A
gig
on Wednesday 29th June. The event starts at 20:00.
DANNY SCHMIDT (USA)
Wednesday 29 June Folk/Acoustic/Singer Songwriter £12/£10
Named to the Chicago Tribune's 50 Most Significant Songwriters in the Last 50 Years, Austin, Texas based singer/songwriter Danny Schmidt has been rapidly ascending from underground cult hero to being widely recognized as an artist of generational significance.
With lyrical depth drawing comparisons to Leonard Cohen, Townes Van Zandt, and Dave Carter, Danny is considered a pre-eminent 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. "
Danny also performs often with Carrie Elkin in the States when they are not touring as individuals.
On the Saturday before this gig (Sat 26 June) Danny will be doing a live session for the Whispering Bob Harris show on BBC Radio 2 between 11pm and 2am.
As well as other gigs on this UK tour he will also be playing The Maverick Festival in Woodbridge, Suffolk in July.
Performing solo almost exclusively, armed with just his voice, his words, and his acoustic guitar, Danny's an authentic timeless troubadour, one man sharing his truth in the form of songs, unadorned and intimate. The understated effect can be startlingly powerful.
As songwriter Jeffrey Foucault put it: "Everything about the man is gentle, except for his capacity for insight, which is crushing. "
After garnering unanimous critical praise for his self-released Parables & Primes album in 2005, Danny's follow up release, Little Grey Sheep in 2007 began an unbroken streak of albums that have charted at #1 on the Folk Radio Charts, internationally.
After also winning the prestigious Kerrville New Folk award in 2007, Danny won the notice of venerable Americana roots label, Red House Records, who began releasing his albums in 2009, starting with the critically acclaimed album, Instead The Forest Rose To Sing, thus exposing a much broader audience to Danny's music, alongside such notable artists as Greg Brown, Eliza Gilkyson, Jorma Kaukonen, and John Gorka.
"There are some albums that jump right out of the speakers at you and grab you by the throat. Intensely intelligent, this is sensitive song writing at its finest. In his use of parable and allegory, there are inevitable comparisons with Cohen and Dylan, but these are songs of such quality and beauty that they more than hold their own in this exalted company. "
5 stars out of 5, Maverick Magazine UK
"The best songwriter since the late Dave Carter. He's an unsung sensation. An overlooked gem. This cannot be said too loudly or provocatively: Danny Schmidt is a profound talent. The kind that makes a new discoverer of his artistry wonder how it was possible not to have known of him before. His acolytes, including moi, have no answer to that riddle but are always happy to spread the faith. " - Kevin McCarthy, Folk Music Reviews