Album Notes

Visionary lyricist and outstanding acoustic finger-style and slide guitar wizard, Ben Schmidt self-produced his first CD, Write It Down, in 2002. His warm, versatile voice, alternately sweet and dark, colors compositions from ballads to blues.

Called "an extraordinary talent" and "the total package" by music critic Jim Musser (No Depression), Ben is influenced by a vast range of musicians and musical genres, most prominently folk and Mississippi delta blues. Of Write It Down, Musser says, "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."

Schmidt's second CD, While You Were Sleeping, was released in July of 2005. Cohesive and musically intricate, While You Were Sleeping speaks to contemporary issues in our culture, and gives a mature voice to classic themes of love and loss.


Self-taught, and continually evolving, Schmidt has been playing guitar for over 20 years and writing songs since he was fifteen. The landscapes of his songs draw equally from his upbringing in Chicago, as well as his current home in Iowa City, Iowa. Ben is a favorite of Eastern Iowa public radio stations and is a featured artist on WSUI's Java Blend compilation CD, as well as KUNI's Best of Live from Studio One compilation disc.

In addition to enjoying national radio airplay, Ben plays throughout the Midwest and has opened for and performed with a variety of other artists, including Peter Mulvey, Edie Carey and Alistair Moock.

Ben Schmidt lives in Iowa City, Iowa with his family and his dog, Django.