Rate this:

Sam Baker, Carrie Elkin & Danny Schmidt To Perform Trio Shows In Alberta

Regular visitors to Fervor Coulee will know of my appreciation for the music of all three of these individuals. I’ve written about Sam here http://fervorcoulee.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/gurf-morlix-sam-baker-february-14-2010/ and elsewhere, and about Carrie and Danny here http://fervorcoulee.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/danny-schmidt-carrie-elkin-reviews/. As none of the following locations are within three hours of me, I won’t be able to attend, but sure would like to- well worth investigating if you are anywhere closeby. See below- thanks for visiting Fervor Coulee.

(All info courtesy of Martyn, www.GoToAGig.com )

Tour Dates ***Links to tickets & information for ALL dates at: www.gotoagig.com***

July 30 Nanton AB – The Auditorium Hotel

July 31 Medicine Hat AB – Ye Olde Jar Bar House Concert

August 1 Lloydminster SK – the root: community emporium

August 2 Elk Point AB – Mona’s Place House Concert

Carrie and Danny are also at the Canmore Folk Music Festival, and all three are at the Calgary Fest.

Austin’s Sam Baker was recently in Alberta & BC for several small-venue dates and festivals. After heading back Stateside to perform at the 15th Annual “Woodyfest” in Okemah, Oklahoma Sam returns to Alberta to participate in the Calgary Folk Festival (July 26-29) & their Songwriter Bootcamp.

Fellow Austinites, singer-songwriters Carrie Elkin & Danny Schmidt are also at the Calgary Folk Festival, so it just makes sense to get these three friends together for a few smaller shows. They will perform FOUR DATES ONLY before Carrie & Danny head off to play at the Canmore Folk Festival (August 4-6) and Sam heads home to dedicate some more time to his next release.

Carrie recorded her latest CD “Call It My Garden” in Sam’s living room. The disc includes “Dear Sam”, a song written especially for her friend.

Carrie & Danny are partners in life as well as music. They have both had their separate careers for many years, recently becoming labelmates on the renowned Minnesota based roots label Red House Records. The label has just released a 2-track digital EP as the duo’s very first true collaboration. It’s now available at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/preorder/together-single/id542435232

Sam, Carrie & Danny take every opportunity that comes along to perform together, and those opportunities don’t happen too often, so GoToAGig is especially proud to present these shows for the pleasure of the lucky folks who will get to attend them.

Tune in to “Wide Cut Country” on CKUA to hear all three of these performers LIVE from The Calgary Folk Music Festival.

Find out more and enjoy a preview of what you’ll see & hear when these three friends perform.

Sam Baker Website: www.sambakermusic.com Carrie Elkin Website: www.carrieelkin.com Danny Schmidt Website: www.dannyschmidt.com

Carrie Elkin “Jesse Likes Birds”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_YYmjLQAa4 Carrie Elkin proves she doesn’t really need a mic on “Amazing Grace”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clo5Txg1utc&feature=related Danny Schmidt “Swing Me Home”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAV61XZ1erg Danny Schmidt “Dark Eyed Prince”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tyEpCDTQUA Carrie & Danny performing “Company Of Friends” together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boqQxwiUT2A Sam Baker “Pony”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxBb5kFK3Mo W / Radoslav Lorkovic (accordion) and Tim Lorsch (mandolin) Sam Baker “Mennonite”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-c_nI5GT5E&feature=relmfu W / Tim Lorsch (mandolin)

Rate this:

Carrie Elkin Call It My Garden and Danny Schmidt Man of Many Moons

both Red House Records

[FYI- I rewrote the Elkin portion of the review for Country Standard Time, and the edited version of that is up at http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4657]

An Austin-based couple, Danny Schmidt and Carrie Elkin have each just released an outstanding album of contemporary folk music. Each guests on the others’ album and the recordings are quite complementary while being completely independent.

Recorded in Sam Baker’s Austin living room, Call It My Garden begins with Elkin’s light-hearted giggle, setting the scene for an album of introspective, relationship-based, and ultimately hopeful folk-roots. A personal meditation minus self-centered, maudlin angst that could be unwieldy, the songs of Call It My Garden are rife with nostalgia, change, and opportunity, much realized but some regretful. 

Reminiscent of (a non-jaded) Lynn Miles, Elkin has crafted an album that is radio-friendly and deeply personal. “Jesse Likes Birds” blend elements of lullaby with boisterous kitchen-jam frenzy. More indicative is “The Things We’re Afraid Of”; sung from a male perspective, Elkin inhabits her protagonist with honesty and intuition.

Recommended if one enjoys Dala, Nanci Griffith, and Dar Williams, whose “Iowa” is the album sole non-original.

Danny Schmidt has been at the cult-favourite, singer-songwriter game longer than Elkin, delivering well-received if under-heard albums for a decade.

Wise, Schmidt understands that the role of the songwriter is to give voice to the thoughts many of us are hesitant to speak, and he does so throughout Man of Many Moon’s 11 songs. “Guilty by Association Blues” and the song it inspired, “Almost Around the World” are the album’s centerpieces, revealing the strange world of the songwriter as few songs do.

Playing what sounds like finger-picked guitar, Schmidt’s songs are spacious with sparse instrumentation framing his vocals. Inhabiting a vocal domain near John Gorka while evoking the mystery of Greg Brown, Schmidt has the ability- like those songwriters- to cut to the core of issues utilizing only a handful of words.

“On Abundance” and “I’ve Mostly Watched” are songs that may make listeners uncomfortable as Schmidt gently challenges while considering his own inadequacies.

As was 2009’s Instead the Forest Rose to Sing, Man of Many Moons is destined to be one of this year’s most welcome folk albums.

Recommended for those who appreciate Chuck Brodsky and Steve Forbert.