{"id":434,"date":"2013-09-20T20:00:13","date_gmt":"2013-09-20T20:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/216.71.127.204\/wordpress\/?p=434"},"modified":"2015-10-07T20:32:32","modified_gmt":"2015-10-07T20:32:32","slug":"danny-schmidt-anderson-fair-houston-tx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/2013\/09\/20\/danny-schmidt-anderson-fair-houston-tx\/","title":{"rendered":"Danny Schmidt – Anderson Fair – Houston, TX"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
Written by James Killen <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sep 20, 2013 at 08:00 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Image\"Danny Schmidt picked a rainy night to play Anderson Fair as they opened this week after the summer vacation. It was coming down in buckets and patrons were slow to arrive. Schmidt had originally been booked for this date to be accompanied by his wife Carrie Elkins, but schedules shifted and Danny was left to take the stage solo.<\/p>\n

He started the night with the song that he wrote to propose to Carrie, \u201cKiss Me Now\u201d, whilst mourning her absence and that of her harmonies. He followed up with the bluesy folk tune, \u201cBetter off Broke\u201d. Schmidt can tune and talk better than most and is happy to share his intended lyrical messages. This is especially helpful with Danny\u2019s style of writing. A listener can follow a lot of songs like a string of words that loops back through a refrain to emphasize the writer\u2019s meaning. Danny Schmidt writes his songs with each verse acting like a slat of imagery in a latticework, building on each other until the message is conveyed. If one misses a line, it doesn\u2019t come back around.<\/p>\n

Danny\u2019s been writing quite a bit lately and took a number of the new songs out for a spin in front of the small crowd of twenty-five or so. One of them (only a week or so old) remembered a time when \u201cink was as deep as the ocean and would print poems on the sand\u201d, but now the \u201cledger pages became cranes (origami?) and flew away\u201d, hinting that the muse was not as easily tapped as it was in the old days. That song featured an eerie guitar line. He also wrote one recently about Mother Nature coming back to seek vengeance on those that would frack (fill the dirt with water) and drill carelessly offshore (poison the ocean).<\/p>\n

The unrecorded songs continued with \u201cCry on the Flowers\u201d and \u201cGhosts and Men\u201d regarding gun violence. He got in a bit of an upbeat song with \u201cSwing Me Down\u201d and ended the set with the epic \u201cStained Glass\u201d.<\/p>\n

The second set opened up with a cover of Dylan\u2019s \u201cBuckets of Rain\u201d, apropos as the rain continued to beat a steady tempo on the roof. He followed that with a lively fingerpicking version of \u201cGod\u2019s Love of Man\u201d with lines like \u201cfrom eyes of love drop tears of sin\u201d and \u201cbut it\u2019s the Bible that takes a beating when you preach a love of hate\u201d.<\/p>\n

Danny can get a bit heavy at times, but some of the songs are more light-hearted, like \u201cRagtime Ragtime Blues\u201d and \u201cEverything\u2019s Cool\u201d, both of which are worthwhile songs to remember if a man is in a serious relationship. The second set continued and included the \u201cTwo Timing Bank Robber\u2019s Lament\u201d and an almost Celtic \u201cIn the Sunset of my Life\u201d, revealing the changing relationship a man has with his shadow. Schmidt ended the evening\u2019s entertainment with another new tune called \u201cLooks Like\u201d about the beautiful mistakes that make the world a wonder to behold.<\/p>\n

I had been encouraged to give Danny Schmidt a look-see by a couple of folks that I met at the Wildflower Festival in Richardson this year. I see now what they meant by Schmidt\u2019s songwriting prowess. His rhyming and rhythm are immaculate and every song builds to a theme. Schmidt is sensitive to personal relationships and social responsibilities, alike. His voice is high and clear and his guitar work enviable. A listening room like Anderson Fair is Schmidt\u2019s milieu and Friday\u2019s performance showed good use of it. Ya\u2019ll have fun. We do.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by James Killen Sep 20, 2013 at 08:00 PM Danny Schmidt picked a rainy night to play Anderson Fair as they opened this week after the summer vacation. It was coming down in buckets and patrons were slow to arrive. Schmidt had originally been booked for this date to be accompanied by his wife… <\/p>\n

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