Event Information
3:00pm, doors open at 2:30pm
Tickets: $20 advance, $25 at the door
When Craig Bickhardt steps onto a concert stage, he comes equipped with his trusty acoustic guitar. A side musician or two will frequently join him. He’s also accompanied by something invisible, yet ever-present: the stories of a lifetime, vividly translated into words and melody.
From the boisterous club scene of Philadelphia to the country-rock milieu of Los Angeles to the picking parlors of Nashville, Craig has immersed himself in the sights and sounds of American music. His music reflects a life lived as a rock band lead singer, a solo troubadour, a dedicated songwriter, a husband and father. Dreams, heartaches and hard-earned lessons have fed his creativity. There is no other way he could’ve written the eloquent, often bittersweet songs that have become his trademark.
“Craig Bickhardt is class personified. Fabulous songwriter, great singer and guitarist. He constantly amazes me as he just can’t stop getting better all the time. Wine should mature this well.” – Michael Tearson, Sirius/XM Radio
“I start a lot of songs because I feel conflicted,” he explains. “I may begin from a point of darkness, but I usually end up writing towards the light because, for me, hope is the thing worth singing about. The characters in the stories I sing aren’t heroic; they’re very ordinary. But they’re reaching for something beyond themselves, and I find nobility in that.”
Craig is a singer/songwriter of the old school – you can hear echoes of such ‘60s folk revival artists as Tom Rush, Gordon Lightfoot and Eric Andersen in his work. Added to this is the melodic sophistication of a Jimmy Webb or a Paul Simon, as well as a spare but telling lyric approach. “I admire songwriters like Woody Guthrie and poets like Robert Frost because they created functional art,” he says. “Too much music today is just for the singer, not for Everyman. I think of my work as a ‘Please Touch’ museum – I want my songs to be sung until they’re worn out.”
A Craig Bickhardt live set is a mix of absurd anecdotes and personal confessions, accompanying a well-stocked bag of original tunes and the occasional choice cover. His decades in music have given his performances the depth of experience – his love songs seem sweeter and more poignant, his story-song narratives more true-to-life than they could have in the past.
“I think people come to my shows to be reminded that there’s something profound in the small stuff we experience every day,” he says. “My goal is to get an audience to look deeper at the things we all take for granted.”
Craig Bickhardt travels light to his gigs – but he brings a great deal to the stage. He combines a seasoned troubadour’s easy command of his art with a beginner’s passion to win over his next audience and top his next song. The stories of his lifetime are simply too good not to share..
Recorded records on 4 labels
Capital Records, Warner Brothers Records, MTM Records and his own Stone Barn label.
Appeared at venues such as
The Grand Ol’Opry, Austin City Limits, Mountain Stage, Philadelphia Folk Festival, The Bluebird Cafe, The Bitter End, The Main Point, and numerous others
Shared the stage with
Bruce Springsteen, Stephen Stills, Judy Collins, Hank Williams Jr., Leo Koettke, Kathy Mattea, Poco and Tim O’Brien among many others
Craig’s songs have been recorded by
Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, Jonathan Edwards, Martina McBride, Tony Rice, Art Garfunkle, Trisha Yearwood, Poco, David Wilcox and more than 100 artists worldwide.
He is the composer of three number one Billboard hits, 9 top ten hits, as well as the recipient of several RIAA Platinum CDs.