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antje duvekot(Aunt-yuh Doo-va-Kott)

Antje Duvekot

Happy Holidays, everyone!

I've lived in the U.S. for 2 decades now. It is mostly my own. I've stuffed my belly with stuffing on Thanksgiving, sat through summer baseball games or on top of blankets on the 4th of July, I seem to remember landing on the moon or being at Woodstock in the way that every American "remembers" their history through iconic images.  But there is one realm of my culture in which I am still an utter foreigner. You see, I emigrated to the States at age 14 while much of my family stayed behind in Germany. Since then, I've spent virtually every Christmas back in the old country visiting them. So while the rest of my experiences were uprooted, my Christmases went on uninterrupted and they are what binds me to my German culture and separate me from my American one.  I know what candy canes taste like, I've observed the Santas at the mall, I've seen "Elf"...but a TRUE Christmas for me holds entirely different icons.  It involves a Christmas market in the downtown area and chocolate-covered marzipan and a real pine tree decorated with apples and lit with real candles  (German houses are made of stone so the law permits live candles on trees which is why every good German rug is marred with burn marks).  German houses do have chimneys but no one comes down them to deliver gifts!  (that's just crazy). Christchild comes through the window.  Christchild (or "das Christkind") operates solo (no mutant flying deer). He's got a bag of presents over one shoulder and a branch for beating children who have been bad over the other.  I've always thought that, by comparison, bad American kids get off rather easy with a coal in their stocking!  Naturally, i always got presents. In Germany, Christmas eve is the main event.  That's when we celebrate, open presents, light the tree (preferably just its candles but our stone houses got us covered for any outcome).   The American tradition of celebrating Christmas on the 25th seems weirdly exotic to me. But that's why I'm excited about this year's holiday. Not only am i staying here, but I am submerging myself into American holiday tradition by going on a winter holiday tour with my sweet buddies and fellow singer-songwriters Anne Heaton, Meg Hutchinson and Natalia Zukerman.  We are calling ourselves "Winterbloom: Traditions Rearranged" and we recorded a holiday EP together (back in August! which took imagination) that features christmas-hanukkah-holiday-winter-original-uplifting (and uh...depressing) tunes related to the season.  It is my hope to finally become fully American by spending my first proper American Christmas. I hope you'll come to our shows and help me transition.  

To whet your appetite, I've re-recorded an alternate version of my original tune "Thanks for the Roses (Merry Christmas)" that you can download HERE.

You can buy the whole album HERE.

Happy Holidays!

xoxo, Antje