It’s his songwriting which won him the prestigous Kerrville New Folk award, but it’s his intense live performances that leave listeners with a sense that each of his songs is necessary, plain and simple. His guitar work is effortless and sparkling, his arrangements are fresh and unpredictable, his voice ageless. Stylistically and musically, Danny’s writing spans an impressively diverse reach, from deeply-rooted Appalachian mountain gospel to haunted English balladry, from syncopated Piedmont country blues to vagabond 60’s protest folk-stumpery. He tackles universal themes of love, loss, and longing . . . restless discontent and grateful joy. And he captures both the sorrow and the beauty inherent in our everyday lives with the wisdom of a perceptive, compassionate elder and with the innocent awe and tenderness of a child. |Some quotes about him: “Danny Schmidt reminds me of why I gravitate towards the singer-songwriter art form. With the gravitational pull of the sun, he is, perhaps the best new songwriter I’ve heard in the last 15 years.”|~ Rich Warren, Sing Out! magazine “I’ve not felt a performance with this much intensity since I saw Neil Young solo years ago, nor have I heard songwriting with this much subtlety of craftsmanship since Leonard Cohen. I was completely floored.”|~ Henri Simmons, from the Filter “[Danny Schmidt] is a young man with blazing lyrical skills and a deserved cult following.”|~ Andrew Hawkey, Cambria Arts in Wales “Perhaps the most poetic and powerful singer-songwriter of the past 20 years. His ability with words and melodies continues to amaze me.”|~ Midnight Special Radio’s Best Albums of 2005 “More than a pleasant surprise, [Schmidt] was no less than a revelation to me. And that’s not a word I use lightly.”|~ Keith Morris, Charlottesville Daily Progress “Danny Schmidt’s done it again. One of the country’s best singer-songwriters has released yet another masterpiece.”|~ Les Reynolds, Indie-Music.com “I have rarely, if ever, been so moved or impressed by an artist as I have by Danny Schmidt. Check him out, no matter what kind of music you like, check him out! I guarantee you, if you don’t, you are missing one of life’s treats.”|~ Bill Bruedigam from Radio Sante Fe| |
|
 | ||||||||||||||||
