His songwriting credits read like a Who’s Who of the music industry: Ray Charles, B. B. King, Johnny Cash, The Judds, Alison Krauss, Anne Murray, Art Garfunkel, Poco, and Vince Gill are just a few of the many luminaries who have dipped into Craig Bickhardt’s well of songs. A discography like that would be the envy of most songwriters, but the covers are only part of the story.
His first break as an artist came when he was asked to write and sing the closing theme for Robert Duvall’s Academy Award winning movie Tender Mercies. The success of that film led to a move to Nashville, where Craig hooked up with fellow songwriters Thom Schuyler, Fred Knobloch and Don Schlitz to establish The Writers in the Round. Their laid back “living room” style of performing at The Bluebird Café became the hottest ticket in town. These days it’s hard to find a city where songwriters haven’t adopted the genial in-the-round presentation pioneered by the foursome in the late 1980s.Eventually Craig, Thom, and Fred took their smooth blend of harmonies into the studio to record their commercially successful CD, NO EASY HORSES. The disk spawned three (3) top twenty singles including Craig and Thom’s song THIS OLD HOUSE (featured here), which has since become a standard in the traditional bluegrass genre. The trio, dubbed SKB, disbanded, but not before they helped transform the country music scene, opening the door for a wave of singer-songwriter acts that exploded onto the country charts in the 1990s.
Craig cemented his reputation on Music Row when he racked up a succession of chart topping hits, including the number one songs “Turn It Loose” and “I Know Where I’m Going” for The Judds, “In Between Dances” for Pam Tillis and “It Must Be Love” for Ty Herndon. Craig’s critically acclaimed Stone Barn Records CD, Easy Fires, is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Blue Comet Café captures Bickhardt’s great songwriting, his “soulful folk” performing style, brilliant musicianship and knockout vocals for the first time on video. Among the thousands of troubadours on the scene today, none can outshine him in a club, festival or concert setting. Spread the word, and stay tuned. There’s more Craig Bickhardt on the way from Blue Comet Café.
Visit Craig Bickhardt’s Website
CREDITS
| Video | |
| Video | Fusion, Inc. |
| Director/Technical Director | Don Vitello |
| Video/Tape Op/Engineer in Charge | Peter Hayes |
| Lighting Director | Matt Bucolo |
| Jib Camera | Paul Thomson |
| Camera | Dane Smith |
| Camera | Rich Cottrell |
| Production Assistant | Joe Meccariello Jr. |
| Audio | |
| Audio | Indre Recording |
| Engineer | Michael Comstock |
| Asst. Engineer | Mike Richelle |
| House Sound | Tom Hampton |
| Contributors | |
| Interviews | Susan Beth Smith |
| Venue | All the nice folks at Chaplins Music Cafe, Spring City, PA |
