Newberry & Verch are Old-timey folk musicians April Verch and Joe Newberry, who play traditional-style original music from the Missouri Ozarks and Canada’s Ottawa Valley. They released their latest album, Blessing on the Wing, in March. The award-winning duo performs Oct. 23 at Coburg Commons. According to Verch, a mutual friend told them they’d sound good together. “We decided to take her word for it and give it a shot,” Verch says. The duo are singers and play guitar, banjo and fiddle. Verch is from Canada’s Ottawa Valley, while Newberry hails from the Missouri Ozarks. Though the two regions are some 1,200 miles apart, Verch says their folk music has a lot in common. She says Ottawa Valley and Missouri fiddling is percussive, danceable and driving. “Sometimes Ottawa Valley tunes or old-time Canadian tunes will sound familiar to Joe even if he doesn’t know them,” Verch says. The secret to playing originals in these traditional styles, “is realizing the beauty and simplicity of the older stuff. I’m just trying to channel my roots,” she adds.

Newberry & Verch perform 7:30 pm Friday, Oct. 23, at Coburg Commons, 91193 North Willamette Street. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, and available at TurningTidesMusic.org. The concert is all ages.