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| Saturday November 01, 2008 |
Event: Bill and Kate Isles House Concert
Location: Blacksburg, VA
Time: 7:30 PM
Reservations required: yes |
Website: www.billisles.com
Feedback: $10- 15/suggested donation. Please help us welcome our first returning artist! Bill played solo here in June 2006. Our own Diana, a local concert fan, was kind enough to learn some of his duets so that we could get a taste of their magic. Bill's wife Kate will be joining him this evening and magical moments will fill the air. Check out their duets on Bill's website and don't miss this delightful evening.
Bill Isles (Duluth, MN) performed his first show of original songs in twenty-five years in February of 2000. Since that time, he has become one of the most well known singer/songwriters in the Minnesota acoustic scene and has been getting national and international attention.
His songs are poetic reflections of life experiences and often explore adventurous spiritual courses. Admittedly a romantic, many of his lyrics describe emotional and sensual encounters. Just when you conclude that a song is about Michelangelo’s first visit to scope out the project at the Sistine Chapel, you start to realize that, perhaps, this is also an artist’s perception of entering the “chapel” of his/her audience. But then, again, it also hints at personal interactions. It is this multi-layering that has drawn fans to listen over and over again. Words like “mesmerizing” and “transcendent” are common in descriptions of his live performances, not to mention, “very funny”.
His love of life has strong roots in his childhood, but his urgency to tell these stories comes from an experience in 1993 when, with just enough warning to drive himself to the hospital, his heart stopped beating. He arrived with just ten minutes to spare. After being defibrillated, and before the doctors had time to detect and open a blocked artery in his heart, he made a commitment to himself that, if he survived, he would begin to write again. Those paddles restarted more than his heart…
Highlights …
2001 – Winner of the 2001 Minnesota Folk Festival New Folk Songwriting Contest
2002 – Nominee for the 2002 Minnesota Music Awards Song of the Year for “I Can’t Take You Home” a duet with Becky Schlegel (From “Weightless” 2001)
2003 – Nominee for the 2003 Minnesota Music Awards Acoustic/Folk Recording of the Year for “The Threshold” (June, 2003)
2004 - Finalist in the KRCL (Salt Lake City, UT) songwriting contest.
2004 - Song "Big Girl Now" placed on national compilation CD "Before Their Time"
2004 - Tri-Centric Showcase Artist, Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference, Catskills, NY
Kate Isles was a closet singer/songwriter, full-time wine representative and dedicated single-mom when she came to a CD release concert for Bill's first CD, “Weightless” after hearing a radio interview. She bought the CD and signed up on his e-mail list. ("Grounds for marriage!”, quips Bill)
Their relationship began soon afterwards with afternoon sessions with guitars, harmonies and coffee. They've been together ever since, marrying in May of 2004. While Bill initially toured solo, Kate is becoming an integral part of the act, with extensive duo touring planned for 2008 to support their upcoming duet album, “Matching Baggage” which will include several songs that they’ve co-written. The response has been very positive with many comments about the "perfect blend of two voices". "I'm honored to hear such things," said Kate, "it reflects the wonderful relationship that we've enjoyed."
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