Danny Schmidt/Carrie Elkin at Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath

Dec 4 2009 by Andrew Coleman, Birmingham Mail

REVIEW

Danny Schmidt/Carrie Elkin

KITCHEN GARDEN CAFE, KINGS HEATH

TEXAN troubadours Danny Schmidt and Carrie Elkin brought some big songwriting talent to the tiny, intimate setting of the Kitchen Garden Cafe in Kings Heath.

Schmidt hit the ground running with a fairy story with a difference, Dark-Eyed Prince, his fluid picking style ringing out on his gorgeous custom-built Martin guitar.

Upbeat songs from his new album, Instead The Forest Rose To Sing, included Better Off Broke, Grampa Built Bridges and Swing Me Down.

Elkin took to the stage solo and showed she is a committed performer with a winning personality. Songs from her album About The Jeopardy Of Circumstance included a heartfelt rendition of Obadiah, her own questioning exploration of spirituality and religion, followed by deeply personal and movingly delivered accounts of her own experiences in Roots And Wings and Questions About Angels.

VERDICT: HHHHI