Susan Herndon
Playing around 200 gigs a year for more than a decade, Susan Herndon has retained that true troubadour’s ethos, sharing her passion for song and stirring thousands of kindred spirits throughout Oklahoma, Texas, the American heartland, and in Europe.
Born in St Louis, raised in Tulsa and bred in Oklahoma, she earned several degrees including one in French. Herndon’s youthful wanderlust took her to the south of France for many years, and while in that Gallic state of mind, she began her musical odyssey in the most humble – and purest – of ways: busking for francs on the busy streets of Pau deep within the Pyrenees.
It was there and on other thoroughfares throughout Europe that Herndon honed the skills and presence needed of a dedicated working musician and an immediately engaging entertainer. “Music really is our universal language,” says Herndon today. “And I do believe that good songs – in any language – can truly touch souls. I know they have saved my life on numerous occasions.”
With an engaging smile and graceful charm, she touches upon themes both universal and deeply personal, from longing and loneliness, to home, family, faded memories and hopeful dreams. And she connects with her listeners in a voice that conveys equal parts savory innocence and knowing savoir-faire.
Jordi Baizan
Jordi Baizan is a first generation American and native Texan songwriter. He is multicultural, born in Houston to Spanish and Cuban parents, and married to Carmen who hails from Mexico. Everyone in the family is multi-lingual. Jordi is also a multi-tasker, writing songs and managing his flourishing music career in the same home-office where he runs his small business, which helped he and Carmen raise their two girls and two boys.
With his strong work-ethic, it may not come as a surprise that Jordi has released multiple records, the first three with his Americana/Rock band, QandA. The newly-released fourth record is Jordi’s first as a solo artist. Funded by his widespread and dedicated followers, this CD takes him in a surprising new direction: the folk/singer-songwriter genre.
Now that the kids are away at college and beyond, the empty nest at home has provided Jordi the opportunity to take his music on the road. Wherever he can travel with his old Larrivée guitar, and deliver his songs in an intimate, listening-room setting, is where he wants to be.
This first solo record is appropriately named Like the First Time, and on the title track Jordi expresses the mid-life realization that time is a precious commodity and one can choose to live the moment with no regrets for the past. His distinctive voice and well-crafted lyrics allow him to connect with the mind and heart of his listeners. “When I look back at how far we’ve come and weariness sets in, I would do it all again, like the first time.”
Terry Klein
Terry Klein is a performing songwriter from Austin, Texas with an unshakable faith in the power of songs to heal, connect, and inspire. His debut record, Great Northern, was produced by Walt Wilkins and came out in April 2017. Songs from Great Northern have appeared on Folk and Americana radio stations across the United States and internationally. Terry was selected as a Regional New Folk Ballad Tree Performer at the 2017 Kerrville Folk Festival and awarded an official showcase at the 2017 Southwest Regional Folk Alliance conference. His song “Dull Women Keep Immaculate Homes” was a Publisher’s Pick at the 2017 Austin Songwriters Group Annual Symposium and the Nashville Songwriters Association International designated him as a “Writer on the Rise” in June 2017. In addition to his recent performance at Kerrville, Terry has played shows at renowned singer-songwriter venues like Club Passim in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Cactus Cafe in Austin, Poor David’s Pub in Dallas, and McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston. And during AmericanaFest 2017, master songwriter Mary Gauthier invited Terry up on to the stage at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville to perform his song “Better Luck Next Time.”
Terry’s songs straddle the boundaries of Americana, folk, and country music and draw on the genius of Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Bob Dylan, Mary Gauthier, and Hayes Carll. But he also looks to prose writers such as Chekhov, Flannery O’Connor, David Foster Wallace, filmmakers like Wes Anderson, and painters like Edward Hopper for inspiration. “I want to explore the places where we all feel vulnerable,” Terry says. “That shared vulnerability kindles connection, which in turn kindles something approaching actual happiness.”
“When I heard the songs on Great Northern for the first time, I was floored. I knew I was hearing a true songwriter, and a true craftsman. These songs deal with real moments, elements, depths of the human spirit. The songs here still move me. Welcome a strong collection of songs and a new clear, bold voice.” —Walt Wilkins
Show Details
Tue, February 13, 2018, 8:00pm
Tickets: $20
Doors open half an hour before show time.