German-born singer Antje Duvekot getting closer to her big dream

It took a little time for Antje Duvekot to get her musical career under way, but over the past couple of years she's become one of the busiest and most lauded performers on the folk music scene.

Duvekot is celebrating her latest acclaimed album, "The Near Demise of the High Wire Dancer" (Black Wolf Records) released last spring, as well as a special holiday album she did with three other New England folk artists.

"The Near Demise of the High Wire Dancer" is Duvekot's fifth overall album since her 2002 debut, but her first studio effort since 2006's "Big Dream Boulevard." In the time between those two albums, she's enjoyed a steadily rising profile aided by the fact Bank of America used her song "Merry Go-Round" for one of its TV ad campaigns in 2007.

Duvekot, 33, first gained national notice when she won the 2000 John Lennon Songwriting Competition, and then followed it up by winning the New Folk Award at the Kerrville Folk Festival - whose previous winners have included Steve Earle and Nanci Griffith.

"The Lennon award was great, but it is sort of an industry ploy, and didn't do much to expand my fan base," said Duvekot. "Honestly, awards are nice, but they're not going to do much to help you build an audience."

Duvekot said her performing career didn't really get off the ground until about 2005, when Boston folk singer Ellis Paul, who shares the same manager, asked her to open his shows.

"Ellis took me under his wing and basically let me open all his shows for two and a half years, which really was the boost I needed."

Before that, this University of Delaware history major had spent several fruitless years trying to crack the competitive New York City scene, while working days (and nights) as a waitress, tour guide and nanny. Boston's nurturing folk scene proved to be the perfect place for her to forge a career.

"I can only speak for myself, but I found it much easier to break in here," said Duvekot from her Somerville, Mass., home. "Boston is just much more focused on what I do, and there is a tremendous amount of community-oriented folk radio here."

Duvekot, who was born in Heidelberg, Germany, and immigrated with her mother to Delaware at age 13, has been writing and singing her own songs since her teen years, but never looked on it as a career choice until after college. Paul and John Gorka were two of her favorite songwriters, and she also noticed the way Ani DiFranco forged a career on her own terms.

Duvekot's lyrics are often striking, haunting images and surprising turns of phrase abound. There is a strong storytelling aspect to her tunes, but also a unique way of using words that she attributes to having to quickly learn English.

"I started writing before I could speak English very well," said Duvekot. "Everybody knows certain cliches and how people over-use them and make things sound mundane. I didn't know enough English to know any cliches, so I was able to avoid that trap. ... I think all of that gives my writing a little different flavor."

Folk star Richard Shindell produced the newest album, and he guests on it along with John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky, guitar wizard Duke Levine and bassist Victor Krauss. The song "Vertigo," co-written with Mark Erelli, can be considered the title cut. It presents a parable about a high-wire dancer afraid of heights, as a sort of metaphor for people afraid to take chances and make commitments. The song "Coney Island" is an incisive view of two people embarking on a relationship. And the rollicking "Ragdoll Princes and Junkyard Queens" proves Duvekot can rock out a bit too.

The album "Big Dream Boulevard" made her an immediate force in the folk music world, her warm alto lending a certain air of intimacy to her songs.

"I used to write about dark and terrible things, and I have definitely lightened up a bit. There aren't as many heavy themes. 'Big Dream Boulevard' included songs about the Middle East ("Jerusalem"), Alzheimer's disease ("Anna") and abuse ("Judas"), and this time I'm using a much lighter touch, not being as direct and dark."

The holiday season project involves a series of concerts with three fellow folk singers: Anne Heaton, Meg Hutchinson and Natalia Zuckerman. "Winterbloom: Traditions Rearranged" also spawned an eight-song album with the four singers.

Duvekot is spending most of this month on the Winterbloom tour.

"We are all friends, and we'd played in the round at Club Passim, which was so much fun we decided to do a longer tour," Duvekot said. "We all provided an original holiday song of our own, and also recorded some traditional holiday covers. ... One of the things I do is sing 'Silent Night' in German with Meg."

"It is not difficult for me to go back and forth, from the Winterbloom shows to my solo concerts," Duvekot said. "It is of course very much fun to sing with the other girls. I miss my bandmates when I play solo, but I do it a lot. I try to make it interesting for the audience, telling some stories and mixing in some cover songs."

Jay N. Miller covers music for The Patriot Ledger. If you have information or ideas send it by e-mail to features@ledger.com.