Twenty-nine year old singer/songwriter Ben Schmidt uses his warm reedy mid range voice and a powerful arsenal of fingerstyle and flatpicked guitar chops to texture his soulful compositions.
Raised in Chicago, Mr. Schmidt's self-taught approach to music is rooted in vintage folk and blues, but whether by himself on a lap slide guitar, or in front of a band, he takes the listener on a unique journey in every song. Since he first picked up a guitar at age twelve, Schmidt has refined his playing and writing skills, drawing comparisons to Leo Kotke, Kelly Joe Phelps, Tom Waits, Greg Brown and John Gorka.
Before performing as a musican, Ben Schmidt was variously, an actor, teacher, theatre designer, bike mechanic, and carpenter. Schmidt has performed primarily in Eastern Iowa with sporadic appearances in Chicago. His music has been played on KUNI, WSUI, KRUI, and KCCK in Iowa, and on Chicago's WFMT folk showcase "The Midnight Special." Ben has appeared both as a musical guest and as a featured guest artist for NPR's live radio forum "Iowa Talks" on WSUI. He also been the featured guest of college radio KRUI.
His Debut CD "Write it Down" is available online at www.BenSchmidtMusic.com. He also appears on the "M.U.S.E."(Musician's united to save the Englert (theatre)) compilation with Greg Brown, Dave Moore, David Zollo, and other Iowa Artist --Available at www.englert.org. Ben Schmidt currently lives with his wife and children in Iowa City, Ia.
Press
Iowa City Press Citizen
Wednesday. Thursday, August 1, 2002
Ben Schmidt debuts with gem
Ben Schmidt
'Write It Down'
self-released
As if Eastern Iowa weren't already blessed with more than its fair
share of incredible singer/songwriters, this 29-year-old product of
the Chicago area has emerged on the club scene over the past
few years to add to our embarrassment of riches.
Blessed with a warm, reedy mid-range and flaunting a serious arsenal of goose-bump inducing chops (both as a finger-picker and on lap-style slide guitar), Ben Schmidt completes the total package on this jaw-dropping debut with 11 original tunes that embrace delta blues ("Not With You"), cozy new folk ("Down That Road," "Roberta"), slinky funk ("Passion") and back-porch foot-stompers ("Next To You") with equal flair.
Beautifully recorded at The Petting Zoo by Patrick Brickell, "Write It Down" flexes and stretches with elastic ease, aided and abetted by all-star homeboys Rick Cicalo (bass), Steve Hayes (drums), Dave Moore (harmonica), Al Murphy (fiddle), Nate Basinger (keys), Dustin Busch (guitar) and Matt Ertz (trombone).
The arrangements are varied and reliably interesting, with the veteran musicians allowing for a sense of "anything goes" - on one of the set's most compelling tracks ("The Finger Song"), the group melds a Chilean folk pattern with swanky Parisian squeezebox before morphing into a driving ska (!) hybrid.
Throughout, Schmidt displays impressive lyrical gifts, intermingling keen wit, palpable tenderness and insight.
You'll hear elements of John Gorka, Jesse Winchester, Kelly Joe Phelps, and, on the slipped-rhythm fun-house "Dance That Dance," doses of Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen.
Most of all, though, what you'll hear is Ben Schmidt, an extraordinary talent who's announced his arrival with a wonderful, provocative piece of work.
(Ben Schmidt, Rick Cicalo and Steve Hayes will play at The Mill, 120 E. Burlington St. at 9 p.m. on Friday. There is a $3 cover.)
"Adept at flat-top lap-style, and fingerpicking steel-string guitar, Ben Schmidt has channeled equally from vintage folk and delta blues players to create a soulful mastery beyond his years"
-Ben Kieffer WSUI radio
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