Tickets for all Steel City concerts are available HERE, in person at Steel City Coffeehouse, or by phone at 610-933-4043.
GENERAL ADMISSION: $18 advance/$23 day of show
ADVANCE RESERVED SEATING: $25
ADVANCE RESERVED SEATING WITH DINNER ENTREE: $32
DOORS OPEN FOR DINNER AT 7:00 PM
CRAIG BICKHARDT
When Craig Bickhardt steps onto a concert stage, he comes equipped with his trusty acoustic guitar. A side musician or two will frequently join him. He’s also accompanied by something invisible, yet ever-present: the stories of a lifetime, vividly translated into words and melody.
From the boisterous club scene of Philadelphia to the country-rock milieu of Los Angeles to the picking parlors of Nashville, Craig has immersed himself in the sights and sounds of American music. His music reflects a life lived as a rock band lead singer, a solo troubadour, a dedicated songwriter, a husband and father. Dreams, heartaches and hard-earned lessons have fed his creativity. There is no other way he could’ve written the eloquent, often bittersweet songs that have become his trademark.
“I start a lot of songs because I feel conflicted,” he explains. “I may begin from a point of darkness, but I usually end up writing towards the light because, for me, hope is the thing worth singing about. The characters in the stories I sing aren’t heroic; they’re very ordinary. But they’re reaching for something beyond themselves, and I find nobility in that.”
Craig is a singer/songwriter of the old school – you can hear echoes of such 60s folk revival artists as Tom Rush, Gordon Lightfoot and Eric Andersen in his work. Added to this is the melodic sophistication of a Jimmy Webb or a Paul Simon, as well as a spare but telling lyric approach. “I admire songwriters like Woody Guthrie and poets like Robert Frost because they created functional art,” he says. “Too much music today is just for the singer, not for Everyman. I think of my work as a „Please Touch? museum – I want my songs to be sung until they’re worn out.”
Also crucial to Craig’s art is his virtuosic guitar work, interweaving folk, blues, country and ragtime influences into a unique whole: “The guitar isn’t just an accompanying instrument for me – sometimes it’s the front man and my voice is the accompanist.”
MORE INFO
LIZANNE KNOTT
Lizanne Knott is a beautiful talent. Soft spoken words, intelligent poetic lyrics and a voice that defies any age. A class act all the way around and beloved by her friends and fans alike. A rare artist.” Tina Shafer – Artistic Director – New York Songwriter’s Circle
“Absolutely gorgeous music. We’ve rarely had as big a reaction to any artist in recent years that we’ve had for Lizanne Knott” Bob Harris, London BBC2 A long standing member of the Philadelphia music scene and managing partner of Grammy Award Winning MorningStar Studios, Lizanne Knott has been captivating audiences throughout the US and garnering accolades from radio listeners and peers around the globe. She has performed at some of the most prestigious listening venues in the US and throughout the UK and Spain, steadily gaining ground wherever the road takes her. A frequent featured artist on London’s acclaimed Bob Harris Show, BBC2 and other BBC stations, she also receives airplay on AAA radio throughout the US. A local favorite on Philadelphia’s award winning WXPN, her music has been used in independent films, TV movies, documentaries and by national non-profit organizations.¨ Her last record “Standing in the English Rain” released on Proper in London in early 2013, climbed to the Folk DJ Top CD list for the year. It features guest performances by folk legend, Janis Ian, Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Carly Simon, Sheryl Crow), a duet with long time friend, Melody Gardot, and more..
MORE INFO
THOM SCHUYLER
“Thom has seen the country music business from every conceivable angle, from co-writing hits like Kenny Rogers’ “Love Will Turn You Around” to reaching No. 1 himself as part of the 1980s trio S-K-O (“Baby’s Got a New Baby”) and later signing artists like Kenny Chesney and Lonestar as a record label executive. But Prayer of a Desperate Man presents him simply as a crackerjack tunesmith with a knack for flashes of disarming humor, whether he’s addressing the equalizing power of spirituality on the title cut or more simple pleasures on the candy-coated “(Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong With a) Kit Kat.””
Country Weekly – February 9, 2009
thomschuyler.com
GENERAL ADMISSION: $18 advance/$23 day of show
ADVANCE RESERVED SEATING: $25
ADVANCE RESERVED SEATING WITH DINNER ENTREE: $32
DOORS OPEN FOR DINNER AT 7:00 PM
CRAIG BICKHARDT
When Craig Bickhardt steps onto a concert stage, he comes equipped with his trusty acoustic guitar. A side musician or two will frequently join him. He’s also accompanied by something invisible, yet ever-present: the stories of a lifetime, vividly translated into words and melody.
From the boisterous club scene of Philadelphia to the country-rock milieu of Los Angeles to the picking parlors of Nashville, Craig has immersed himself in the sights and sounds of American music. His music reflects a life lived as a rock band lead singer, a solo troubadour, a dedicated songwriter, a husband and father. Dreams, heartaches and hard-earned lessons have fed his creativity. There is no other way he could’ve written the eloquent, often bittersweet songs that have become his trademark.
“I start a lot of songs because I feel conflicted,” he explains. “I may begin from a point of darkness, but I usually end up writing towards the light because, for me, hope is the thing worth singing about. The characters in the stories I sing aren’t heroic; they’re very ordinary. But they’re reaching for something beyond themselves, and I find nobility in that.”
Craig is a singer/songwriter of the old school – you can hear echoes of such 60s folk revival artists as Tom Rush, Gordon Lightfoot and Eric Andersen in his work. Added to this is the melodic sophistication of a Jimmy Webb or a Paul Simon, as well as a spare but telling lyric approach. “I admire songwriters like Woody Guthrie and poets like Robert Frost because they created functional art,” he says. “Too much music today is just for the singer, not for Everyman. I think of my work as a „Please Touch? museum – I want my songs to be sung until they’re worn out.”
Also crucial to Craig’s art is his virtuosic guitar work, interweaving folk, blues, country and ragtime influences into a unique whole: “The guitar isn’t just an accompanying instrument for me – sometimes it’s the front man and my voice is the accompanist.”
MORE INFO
LIZANNE KNOTT
Lizanne Knott is a beautiful talent. Soft spoken words, intelligent poetic lyrics and a voice that defies any age. A class act all the way around and beloved by her friends and fans alike. A rare artist.” Tina Shafer – Artistic Director – New York Songwriter’s Circle
“Absolutely gorgeous music. We’ve rarely had as big a reaction to any artist in recent years that we’ve had for Lizanne Knott” Bob Harris, London BBC2 A long standing member of the Philadelphia music scene and managing partner of Grammy Award Winning MorningStar Studios, Lizanne Knott has been captivating audiences throughout the US and garnering accolades from radio listeners and peers around the globe. She has performed at some of the most prestigious listening venues in the US and throughout the UK and Spain, steadily gaining ground wherever the road takes her. A frequent featured artist on London’s acclaimed Bob Harris Show, BBC2 and other BBC stations, she also receives airplay on AAA radio throughout the US. A local favorite on Philadelphia’s award winning WXPN, her music has been used in independent films, TV movies, documentaries and by national non-profit organizations.¨ Her last record “Standing in the English Rain” released on Proper in London in early 2013, climbed to the Folk DJ Top CD list for the year. It features guest performances by folk legend, Janis Ian, Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Carly Simon, Sheryl Crow), a duet with long time friend, Melody Gardot, and more..
MORE INFO
THOM SCHUYLER
“Thom has seen the country music business from every conceivable angle, from co-writing hits like Kenny Rogers’ “Love Will Turn You Around” to reaching No. 1 himself as part of the 1980s trio S-K-O (“Baby’s Got a New Baby”) and later signing artists like Kenny Chesney and Lonestar as a record label executive. But Prayer of a Desperate Man presents him simply as a crackerjack tunesmith with a knack for flashes of disarming humor, whether he’s addressing the equalizing power of spirituality on the title cut or more simple pleasures on the candy-coated “(Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong With a) Kit Kat.””
Country Weekly – February 9, 2009
thomschuyler.com
