Friday Night Folk at All Souls Presents Richard Shindell, With Opening Act Jim Carpenter

RICHARD SHINDELL IN CONCERT APRIL 8 - JIM CARPENTER TO OPEN

Friday Night Folk at All Souls presents acclaimed singer/songwriter Richard Shindell in concert. Songwriter/performer Jim Carpenter will open the evening's event in Unity Hall at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 19 Jay Street, New London, CT. Doors open at 7:30 PM; concert begins at 8 PM.  Ticket prices are $20 in advance, $23 at the door, and $10 for students with student ID. Tickets and advance reservations available online at www.fridaynightfolk.org.

Richard Shindell

An expatriate New Yorker now living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Richard Shindell is a meticulous craftsman of song whose studio albums and one live recording have been revered by critics and fans alike. Innovative, original and occasionally spiritual, Shindell's songs weave tales that interchangeably champion the downtrodden, exalt the disaffected or wax empathetic to those lost to society's fringes.  His songs are often slowly and painstakingly crafted until honed to perfection. Conversely, he is also capable of writing tunes that are simply clever and amusing.

Shindell's songwriting is truly eclectic, ranging from lighthearted ballads and adulterous love songs, to dirges and diatribes that skillfully skewer politics, prejudice, war and religion. He has a unique ability to morph into the soul of the many and varied personalities he casts as narrators in certain songs--songs that are veritable novellas framed in haunting acoustic melodies, sometimes including cryptic, revelations through the eyes of a woman.  Shindell has toured on his own, with the legendary Joan Baez, and as one third of the acoustic trio, Cry Cry Cry, with Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky. 

“Shindell wraps his poetic vision in moody, moving arrangements. The thinking man’s folk singer has just raised the bar.”

“… a master builder of songs, yet always leading listeners toward the emotional essence of the moment or character he is evoking.”

Jim Carpenter

The evening’s opening act Jim Carpenter is a performing songwriter/writer/producer living in southeastern Connecticut. Born in Chincoteague, Virginia, he has lived in Cape May, Key West, Miami, and Nashville. At home in Connecticut, his music and fiction have never left the south. Influences of his transient, southern childhood resound in the folk, Latin, Zydeco and bluegrass rhythms within his music. His solo cd Bahia Honda was released in the Spring of 2007. Two cds: Rosalie and Silver Triangle with his band The Hoolios were released in January 2009. 

As a performing songwriter, Jim was the winner of the 2000 Chicago Lake County Folk Festival's Songwriting Competition, a finalist in the South Florida Folk Festival's Songwriting Competition in 2001 and 2002, one of three finalists in the Boston's 2002 Rose Garden Coffeehouse's Songwriting Competition, a finalist in the 2003 Wisconsin Fond du Lac Songwriting Competition, and Honorable Mention among the 7000 submissions of the 2003 Nashville Songwriting Competition. He has shared the stage with The Resentments, Greg Brown, Bill Morrissey, Eric Taylor, Catie Curtis, Chris Knight, Robert Earl Keen, Marcia Ball, Small Potatoes and Garnet Rogers among others.

Jim is busy producing several cds for New England artists, recording two diverse cds of his original music in Nashville and Connecticut, and performing regularly both as a soloist and with The Hoolios.