Biography
Festivals
Mariposa Folk Festival
KingFest Music Festival
Toronto City Roots Festival
WinterFolk Festival
Twisted Pines Festival
Nancy Dutra was born and raised in Toronto as the youngest of four children to Portuguese immigrants who exposed her to Fado, a type of stripped-down bluesy folk music that originated in their homeland, a music that she still loves. Nancy sang in church choirs, but it wasn’t until she was 14 that she found her true musical calling.
“When I was younger I listened to different kinds of music than what I’m writing and performing now, but I got bored with what I was hearing on the radio and tuned into a country station, “she explains. “I got hooked instantly, especially with the traditional stuff.”
Dutra eventually bought a guitar, taught herself to play and started writing her own distinctive material. “Most of my songs come from personal experiences, things like my family, heartbreak or how my friends’ lives affect me, “says the songwriter.
Influenced by the sounds of her youth – and more recently by roots music songwriters such as Tom Russell, John Prine, Lyle Lovett, Michael Laderoute, Mary Gauthier, Mindy Smith, Iris DeMent, Lynn Miles and Lucinda Williams – many of Dutra’s songs feature dark lyrics and melodies.
“The lyrics in my songs don’t typically express joy but I think there’s a certain redemption that comes from looking closely at life’s difficulties.”
Dutra has been playing for six years and performing for five. During that time, through playing on stages with a variety of talented musicians all over the city, most notably with Wendell Ferguson, David Baxter, Steve Briggs and Tony Quarrington, she has become an integral member of the Toronto roots and traditional country music community. Over the past three years, Dutra has performed regularly with Ferguson who is a six-time winner of the Canadian Country Music Association’s Guitarist of the Year Award. Now, Dutra is ready to take the next step in her career by collaborating with Ferguson on her debut CD.
The singer/songwriter’s most cherished gig, so far was opening for Canadian Music Hall of Fame member Ian Tyson at Hugh’s Room. She has also been invited to play a number of music festivals – including Mariposa Folk Festival 2006, KingFest Music Festival 2007, Winterfolk 2006/07/08 and Toronto City Roots 2006 – and has toured across eastern Canada with such beloved artists as Lucie Idlout and Cassandra Rutherford, performing in major cities (Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and St. John’s Newfoundland).
Recently, Dutra provided the sole entertainment at the Copa Awards, an evening celebrating outstanding Portuguese achievement, and appeared as a featured guest artist on Canada Contacto, a television for international broadcast.
“I never really expected to be at this point where I am performing gigs and making records with top performers,” Dutra concedes. “When I started out I performed at open mic nights in small clubs and then things just developed organically from there as I grew more confident and more opportunities arose.”
Dutra’s pure, sweet, soulful voice perfectly complements her poignant songs, giving them a timeless quality. Some of Dutra’s material sounds as if it could have been written 50 years ago but spend some time with this young lady and you discover she very much a woman of today who is determined to blaze a path that will allow her to perform for new audiences across the country and around the world.
“I love the craft of songwriting. I don’t crave fame but I would like respect for what I do. Writing songs helps me figure out life and I’m just incredibly happy with where I’m at now, with the songs themselves,” Dutra says with the same honesty that permeates her songs and her lyrics – and you believe her.
At times her songs express spirituality, vulnerability, optimism, confusion, confidence and, most often, the importance of family. Nowhere is this more evident than in Mama Taught Me How to Pray, in which Dutra writes:
“My mama taught me how to pray
right down on bended knee.
Sometimes I’d see her wipe away
tears she’s try to hide from me.
So I beg of you my Saviour
please have mercy on her soul
Cause my mama taught me how to pray
she brought me to Your love.
Nancy Dutra has lived an interesting life so far and intends to continue to write about her experiences as she sees even more of the world and witnesses both the joys and pains that modern society brings. But as she does, you can bet she will follow her own advice, which she gives in another of her songs, Ride That Train:
“You gotta ride that train
You gotta ride that train
And find your way back home again.”
Instrumentation
Solo:
Nancy Dutra: Vocals & Acoustic guitar
Duo:
Nancy Dutra: Acoustic guitar
Wendell Ferguson: Acoustic guitar
Discography
Mariposa Folk Festival Compilation - 2006
Debut album to be released in 2010.
Links
| http://www.nancydutra.com |