Richard Shindell is a powerful singer, masterful guitarist, and pungent songwriter who tells compelling stories that range from the bitterly comic to the profoundly spiritual. His voice carries his own particular strain of emotion, almost bitter, almost exhausted, but unable to stop the hope from rising up. “Lord, deliver me to the next Best Western,” he sings. The Wall Street Journal calls him “a master of subtle narrative.” Entertainment Weekly praises his “disturbing, beautifully drawn portraits of frantic losers.” He “is a master builder of songs,” says the Boston Globe, with an “uncanny sense of the theater of a song, building his ballads sparely and subtly, set to sweeping graceful melodies.”
 
Born in New Jersey, raised on Long Island, Richard met John Gorka at Moravian College and they played together in the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band. After some time in a Zen monastery and an interlude of busking in Paris, he attended the Union Theological Seminary in New York City – and started seriously writing songs. Since then, he’s released 11 albums, including Reunion Hill, which won the award for Best Contemporary Folk Album from the American Association of Independent Music, Cry Cry Cry, recorded with Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky, Vuelta, recorded with the Argentine band Puente Celeste in Buenos Aires, where Richard now lives, and his latest album, 13 Songs You May Or May Not Have Heard Before. Here’s how the New York Times reviewed a show of his at the Bottom Line. “Occasionally an artist has a night that makes even skeptics think, 'OK, maybe he is the best.' Richard Shindell achieved this on Thursday.” So yeah, maybe he is the best. Or maybe he’s just so good that you don’t want to miss him tonight at the Freight!

Robbie Schaefer is a singer, a songwriter, and one-fourth of the much beloved folk-rock band Eddie From Ohio. He’s recorded six solo albums including two CDs of music for children and his latest, Ruby, which features, in Robbie’s words, “10 new originals, a whole lotta love, and at least one barking dog.” He also works with the One Voice foundation, which seeks to unite children around the world through music and creative expression.

Visit Richard Shindell's website

Visit Robbie Schaefer's website

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