The much-admired folk tunesmith and jazz singer plays The Alluvion twice this week before returning to northern Michigan for a June show. The interview and back story at Local Spins.
Loving the Contrasts of Varied Performances: From jazz to folk, Claudia Schmidt will regale her fans. (Courtesy Photo)
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Claudia Schmidt is many things: A folk singer. A songwriter. A jazz vocalist. A solo performer. A duet partner.
She’ll explore all those many facets of her musical life during three upcoming northern Michigan shows.
On Thursday (April 11), she’ll be the special guest for the weekly jazz performance at The Alluvion in Traverse City by Jeff Haas and company, with whom she’s performed numerous times.
The next night (April 12), she’ll perform a solo show there. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. Friday show are $20 in advance and available online at the alluvion.org.
Then on June 20, she’ll return to the area for a show with her good friend Sally Rogers at the community hub Grow Benzie between Benzonia and Frankfort.
And she couldn’t be happier. “Jeff approached me last year about doing a Thursday night (with his band), then Friday night as a solo. I don’t get to do that,” she says. “Two shows, two formats. I love that. I’m in my element.”
The first night she’ll perform with Haas and his regular Thursday night group, including bassist Jack Dryden, drummer Randy Marsh and saxophonist Laurie Sears. Haas typically mixes originals with standards by the likes of Chick Corea or Horace Silver, and the tunes with Schmidt will likely come from similar sources.
The next night will find her on stage all by her lonesome, with a set heavy on her own songs, but mixing in a couple traditional folk or even jazz tunes. Schmidt released her 22nd recording, “Reimagining,” in 2022, a collection of new versions of her favorite songs.
Having More Fun Than Ever: Schmidt (Courtesy Photo)
“When I’m by myself I like to do a jazz standard. I’ll do it a cappella. For me, the challenge is hearing the chord changes in my head,” says Schmidt, who’s originally from New Baltimore, Mich.
Much of the fun comes in exploring material familiar to her and her audience. “One time a gentleman came up who told me he was a jazz trumpeter. He said he loved ‘Skylark’ done that way. He’d never really heard the lyrics before.”
The contrasts appeal to her, from working with others to being able to change gears and turn on a dime whenever she feels like it. “I love working with a band, the give and take, collaboration. I also love working totally alone, the spontaneity, just me and my 12-string and my mountain dulcimer. It’s exciting. They’re so different. I was thrilled when Jeff asked.”
As if that wasn’t enough, she’ll return from her current home in Connecticut to an even more down-home kind of show at Grow Benzie in June. She and Rogers have had a longstanding collaboration. Both Michigan natives, they’ve performed together since 1981 and have recorded four albums together.
A native of Beulah, Rogers made her first album while still a student at Michigan State University. Her most famous song remains “Lovely Agnes,” a ballad about her grandmother who crosses Lake Michigan and leaves Wisconsin behind for a life of farming and work in the cherry and apple orchards in Benzie County. Both Rogers and Schmidt made several appearances on “A Prairie Home Companion” radio show over the years.
Schmidt says performing with her good friend, who now lives only 12 miles from her, is always a blast. “She’s like my sister. She has deep roots in Michigan, especially Benzie, (so) coming back for her is always a joyful occasion.”
Whether playing solo or with friends, doing originals or jazz or folk standards, Schmidt says the goal is always to connect with the audience. “I’m … excited about singing and playing and taking the audience on a musical trip. I understand more of what I’m doing,” she says.
With so much success in various worlds over the years, what motivates her to keep going?
“I still have the energy. My voice is stronger than ever. I don’t feel any fading going on. My fingers still work. I still like to drive,” she says with a laugh.
Beyond all that, it’s the communication with her fellow musicians and her friends and fans that makes it worth driving from the East Coast to the Midwest and beyond.
“I’m having more fun than ever,” she says.
VIDEO: Claudia Schmidt, “Enough Already”
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