My regular readers will know that things that matter to me are story telling and conversations. Part of what I like about folk music are those times when the performer is on the stage, tuning their guitar and making small talk with the audience. It some of what I like about Christine Bauer.

She has a great deep gravelly voice which she compliments with her guitar and harmonica playing. Readers will perhaps note that I like voices of people that sound like real people with real stories, and not some polished factory produced pop idol, and I really like it when they throw in a harmonica.

She has a cover medley on her Sonic Bids Electronic Press Kit which has snippets of some great covers of some great songs. She also has a few of her own pieces, songs about relationships that didn’t work out and towns being abandoned. Her song, “You are Thunder” is particularly powerful.

I don’t like comparing musicians to others, especially for someone incomparable like Christine. Instead, I like to think of the stories. When Joni Mitchell sings “A Case of You”, or “The Last Time I saw Richard”, or perhaps when the Indigo Girls sing about stopping at a bar at 3 AM in “Closer to Fine”, I imagine that the unrecognized musician on the stage to be someone like Christine Bauer.

In terms of the story telling, it comes through in the messages we’ve sent back and forth. Christine Bauer’s musical talent is backed up by a strong ability to tell stories and join in a conversation.

She doesn’t have a lot of upcoming gigs that I can find. She’ll be playing at the Unitarian Fellowship in Carbondale, IL on October 27 and then at the Rustle Hill Winery in Cobden, IL in November and December. Neither venue seems like those that Joni Mitchell or the Indigo Girls are singing about, but they should be good opportunities to hear this special singer songwriter.