PUTNEY -- Next Stage Arts Project presents an evening of Americana, folk and roots music with Tim Eriksen and Friends plus Red Heart the Ticker at Next Stage on Saturday, Oct. 20, at 7:30 p.m.

Fiddler Zoe Darrow and percussionist and vocalist Peter Irvine join Eriksen for this concert as he celebrates the release of his brand new CD "Josh Billings’ Voyage."

Eriksen is acclaimed for transforming American tradition with his startling interpretations of old ballads, love songs, shape-note gospel and dance tunes from New England and Southern Appalachia. He combines hair-raising vocals with inventive accompaniment on banjo, fiddle, guitar and bajo sexto -- a 12-string Mexican acoustic bass -- creating a distinctive hardcore Americana sound that ranges from the bare bones of solo unaccompanied singing on his album "Soul of the January Hills" through the stripped-down voice and bajo sexto Christmas album "Star in the East" to the lush, multi-layered arrangements of northern roots songs on "Josh Billings’ Voyage."

Eriksen’s own compositions have been featured in films such as the Billy Bob Thornton vehicle "Chrystal" and the upcoming documentary "Behold the Earth." His other notable work includes contributions to Anthony Minghella’s 2004 Oscar-winning film "Cold Mountain" as well as collaborations ranging from hardcore punk and Bosnian pop to symphony orchestra and the 2010 Grammy-nominated album "Across Advertisement the Divide" with Afro-Cuban world-jazz pianist Omar Sosa.

The former frontman of the groups Cordelia’s Dad, Northampton Harmony and Zabe i Babe, Eriksen is the only musician to have shared the stage with both Kurt Cobain and Doc Watson. His media appearances have ranged from "Prairie Home Companion" to the Academy Awards. Having graduated from early shows at punk mecca CBGB, Eriksen’s more recent performances have included his Carnegie Hall debut as a soloist in Even Chambers’ symphonic work "The Old Burying Ground" and two week-long stints at the Blue Note Jazz Club with Omar Sosa.

Red Heart the Ticker is the musical collaboration of Robin MacArthur and Tyler Gibbons, a husband and wife duo from Marlboro. Their atmospheric and image rich music, often compared to Will Oldham, Gillian Welch and Iron and Wine, is, in many ways, a reconciliation between their verging musical tastes: Robin’s penchant for tradition influenced ‘60s folk and twangy, old-fashioned country music, and Tyler’s love of jazz fusion and esoteric ‘60s rock.

RHTT has toured nationally for three self-recorded and self-produced albums, performed on Garrison Keillor’s "A Prairie Home Companion" and received praise from the New York Times, Paste Magazine, Pitchfork Media, and No Depression. In 2009, the band was featured in Amanda Petrusich’s book "It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, and the Search for the Next American Music." The duo’s latest album "Your Name in Secret I Would Write" is a collection of re-imagined traditional New England folk songs drawn from the performance repertoire and field recordings of Robin’s grandmother, the late folklorist and performer Margaret MacArthur.

Next Stage is located in the former United Church at 15 Kimball Hill . Tickets for this concert are $18 general, $14 for students and seniors. Advance tickets are available at Offerings Jewelry in Putney and at www.nextstagearts.org. For information, call 802-387-0102. This concert is presented in conjunction with The Putney School.