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Monday, November 3, 2014

DYNAMIC DUO TO APPEAR @ THE MINSTREL IN MORRISTOWN NOV. 7

Sally Rogers and Claudia Schmidt

WHEN: Friday, November 7, 8:00 PM
WHERE:
Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Rd, Morristown
ADMISSION:  $9.00 per adult at the door. Children 12 and under are free. For further information, call 973.335.9489, or visit www.folkproject.org.

The performance is part of The Minstrel Acoustic Concert Series, sponsored by The Folk Project each Friday evening at the Fellowship.

Sally Rogers and Claudia Schmidt have combined to produce their third album together, the first in 22 years. Evidence of Happiness, named after one of Claudia's latest compositions, is a wonderful collaboration between these two simpatico singers. Both long-time fans and first-time audience members will be delighted by the whimsical combination of traditional songs, original compositions and special contemporary pieces sung with tight harmonies by the soaring voices of these two veterans of the folk world. This Minstrel evening will feature songs from the album, as well as fan favorites from the repertoires of both performers and brand-new originals.

Sally Rogers began her career as a full-time touring musician in 1979, after encouragement from the legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Stan Rogers. That was followed by an invitation from Garrison Keillor to appear on A Prairie Home Companion. She appeared over a dozen times on that show, launching her performing career. Her travels have taken her across the United States and to Europe, China, Hungary, Poland, England and Scotland. Sally has released fifteen solo albums, as well as several collaborations with other artists. Her 1987 album, Closing the Distance, was her first pairing with Claudia Schmidt, and was voted one of the ten most popular albums of the year. Her songs are included in both the Unitarian and Quaker hymnals. She has produced a kids' video and one of her songs was published by E. P. Dutton as the picture book, Earthsong. She has written a chapter in Ellipsis Arts' book, “Open Ears,” which includes chapters by other luminaries such as Shari Lewis, Baba Olatunji, Mickey Hart, Pete Seeger and others. Her four albums for children are released on Thrushwood Kids, her own label for quality children's recordings.

Claudia Schmidt has been perfecting her craft of performing for almost four decades. It is a quirky and wonderful hodge-podge (her word!) of music, poetry, story, laughter, drama and celebrating the moment. She's traversed North America as well as Europe in venues ranging from intimate clubs to 4,000 seat theaters to festival stages in front of 23,000 rapt listeners. She has recorded nineteen albums, mostly original songs exploring folk, blues and jazz. She is known for her skill on 6- and 12-string guitar and mountain dulcimer. The San Francisco Guardian said: “Schmidt's shows are 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.” More succinctly, Garrison Keillor said “when Claudia sings a song, it stays sung.”

The Folk Project is a non-profit 501(c)(3) Corporation whose mission is to present high caliber folk music performances and instructional workshops for the public and members; to encourage development of musicianship and performance skills in the northern New Jersey area; and to provide interesting social and learning activities relating to traditional and participatory folk music and dance.

Funding has been made possible in part by funds from Morris Arts through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.