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ClaudiaSchmidt

Claudia Schmidt

Saturday June 2rd, 3pm, 2012 Outside concert

Singersongwriter & entertainer of multiple genres!

  • A musician who has always hated categories, she describes herself as a "creative noisemaker," which has irritated some critics but delighted many audiences, who learn to expect anything at a Schmidt concert, hymn, poem, bawdy verse, torch song, satire, and the gamut of emotions. Her live performances are not to be missed. Her musicality is astonishing. Her joy and love of performing are contagious. She can weave the elements of music and stage into a program so unified and full of life that one critic has described a Claudia Schmidt concert as "....a lot like falling in love. You never know what's going to happen next, chances are it's going to be wonderful, every moment is burned into your memory, and you know you'll never be the same again." SG Bay Guardian
  • Claudia Schmidt has been perfecting her craft of performing for almost four decades. It is a quirky and wonderful hodge-podge (her word!) of music, poetry, story, laughter. drama, and celebrating the moment. Work in clubs, theaters, festivals, TV, radio has added depth and dimension, and since she has always included her original work along with very personal versions of the work of others, what you get is a unique look at the world from someone who says what she sees with clarity, humor, and wonder.
  • To say that Schmidt is simply a performer with a talent to entertain would be a miscarriage of understatement. Schmidt takes her audiences into her world as easily as the child who discovers the endless universes that exist in a cardboard box. From lying on sandy beaches under an endless barrage of northern lights, to the expected anguish and frustration of spinning tires on cars stuck deep in snow, from the age-old struggle of change between adolescence and adulthood to the observation of sheer idiocy, she leaves it to the imagination of her audience to conjure their own images of her storytelling and song. No interpretation of a Claudia Schmidt song or story is wrong-she invites audiences to tie their associations to her style. Schmidt weaves her way through her concert in much the same manner as a jester. Interwoven anecdotes, revealing her past and present, bring people to expect a relationship between themselves and memories driven deep with the passage of time. The concert is an endless display of self-realization through humor and longing, leaving audience members yearning to become an integral part of her world. Having performed on stages across the country, Schmidt has developed the ability to remain fresh. She enjoys her talent to entertain as much as the audience enjoys being entertained. (Door County Advocate, Wisconsin)
  • 16 CD’s –This is about the latest, Promising Sky........"I first heard Claudia Schmidt more than 30 years ago. She struck me, back in the late-‘70s, as one of those people who is just inherently musical as she’d move, seemingly effortlessly from a Michael Smith song, to a blues standard, to a traditional ballad sung a cappella. Listening to her records over the years – it’s probably 20 years or so since I’ve seen her live – I’ve not changed my mind about that musicality. Although she came out of the folk scene, and has kept one of her feet firmly planted there, in recent years Claudia has simultaneously devoted herself to jazz. Several of the CDs that she’s released recently have been fine jazz efforts while others have remained in the folk vein. Promising Sky, Claudia’s new album, blends her folk and jazz influences and adds some blues and world music spicing in a fine collection of mostly-original material. Among the highlights is “Wisconsin Country,” a haunting song that has Claudia’s ethereal vocals supported by the bowed bass of Jack Dryden and flute of Nancy Stagnitta, as she describes an autumnal journey through the countryside and into herself. Another is “If All Goes Well,” a jazzy tune about the resiliency of the human spirit. I also really like her version of “We’ll Be Together Again,” a standard familiar from the vocal-piano duets of Tony Bennett and Bill Evans. This version features Claudia’s voice and 12-string guitar receiving some quietly-soulful support from mandolinist Don Julin, bassist Dryden and drummer Randy Marsh. I have to say, though, that my absolute favourite song on the CD is the title track. Sung a cappella with harmonies from Seth Bernard, May Erlewine and Rachael Davis, “Promising Sky” is a bright, gorgeous, hope-filled song inspired by the choral tradition of South Africa. Those who keep trying to categorize Claudia Schmidt's music should just give it up and file her under the general category 'TALENT' Big talent. Post-Bulletin (Rochester, Mn.)
  • Listen to podcast...http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/claudia-schmidt-6-23-08/id81555339?i=79487889
  • Or this podcast...http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/claudia-schmidts-song-soul/id282799921?i=90300270

Claudia Schmidt

 

 

 

 

 

 

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