Duo holds concert, music workshop
Mare Wakefield and Nomad combines Mare’s strength as an award-winning songwriter with Turkish-born, classically-trained Nomad’s expert piano and accordion skills. (Photo credit: Carsten Bockermann)
Nashville-based duo Mare Wakefield and Nomad are set to perform a concert at Stillwater Landing and hold a Turkish music workshop at North Valley Music School next week.
The Americana duo combines Mare’s strength as an award-winning songwriter with Turkish-born, classically-trained Nomad’s expert piano and accordion skills.
Mare Wakefield and Nomad were 2016 and 2015 finalists at Kerrville’s NewFolk Songwriting Competition in Texas and 2015 Emerging Artists at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in New York. Their original song “Candles & Carols” was featured in a 2017 Lifetime TV movie. Their 2018 record Time to Fly spent four weeks in the Top Ten on the Roots Americana charts and featured the No. 2 song of the month for February 2018 on the Folk DJ radio charts.
They describe their music as taking listeners on a journey, roaming through Arizona deserts, Oklahoma oil fields and Amsterdam canals, while also exploring hope, heartbreak and barroom brawls.
Mare Wakefield and Nomad will perform a concert Saturday, Sept. 7 at the Stillwater Landing, 6477 U.S. Highway 93, at 7 p.m. There is a $20 suggested donation. For more information, visit http://www.stillwaterlanding.com
Then the husband-and-wife duo will hold a Turkish Music Workshop on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at North Valley Music School in Whitefish at 7 p.m. For more information or to reserve a spot, contact Deidre Corson at deidre@northvalleymusicschool.org.
In an attempt to combat xenophobia, Mare and Nomad have begun offering workshops introducing audiences to Turkish music. It is their belief that fear begins with unfamiliarity.
“We hope that as we get to know one another, we can honor what makes us distinct as individuals, while also understanding that ultimately we are all one,” they said in a release.
Pianist and percussionist Nomad Ovunc leads a workshop introducing the basic elements of Turkish music. Born in Central Turkey, Nomad’s first musical experiences were steeped in the complex melodies and odd rhythms of Turkish music. His subsequent training in classical music at Istanbul State Conservatory and jazz at Berklee College of Music in Boston gives him the unique ability to illustrate the many ways in which Turkish music differs from Western styles, and what makes Turkish music sound “different” or “exotic” to Western ears.
For more information on the duo, visit www.marewakefield.com or hear their music at http://www.reverbnation.com/marewakefield