By Margit Resch
Special to The Island News
You love music of all kinds? Then you have to come and hear singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Zoë Lewis. You love intriguing and funny stories? Then you have to come and hear singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and verbal acrobat Zoë Lewis. You like energetic, expressive, humorous entertainers? Then you do have to come and see — well, you know: Zoë Lewis.
Where? On Fripp Island.
When? Sunday, November 17.
“Equal parts musician and story teller, this British transplant is blessed with the uncanny ability to uncover the extraordinary beauty in the seemingly ordinary.” This is how the Boston Globe described Zoë’s performances.
The New York Times refers to her songwriting, her stories and her show antics in their laudatory review: “A gorgeous writer — so evocative, tender and thoughtful. And a mesmerizing performer.”
And in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the reviewer raves about the “masterful combination of song, performance and artistry with a contagiously positive attitude and free spirit. Probably one of the most charismatic performances I’ve ever seen.”
How many singers have you heard who can play eight instruments or more? For all I know, Zoë has mastered the keyboard, guitar, ukulele, washboard, accordion, harmonica, spoons and bicycle bells. And she can stomp her feet rhythmically. So you understand why she is known as “a band in a body.” A gifted songwriter, she has released ten albums of original material. She has also toured with such celebrities as Judy Collins, Pat Benatar, Richie Havens, and Indigo Girls.
Zoë claims she was a musician when she was born. She learned to play the piano when she was four years old. She couldn’t read music, so she played by ear, by watching her piano teacher’s hands and imitating her. Zoë soon became “obsessed with music,” she admits.
When her parents took her on vacation to Cornwall, “I took a drawing of a piano keyboard with me and I kept playing it in my head.” She was also always creating songs; and when she was 14, she won a talent show for a song she called “Lazy Afternoon.”
“Playing all these strange synthesizers” in a Brighton punk band became boring after a while, so Zoë moved to London to join a nine-piece Latin pop band called Avanti. Zoë was only 20 years old then, but she was ready to experience anything having to do with musical performance.
Aside from learning from her band members, she took jazz workshops and adult education classes in pantomime, juggling and other circus arts.
“I learned off people who went to school,” she said. “Or I would stand behind other piano players and watch their hands.”
And she developed her theatrical performing style at open mics.
After a couple of years, Zoë got restless. She departed London and traveled around the world, visiting more than 70 countries, and learning countless new musical genres. After about a decade, she came to the United States. Inspired by Bob Dylan songs and Jack Kerouac novels, she jumped freight trains. Yes, you read this right: She jumped trains, just like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.
“It was romantic,” said Zoë. “I had a book of beat poets in my bag.”
She learned hobo songs, and she mastered the harmonica, because “you can’t jump a freight train with a piano.”
Finally she settled down in Provincetown, Mass., where she has been living now for almost 30 years. The town features in her recent musical: “A Slice of Ptown,” the second musical she has written about her chosen home town. It’s not surprising that Zoë is known there as “Provincetown’s Jazzy Zen Vaudeville Vagabond.”
Zoë has also played at countless music festivals, teaches musical workshops, entertains on Olivia cruises and takes her show to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, every winter. You can learn more about this amazing musician’s fascinating life during her show on Fripp and at the reception afterwards.
Zoë’s presence on stage is truly mesmerizing. She might be spinning plates atop a stick while introducing a song about her childhood on the south coast of England, about her global travels, or about her life in her beloved Provincetown. Her musical style embraces an array of genres, from gypsy jazz to Latin tunes, swinging folk, world beat grooves and more. And her lyrics, her quirky storytelling, and her theatrics are spiced with a huge dose of humor. Believe me, you don’t want to miss this concert.
Zoë Lewis will perform on Sunday, Nov. 17, at 5 p.m. at the Fripp Island Community Centre at 205 Tarpon Boulevard. The concert is sponsored by Fripp Island Friends of Music (FIFOM) and supported by the S.C. Arts Commission.
Attendees get a free pass at the Fripp gate. Tickets at the door are $30 for adults and free for students thanks to the Peg Gorham Memorial Fund. You are invited to join the musician at a complimentary reception after the performance, catered deliciously by Harold’s Chef Services.
Do you have questions? Do you want to become a member of FIFOM to save money on tickets and support FIFOM’s missions? Email or text Vanessa Peñaherrera at vandy116@gmail.com or 704-807-0255. And go to frippfriendsofmusic.com.
Want To Go?
Who: Zoë Lewis
What: Fripp Island Friends of Music Convert Series
When: 5 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 17
Where: Fripp Island Community Centre, 205 Tarpon Blvd., Fripp Island
Tickets: Tickets at the door are $30 for adults and free for students thanks to the Peg Gorham Memorial Fund.
