Enthusiastic Eunuch Presents

Anna & Elizabeth

with special guest

Benjamin Lazar Davis (Okkervil River)

The Sugar Club

Weds 9^th May

Doors 8pm

“Simply amazing.” No Depression Magazine

“Heartbreakingly great.” - Jeremy Gara (Arcade Fire)

"They brought many of us to tears with some of the most yearning harmonies I've heard at the Tiny Desk…
Take a deep breath and soak it all in.” - Bob Boilen (NPR MUSIC)

“Impossibly intimate, an experiment of the timelessness of human thought and emotion, right here and now. One of my favorite bands around.” - Abigail Washburn

“I’m consistently knocked out by the way they combine the raw materials mined from traditional American music and culture with a highly creative, open-minded approach to art to create something visceral and surprising.” - Chris Eldridge (Punch Brothers)

"This is pure folk music—it doesn't get much better than this.” Folk Alley

Anna & Elizabeth

Fresh from one of the stand-out shows in Dublin in 2017, Enthusiastic Eunuch is thrilled to announce Anna & Elizabeth’s return to the city for a performance in the very appropriate surroundings of The Sugar Club with a new album on the illustrious Smithsonian label in tow. Their show in Bello Bar last November was like nothing Dublin had ever seen before combining storytelling & theatre with immaculate and daring musical arrangements to create a temporary & glorious universe unto itself.

Their show is like no other. Through their immersive creative process and bold interpretations, Anna & Elizabeth’s visionary partnership pioneers new ways of presenting old songs and stories to modern audiences. Since 2011, with a deep and shared love of old Appalachian music, they stand at the vanguard of tradition and the avant-garde, transforming traditional music with innovative, modern arrangements. Their captivating performance integrates visual art, movement and experimental film with breathtaking harmonies.

The performance magic comes from unique strengths of each artist: Elizabeth LaPrelle, lauded as the finest traditional singer of her generation, is rooted in rural Virginia and a lifetime of singing ballads. Anna Roberts-Gevalt’s musical path has led her from the kitchens of Kentucky banjo elders to sessions in Brooklyn’s thriving experimental music world. A master instrumentalist, Anna is the band’s arranger and driving force.

In winter 2018, Anna & Elizabeth will release their third full-length album; a continuing progression of their evolving sound. It is co-produced by Anna and Benjamin Lazar Davis (avant-pop outfit Cuddle Magic) and features Jim White of The Dirty Three on drums, and lauded experimental pedal steel player Susan Alcorn (Mary Halvorsen Octet).

In the spring, Anna & Elizabeth will tour the US, UK & Europe to support their new project, with additional accompanists to recreate the expansive sonic landscape of their album. The spartan simplicity of their voices and acoustic instruments will include percussion, synth, pump organ, woodwinds, field recordings, film projections, choreography, and crankies -- illustrated, hand-cranked scrolls depicting songs and stories as they are performed.

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Anna & Elizabeth has appeared on stages across the world, including the Cambridge Folk Festival, Brighton Festival, Newport Folk Festival, National Sawdust, Atlanta Museum of Modern Art, Old Town School of Folk Music, Brooklyn Folk Fest; intimate theaters across the U.S., U.K. & Europe; and fellowships to develop their work at the MacDowell Colony, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and Centrum. They have released two acclaimed full-length albums--Sun to Sun (2012) and Anna & Elizabeth (2015).

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Anna Roberts-Gevalt is a voracious and curious musician who nestles in the space between ancient ballads and new sounds. After spending years in Baltimore’s underground art scene, she now resides in Brooklyn, NY. She fell in love with the sound of banjo in college, moved to the mountains, and learned with master musicians in Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina. She has been a fellow at the Berea College Traditional Music Archive and OneBeat (Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation); three years artistic director of Kentucky’s traditional music institute, the Cowan Creek Mountain Music School; and co-curator of Baltimore's Crankie Festival. She is a summer 2017 fellow at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, and recently studied in a workshop with Meredith Monk.

Elizabeth LaPrelle is a world-renowned ballad singer who resides on a farm in Rural Retreat, VA. The student of master singer Ginny Hawker and National Heritage Fellow Sheila Kay Adams, LaPrelle was the first recipient of the Henry Reed Award from the Library of Congress at age 16, and won the 2012 Mike Seeger Award at Folk Alliance International. She has been hailed as “the best young Appalachian ballad singer to emerge in recent memory” by UK’s fRoots Magazine.

Benjamin Lazar Davis

Benjamin Lazar Davis is a gifted multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, arranger, composer and producer.

His current creative projects include co-writing, recording, co-production and touring for the album Let It Be You (Reveal Records) with Joan As Police Woman, recording and performing live with Okkervil River, co-writing, recording, production and touring with the Brooklyn band Cuddle Magic and writing, recording and touring with Bridget Kearney (Lake Street Dive) in support of the Bawa EP (Signature Sounds Records).

He has written, arranged, collaborated or performed live with a variety of other world class artists including Anais Mitchell, Kimbra, Luke Temple, Jesse Harris, Wild Belle, Delicate Steve and Margaret Glaspy