Danny Schmidt covers Bob Dylan & Tom House
Live at A Tree Falls House Concerts, 3/29/09
Texas singer-songwriter Danny Schmidt played a concert at my house on Sunday, fresh from his Red House Records showcase at SXSW, and the whole thing was so incredible, I’m having trouble putting words to the experience.
I’m especially glad it was Danny who came to help us christen our home-as-venue. In person, he’s a gentle soul, easygoing and easy to chat with, perceptive and playful, with a fine sense of humor and a clear affection for kids and the natural world around him. He made the whole thing feel more like having a houseguest than guest of honor — I couldn’t have asked for a better experience, as warm and satisfying as it was overwhelming.
But I suppose I should have expected as much from his records. Danny’s songs delve deep and powerful, and in person they are exquisite. From the fragile and broken to the hopeful and the hushed, the stories he sets to his picked guitar style uncover universal truths like moss under a stone. In lyrics, delivery, and sheer emotive power, they rival the best works of other, older Texas troubadours, from Townes to Robert Earl Keen.
As he notes in the intro to the Tom House cover below, Danny doesn’t play many covers, but he was nice enough to make an exception for a hosting coverblogger. Here’s the two he did on Sunday, raw and unmastered; the whine you hear in the background is probably the fridge, unfortunately, but otherwise, I think the field recording captured the raw power of Danny’s performance pretty well.
- Danny Schmidt: Buckets of Rain (orig. Bob Dylan)
- Danny Schmidt: Circe (orig. Tom House)
(recorded live at A Tree Falls House Concerts, 3/29/09)
Danny Schmidt’s albums are a perfect showcase for his original songs, and they’re pretty incredible too. Head on over to Danny’s website for a whole mess of crisp studio-recorded downloadables, and the usual purchase links; I especially recommend the new album Instead the Forest Rose to Sing, plus older tracks like Company of Friends and This Too Shall Pass, both of which were stunning from two feet away. And if Danny ever plays your neck of the woods, grab a friend and head on over immediately.
Oh, and here’s a bonus cut, too: a great cover of Danny’s Happy All The Time, courtesy of friend Susan, to whom I owe a great debt for bringing Danny to me in the first place. It’s just a touch lighter than the original, but still a strong showcase for the mystical, darkly optimistic lyricism of the original.
- Happy All The Time: Esther Golton (orig. Danny Schmidt)
Cover Lay Down posts new coverfolk features Sundays, Wednesdays, and the occasional otherday. Coming soon: April showers, May flowers, and school vacation. Plus: collaborative blog Star Maker Machine celebrates its one year anniversary next week!
Category: Danny Schmidt, House Concerts | Tags: Danny Schmidt
March 31st, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I am beyond delighted that my matchmaking took hold, and created an afternoon of music and friendship - thanks for writing so lovingly and descriptively of the magical experience… and sharing the resulting cover songs with us!
March 31st, 2009 at 6:08 pm
[...] Danny Schmidt covers Bob Dylan & Tom House Live at A Tree Falls House Concerts, 3/29/09Live and In Studio: Covers from Daytrotter, Hinah, World Cafe, KCRW, the BBC and more!New Artists, Old Songs: Roosevelt Dime, Cody Adams, Spider, and Laura Tsaggaris cover Neil Young, Radiohead, Simon & Garfunkel, Britney Spears and more!Single Song Sunday: Come On In My Kitchen (Rory Block, Greg Brown, John Renbourn, Crooked Still & more!)Covered in Folk: U2 (Bell XI, Peter Mulvey, The Walls, Luka Bloom, and seven more!)Tributaries: On Influence and Coverage (New and Upcoming Tribute Albums from the Folkworld and Beyond)I Got Nothin’: Songs of Absence, Loss, and Stasis (5 Dylan covers, plus covers of Prince, The Kinks, Van Zandt and more)When Hype Machine Drops the Little Guys, We All Lose: An Open Letter to Bloggers and Blog Readers EverywhereCovering The Past: Songs From My Father’s Record CollectionHospital Coverfolk: Songs from the Waiting Room [...]
April 20th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Hi,
In Paris on his first show back in 2005, Danny played Tom’s “Mockingbird” on my request. And Jeffrey Foucault played Tom’s Cole Durhew. Danny rules!
May 1st, 2009 at 5:03 am
amazing buckets of rain..thank you for this.
December 20th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
[...] brought us into intimate contact with three favorite artists - tender Texas singer-songwriter Danny Schmidt, the now-defunct chamberqrass Folk Arts Quartet, and Greenwich Village-era dulcimerist and [...]
June 27th, 2010 at 11:59 am
[...] the 2007 Kerrville winner was a rising star, well-recommended by a number of folkwatching friends. As I wrote at the time, his gentle grace and gravity were stunning in person, and delving deep into his catalog since, I [...]