you. I'll enjoy this one for a long time to come!

• Let the secret out! [+ Show ]
  

  author: huck In a world of confusion and worry, somehow a spirit seems to arise that proclaims b...author: huck
  In a world of confusion and worry, somehow a spirit seems to arise that proclaims beauty and the transcendence of those human traits that comfort and inspire. I love Anke Summerhill. I love her soul. I love her warm shower of poetry that cleans my cynical hard head for a moment, long enough to believe that there is still hope.
  

• CD Review [+ Show ]
  

  author: Lin Ostler "Anke Summerhill's new release, shine on through, is replete with richness, insi...author: Lin Ostler
  "Anke Summerhill's new release, shine on through, is replete with richness, insight, warmth and a tribute to our fragile but triumphant spirit. The music is as soothing as basking on a sun-warmed boulder while the iridescent mist of a waterfall settles over us. We don't feel inundated by its power, simply blessed.
  
  Richly expressed in its wistful quality are a longing, compassion and exploration of relationships. Composed primarily of love songs, with a hearty dose of self-introspection, the work includes a worthy nod to a diversity of styles. Also present, though not as prominently as in her previous CD, The Roots Run Deep, is the sensuous engagement with landscape as comfort, as a bridge or sacred ground where we coincide despite our differences.
  
  
  Anke has brought back several musicians from Roots, with some added to boot. Most notably is the piano virtuosity of local [ Utah ]performing artist Steve Keen, on piano and accordion. His lilting artistry on "If a Day Was An Island," takes me back to the early 70's when Steve graciously swapped piano lessons for macrobiotic cooking sessions.
  
  The album's first cut features John Mock's penny whistle, which functions not so much an instrument of the British Isles but for its plaintive "Wild Bird's" voice. The rich percussion of earlier works is replaced by drum work of John Gardner, the house drummer for the Grand Ole Opry. Harmonies of voices familiar to local acoustophiles (did I make that up?) recorded here then engineered in Nashville, are so well mixed, the voices merge, often almost indistinguishably--not unlike the intimacy between two people that the songs seem to yearn for.
  
  Matt Flinner's banjo & mandolin move jauntily, sometimes evocatively behind many of the melodies, especially emphasizing the playfulness behind the "New Year's Resolution." Here a certain poignancy sometimes suggested in the songs is replaced by a bold declaration: "I don't want to hear about it. Go and tell somebody else." The work resounds with smiles of an artist enjoying herself, the musicians, even the listeners.
  
  Still, compassion and depth reign throughout the songs. Whether expressed in a bluesy way in the title cut or with a jazzy, saxophone-infused questioning in the mysterious "Big House," or while "waiting for wisdom and grace... to scatter the darkness," Anke's lovely talent clearly shines through." ~ Lin Ostler, Catalyst Magazine
  

Setlist

***VIDEO*** available here:
http://www.youtube.com/ankesummerhill

Available for concerts, corporate events, weddings & other special occasions in the Intermountain West & Nationally as a Duo:
Anke Summerhill & Doug Wintch

Also available as a Trio:
Anke Summerhill & Doug Wintch with a drummer or another instrumental accompanist.

Sets can include 2 full sets of original songs written by Anke Summerhill & Doug Wintch.

Songs ranging from Ballads to Rockabilly ~
Depending on the occasion, we also include cover songs written by a diversity of artists such as Buddy Holly, Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, Frank Loesser & Nancy Sinatra.

Basic Requirements

Calendar