Claudia Schmidt

I hope you are taking good care of yourselves this season. Weather changes, cultural uncertainty, TIME CHANGE. .and then. .the midterms! I just saw a great quote from Rebecca Solnit: “Voting is not a Valentine, you aren't choosing the candidate you love. It's a chess move for the world you want to live in.” Brava! Treason is not too strong a word for what is going on at the top right now. It must be stopped.

We wrapped our Kickstarter up on October 19 with 152 backers and 130% of the original goal! Thank…

Dear friends,

Due to the generosity of 135 Kickstarter backers, we have raised $3700 over our $15,000 initial target. I’m thrilled I can move forward now with producing the new album, FOUND. I can’t wait to turn this green energy into live, beautiful music.
 
I have lined up musicians to join me in the studio the second week of October, when I return from a long month of touring, to do additional recording made possible by this support. FOUND should be out by early December. 
 
We’ve got 14 days left to raise…

Dear friends,

I am deeply touched by the generosity and enthusiasm over this past week in backing my new record FOUND. We're off to a great start and I’m picturing these songs coming to life in the studio. 100 backers helped us reached our Kickstarter goal of $15,000 in the first three days! 

I didn’t know what to expect from a Kickstarter campaign (this was my first) and so set the project budget at a minimal level. Having reached that goal early, we’ve now got 25 remaining days to generate additional…

Dear friends,

Today’s the day. My Kickstarter campaign for FOUND—my 23rd album—is now live, and I’m asking for your help to make it real.

▶ BACK FOUND ON KICKSTARTER

FOUND is a collection of original songs written over the last six years, and I can’t wait to record them with a circle of remarkable musicians. But here’s the truth of how records get made now: without a label behind me, this one happens only if the people who love this music decide it should exist. That’s you.

There are rewards at every…

Dear friends,

I have news I’ve been holding close, and I can’t wait any longer to share it.

After six years of writing—through the pandemic, through all the upheaval, and through plenty of joy and fun along the way—I’m making my 23rd album. It’s called FOUND, a gathering of original songs that, at this point in my life, feel almost like they found me.

Here’s the part where I need you. On Wednesday, September 16, I’m launching a Kickstarter campaign to bring FOUND to life—and I’ll be inviting you to be part of…

I am back from my wonderful trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin. It was my first batch of concerts in a couple months, and there is something about the rhythm I find when I am performing several days in a row, just like any other activity where you can just jump in. I love the job and the work of performance. 5 days in a row, solo, a duo with my friend Ann Reed, the magical Bird Show. .my brain and heart are doing zoomies!

But I found that many plants were already snatched up from my favorite nurseries when I…

Since my last post, hummers are back, first a couple males, now the females. Today I watched a tiny hummer fly to the great Grandmother Oak, and then a moment later a giant pileated woodpecker made a landing. Tonight I am hearing wood thrush song, which warms my heart. Every day, if I just take time, something new for my ears, my eyes, my heart!

The hummingbird feeder is hung and filled, awaiting the return of those wonderful creatures. It may be a few days, a week, but we are there with the siren call of RED and the nectar within. It is a small ritual in the maelstrom of our current world, but we will do our part to make our fellow creatures as comfortable as possible while some go tromping over the planet with blatant disregard for their fellow not human inhabitants.