TWO GREAT ARTISTS – ONE GREAT NIGHT!

It’s a special treat when Danny Schmidt and Carrie Elkin, who normally tour separately and solo, get to share the stage together. If the chemistry seems especially sparkful, they come by it honestly, as they are a rare breed: a romantic partnership in real life, not just musical life. And the two together on stage makes for a classic case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

Danny Schmidt is best known for his riveting poetic lyrics, which have drawn favorable comparisons to Leonard Cohen and Townes Van Zandt for their depth and complexity. And gypsy spirit Carrie Elkin is best known for her incredibly soulful and dynamic vocals, which have drawn favorable comparisons to Patty Griffin at her most powerful, and Nanci Griffith at her most intimate.

Together, the respective strengths they each bring, individually, merge into a much greater whole . . . a performance of great energy and spirit . . . and one that audiences seem to be able to connect with on a multitude of levels, at once: Emotionally, Spiritually, and Intellectually.

On Danny:

Named to the Chicago Tribune’s 50 Most Significant Songwriters in the Last 50 Years, Austin, TX-based singer/songwriter Danny Schmidt has been rapidly ascending from underground cult hero status to being broadly recognized as an artist of generational significance. Danny is considered a preeminent writer, an artist whose earthy poetry manages to somehow conjure magic from the mundane, leading Sing Out Magazine to tag him: “Perhaps the best new songwriter we’ve heard in the last 15 years.”

“In today’s underground folk world, Danny Schmidt is spoken of in reverent tones, drawing comparisons to Leonard Cohen, with a poetry that breathes naturally and without pretension, with results that are both attractive and intense.”
– Austin Chronicle

“This songsmith has been churning out brilliant, poetic songs on the human condition coupled with dazzling technique on his guitar strings for almost a decade.”
– Jay Trachtenberg, KUT Radio in Austin

“With beautifully crafted, lonesome pines music and complex beguiling words, he would’ve fitted neatly on the bill at any ’60s coffee house alongside Townes Van Zandt or Leonard Cohen.”
– Q Magazine UK

“His songs, so lyrically rich, so finely crafted, carry the power of fine poetry. They accentuate the narrative. They celebrate subtlety. Schmidt’s songs are filled with nimble wordplay and cool cadences; they move with the light feet of a dancer. But in the tone and theme, they convey weight and depth and substance.”
– Austin American-Statesman

On Carrie:

Austin, TX-based Carrie Elkin is a born performer, possessing an infectious energy that cannot be contained. As Maverick Magazine so eloquently put it: “We have never seen a performer so in love with the act of singing. Onstage Elkin is simply a force of nature.” With her dazzling voice and unpretentious charm, Carrie wins over audiences with songs that are, as FolkWax puts it: “Intimate, yet universal. Naked, yet richly adorned. Her voice is simply revelatory.”

“I have never seen a performer so in love with the act of singing. That’s the gospel truth, and from what I’ve subsequently learned I’m not the only one to believe or state that. Onstage Elkin was simply a force of nature….”
Maverick Magazine

“Carrie Elkin’s fourth release resounds with a sense of warm, earthy poetry that combines a strong folk/soul framework, her own sweet-toned but characterful vocals and quietly offbeat writing that never seems wilfully eccentric.”
Maverick Magazine

“I’m thinking Patty Griffin, Nanci Griffith and Iris DeMent….spellbinding from the opening track”
BBC Radio

Don’t miss these two great artists in a rare split-bill performance, sharing songs back and forth, lending their voices to each other’s tunes, in harmony. And lending commentary to each other’s tunes, in the form of smart-ass between-song banter.