Solo, Duo, Trio & Quartet ~*~ I like to play music with my friends whenever possible. Accompanists frequently include: Kate MacLeod on fiddle & vocals; Bill Stoye on percussion & vocals; Harold Carr on acoustic upright bass or Mike Lindauer on electric fretless bass; Charlotte Bell on oboe & english horn, as well as other surprise guest musicians ~
Sounds Like
Sometimes compared to Joni Mitchell, Cowboy Junkies & Natalie Merchant & Kate Wolf, but sounds like Anke ~ Shine On Through :)
Anke Summerhill’s diverse background and powerful gift of observation has seasoned her songwriting and performances with that which makes us compassionate.
As a musician, as well as a visual artist and practitioner of healing arts, Summerhill ultimately desires a connection with people, and sees a parallel through each of the arts.
Originally from Munich, German is Anke’s first language. Even before she understood a word of English, Anke would listen to the music of some of her favourite singers, songwriters and bands, which included The Beatles, Esther & Abi Ofarim, and later on James Taylor, (a favourite of her English House Mother).
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 the love of singing eventually coaxed her to also pick up the guitar, so she could accompany herself.
After completing high school, Anke moved to the small town of Princeton, British Columbia, where she would occasionally sit in to sing vocal harmonies with her friends’ rock n’ roll band.
Her travels throughout England, Canada and the United States, eventually led her to make her home in the beautiful Utah desert in the mid 1980’s.
While attending Salt Lake Community College to earn a degree in Graphic Design, a fellow student introduced Anke to one of the oldest coffeehouses in Salt Lake City.
She co-founded the duo “Stillwater” and before long found herself writing and singing her own songs at the coffeehouse.
Inspired and encouraged by her fellow musicians and songwriters, her passion for songwriting continued to grow.
Since then, she has had the privilege of being a two-time New Folk Finalist at the Kerrville Folk Festival, and has released two full- length recordings of original songs. She has played her songs in coffeehouses, house concerts and festivals across the US.
Of her debut CD release, Dirty Linen Magazine wrote:
“Quiet and reflective, but with an inner magic, Summerhill's songwriting has a maturity not usually found in a new artist.”
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.”
Anke’s song: “Stars at Noon”, reflects perfectly the character of the Southern Utah Wilderness she has grown to love.
This, and several other songs of hers, have been adopted by environmental organizations, and a variety of other community groups, and have found good homes on compilation recordings as part of their fund raising efforts.
Summerhill’s second CD recording, "Shine on Through" was self-released through Sky & Earth Music, to radio stations across the US, Canada and to some stations internationally. In February of 2004, this recording of original songs was ranked highly when surveyed on the Folk DJ list.
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Hey, if you would like your music to be considered for a feature on our site, be sure to send a couple of review CDs our way. (You can find the mailing address on our page.) We love to share new music with our readers!
Hello Anke, thank you for the friendship. good songs, nice voice. i love the song WILD BIRDS WING very touching, great work. plz stop by any time and say hello. be cool...
anke..thanks for finding me. I feel like we have circled around the same places for far too long not to know eachother. your music is beautiful and I hope we can rememdy the meeting part soon. -sarah sample
Hi Anke - Thanks for inviting us to be your friend. Your site and your music are beautiful. I hope we see you Saturday at our show in Salt Lake! Monica
We are celebrating a long holiday weekend here in America, called Labor Day.
In honor of that, here's a photo that I took in the mountains of Burma, also know as Myanmar, of a tribal person, carrying a heavy load and smoking a cigar. I guess that the moral is, whatever you do, always enjoy your work!
Hey Anke, Been listening to the tracks on your myspace page...they are wonderful! Look forward to hearing more! Watch out, this can be a terrible addiction....not the worst I can think of though.
