Chris Smither, with very special guest Eliza Gilkyson

Common Ground is honored to present two of America’s pre-eminent singer-songwriters — Chris Smither and Eliza Gilkyson — in an extremely rare double bill.

Chris Smither is a singer, songwriter and guitarist who has released 13 albums since the early ‘70s. His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets and humanist philosophers. Reviewers praise his dazzling guitar work, gravelly voice and sophisticated songwriting. He may be best known for writing “Love You Like A Man” which Bonnie Raitt and Diana Krall have covered. Always a solo performer, Chris tours year ’round, performing nationally and internationally at clubs, theaters and festivals. Chris recently published a short story entitled, “Leroy Purcell,” to AMPLIFIED, a collection of stories by performing songwriters.

Smithers’ most recent album, Time Stands Still is just the eleventh studio album of a career that now spans over four decades. Time Stands Still (Signature Sounds/Mighty Albert) is both pensive and visceral – an album whose songs alternately ponder life’s mysteries in some moments, and let them lie undisturbed in others. Featuring eight new original compositions and a song apiece from Bob Dylan, Mark Knopfler, and 1920s country-blues songster Frank Hutchison, Time Stands Still’s immediate, intimate sound is the direct result of one gig, and the challenge it presented.

“This is the most stripped-down record I’ve made in a long time,” Smither explains. “That came about thanks to a trip to the Netherlands.” Invited to perform at the Americana-centric Blue Highways Festival in Utrecht, Smither was told he had to bring a band over with him. “I usually perform solo,” he continues, “but they said ‘We don’t hire solo acts.’” He reached out to producer and guitarist David “Goody” Goodrich, who produced Smither’s last two studio albums. “Goody said, ‘Let’s get you, me, and a drummer,” Smither says. “So I called and asked if a trio would be okay, and the festival agreed. So Goody, the drummer Zak Trojano, and I went there, and we killed them!”

“Playing with just the three of us was a lot of fun,” Smither reflects. “At first it scared me, but we did a few rehearsal dates before we left. We booked them under a pseudonym, so there was no pressure. Right after our set at the festival, the soundman gave me a CD he made off the board. I put it away for a while, then listened to it one day. It sounded so good to me, I called Goody up and said ‘I’m sending you a CD. This is how we should do the next record.’ And that’s what we did…”

The songs on Time Stands Still are somehow both vivid and mysterious, evoking contemporary culture and circumstance while remaining touchingly timeless. Smither’s concerns – personal and political – are wed to music that, while stripped down in terms of arrangement and presentation, is among his most intricate, melodic, and challenging. The stark settings only serve to throw the album’s themes into higher relief. “I’m still talking about what I think of as nitty-gritty questions…” Smither says, “…essential questions, existential questions.”

Joining Smither this evening is Eliza Gilkyson, a Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and activist who is known for her insightful storytelling and politically relevant songs. She has appeared on National Public Radio, Austin City Limits, Mountain Stage, etown, XM Radio, Air America Radio and has toured worldwide both as a solo artist and in support of Richard Thompson, Patty Griffin and Mary Chapin Carpenter. In 2003 Eliza was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame alongside such legends as Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt and Nanci Griffith.

Eliza is the daughter of legendary songwriter Terry Gilkyson, whose hit songs include “Green Fields,” “Memories Are Made of This” and “The Bare Necessities” (from the Disney film Jungle Book). As a teenager she recorded demos for her father, and she has been writing and recording her own music ever since. She is an active member of the Austin music community, and is involved specifically with water conservation issues and The Worker’s Defense Project, which advocates rights for undocumented workers in the USA.

Her songs have been recorded and performed by Joan Baez, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bob Geldof (a cowrite on his current release), Tom Rush and Rosanne Cash, and her song “Requiem” has twice been nominated for a Grammy and won the Edison Award, the oldest and most prestigious Dutch Music prize for a choral recording by the Conspirare Choir.

In May  2011, Red House Records released Gilkyson’s first solo studio album in three years, Roses at the End of Time. This long-awaited sequel to 2008’s highly-acclaimed Beautiful World reveals a songwriter at the height of her story-telling powers.

Note: Advance tickets for this concert are highly recommended