Folk artist Craig Cardiff is prone to fits of edginess and obnoxious honesty.
So says the biography of this Canadian singer-songwriter who will be in Williams Lake, Saturday, April 2 for a concert at the Limelight Theatre.
Cardiff writes songs about the human condition — being barefoot; being full of cancer; about pouring yourself out; being worth love; being the kite that gets caught on the power-lines; being a geek; about driving out February; songs about you — songs that need to be sung.
“Once, in Cleveland, I watched Buddy Guy perform Freedom and thought about 30 years, four weeks and five days past the actual date that the song still made sense,” Cardiff writes.
He says he is not comfortable writing musical bios and/or resumes so suffice it to say the main thrust of his biography is that he can often be found performing in living rooms, church basements and other small venues, and that he plays accordion, harmonica and guitar in addition to singing and writing songs.
A prolific songwriter Cardiff has produced 11 albums in 10 years, the latest being Mothers & Daughters released in 2010; Goodnight (2007); Auberge BlackSheep (2006); Bombshelter Living Room (2005); Fistful of Flowers (2005) and Soda (2003).
His voice has been described as “warm, scratched, sad and sleepy.”
Cardiff is often accompanied by double bass and drums and says he is blessed to know so many wonderful musicians who will accompany and tolerate him.
He has played with and opened for some of the best artists around, including Glen Phillips, Lucy Kaplansky, Dan Bern, Natalia Zukerman, Andy Stochansky, Sarah Harmer, Kathleen Edwards, Blue Rodeo, Gordon Downie (Tragically Hip), Hawksley Workman, Sarah Slean, Skydiggers, 54-40 and more. “I think that the best shows are the ones where the lights are low, the music weaves in and out and the people forget where the audience begins and the performer ends,” Cardiff says.
For the lakecity show at the Limelight Cardiff’s special guest will be the lakecity’s own singer/songwriter Oren Barter who released his first feature-length album Written All Over Me last fall and was recently chosen as one of the 11 finalists out of 250 entries in the Variety’s Got Talent Contest.
The concert at the Limelight Theatre on April 2 is a benefit for the Hough Memorial Society, which purchases cancer detection equipment for Cariboo Memorial Hospital. Tickets are available at Hub International Barton Insurance and About Face Photography.