Connecting with musicians Christine Havrilla and Gretchen Schultz

Christine Havrilla on guitar (Photo credit: Gary Regulski)
Christine Havrilla on guitar (Photo credit: Gary Regulski)

Singers/songwriters/musicians Christine Havrilla and Gretchen Schultz have been busier than ever this week, with an intimate house concert in Wilmington, Delaware, an upcoming show at the Tin Angel, and the release of their new CDs (Havrilla’s The Sunset Sessions, Volume 2, recorded live with her band Gypsy Fuzz; and Schultz’s debut disc Not Afraid to Fall). All combine a selection of new songs with old favorites, and each is filled with heartfelt emotion, personal experiences and perspectives, and their ever-masterful folk-rock vocals and instrumentation.

Gretchen Schultz on percussion (Photo credit: Gary Regulski)
Gretchen Schultz on percussion (Photo credit: Gary Regulski)

The private Wilmington event featured the indie artists’ flawless harmonies (the women met in 2005, when Schultz sent Havrilla a demo and was immediately invited to play with her) and self-accompaniment on guitar, mandolin, percussion, and a portable wall of sound, with live feeds and loops. The two 45-minute sets contained unique versions of their own original songs (including Havrilla’s Take Another Look, Sing, and Every Now & Then, and Schultz’s Spirit Down and Lust) and covers of iconic rock hits (Neil Young’s Heart of Gold), along with examples of Schultz’s affable sense of humor (“Two peanuts walk into a bar; one was a salted!”), as they joked with each other and the audience. Havrilla began offering the house concerts for her fans as a “great opportunity to interact with people.” They also provide “the informality and freedom to experiment with old songs and to work out new ones [like Said It Once, performed in Wilmington] that have not yet been recorded–but will be!” Schultz, too, loves the “randomness, fun, and feeling of camaraderie in such a personal setting.”

On Saturday, Havrilla and Schultz return to the Philadelphia stage with Christine Moll (a friend of Havrilla’s since high school) and Grammy Award-winner Susan Gibson (whose Wide Open Spaces was covered by the Dixie Chicks) for a one-night show of SONGWRITERS IN THE ROUND at the Tin Angel, where you can catch the four multi-talented women sharing their harmonies and stories. [Tin Angel, 20 S. 2nd St., 2nd floor] October 4, 2014; https://tin-angel.seatengine.com/venues/tin-angel/events/4790/shows.

 

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