Tonight's pair of young songwriters are standouts in the highly competitive scene in Austin, Texas. Carrie Elkin, who calls herself a troubadour in the most classic fashion, has ridden a gypsy breeze of serendipity around the U.S., finally settling in Austin. Carrie was recently chosen as a Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist. With the vocal fire of Patty Griffin and the lyrical rawness of Iris DeMent, she has gained fans across the pond as well as at home: "Her voice is simply revelatory" says the venerable English music magazine Folkwax. Carrie comes to The Ark with a just-completed new CD.

Winner of the prestigious Kerrville New Folk award in 2007, Danny Schmidt writes songs with a lyrical complexity that has drawn comparisons to Townes Van Zandt and Leonard Cohen. "He is perhaps the best new songwriter I've heard in the last 15 years," raves Rich Warren of Sing Out!, and Marilyn Rea Beyer of Boston's WUMB radio describes his music this way: "The songs are fascinating and intriguing, even mysterious. The singing is warm and unassuming, letting the stories lead him. The melodies are captivating." Danny has recently released his debut album on the Red House label, "Instead the Forest Rose to Sing."