Tonight’s concert features Craig Bickhardt. When Craig Bickhardt steps onto a concert stage, he comes equipped with his trusty acoustic guitar. He is 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 have written the eloquent, often bittersweet songs that have become his trademark.
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 are worn out.”
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.
Opening the evening will be Tom and Betty Druckenmiller with Norm Williams. Enjoy old-time tunes & songs with clawhammer banjo, fiddle, mountain dulcimer and more.
Admission: $12 for adults; $10 for adults 65 and over; students 13 and up, $6; 12 and under free. All ticket sales at door, no advance sales, no reservations. Delicious desserts and drinks are available. Our building is wheelchair accessible. The doors open at 7:00 and performances begin at 7:30.
A portion of our proceeds for the October, November and February concerts support Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), a volunteer network of Anabaptist churches responding in Christian love to those affected by disasters in Canada and the United States. You can also drop off donations of non-perishable food at Patchwork for Pennridge FISH, our local food pantry, at all our concerts.