Celebrate 50 years of Claudia Schmidt music at Grow Benzie
From staff reports
Claudia Schmidt has been weaving her musical magic for 50 years. It begins with her multi-octave voice, 12 string guitar and mountain dulcimer. But then the language leaps in, and it all comes together. Her love of language is obvious from the moment she opens her mouth. Her songs are pure poetry, and along her way she began adding spoken word and story, so that her listeners get to go on a deep journey with her, returning refreshed and delighted from the experience. She has recorded 22 albums and there is much more to come.
Schmidt lived for a time in Leelanau County, and she has performed often in northern Michigan. The Grow Benzie Community Center will host Schmidt for a concert on Sunday, June 18, at 4 pm. The Center’s community room is the perfect way to experience the magic of her performance, and a fine way to celebrate the arrival of summer. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door, and are available at Grow Benzie, the East Shore Market in Beulah, the Frankfort Bookstore, The Corner Drug in Frankfort and the Oryana Food Cooperative in Traverse City.
“If it were the intention of the creator or creators of this universe to perfectly blend together the night sky with moon and stars, it might have been their intention as well to deliver Claudia Schmidt as their messenger of reminder,” wrote the Door County Advocate in Wisconsin.
For five decades Schmidt has been exploring the nuances of acoustic music with her voice, 12-string guitar and mountain dulcimer with an exciting collection of original, traditional, and contemporary writing. From small clubs to large concert stages, her craft is at its height in live performance. She has been featured on PRI’s “A Prairie Home Companion,” Mountain Stage, a television documentary on KTCA-TV in St. Paul called “I Sing Because I Can’t Fly,” and has written music for and acted in the musical “Bag Lady Tendencies” with Friends Mime Theater in Milwaukee and Frank Galati’s production of “Good Person of Szechuan” at the Goodman Theater in Chicago, for which she won a Jefferson Award. All of those elements of performing are brought to bear at a Schmidt performance as she mines the humor and poignancy of our lives and shapes it into a “one-woman revitalization movement,” as a journalist from Oakland, California, described her. The stage is her natural habitat, and every member of her audience is made to feel welcome and energized by her presentation.
Fourteen of her own CDs and several collaborations with other musicians beautifully archive the musical journey she has undertaken, and she is showing no signs of slowing down, writing furiously, more recording in the works, and touring a big part of the year.
Her style is a quirky and wonderful hodge-podge (her word!) of music, poetry, story, laughter, drama, and celebrating the moment. The work that she has done in clubs, theaters, festivals, TV, and 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.
“Schmidt’s shows are 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,” wrote the San Francisco Bay Guardian More succinctly, Garrison Keillor said, “when Claudia sings a song, it stays sung.”
So come and celebrate the summer with Claudia Schmidt, as she will be sure to share a laugh, a song and story with you that will make for a perfect afternoon of music. For tickets or more information, call 231-882-9510.
