Friday and Saturday Community Sing Song Leader
Michigan
native Claudia Schmidt has covered a lot of musical ground, beginning
with a stirring rendition of "Tammy" at age 4 around a
neighborhood bonfire. Then came years of choirs, a guitar, a dulcimer,
and some theatre thrown into the pot.
Twenty-eight years as a touring professional have found her traversing
North America as well as Europe in venues ranging from intimate
clubs to 4,000 seat theatres, and festival stages in front of 25,000
rapt listeners. She has recorded eleven albums of mostly original
songs, exploring folk, blues, and jazz idioms featuring here acclaimed 12
string guitar and mountain dulcimer playing.
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."
www.homestead.com/claudiasings/
|