A FREE In-Store Concert by Texas country-jazz-blues duo ALBERT & GAGE

Saturday , November 19, 2005
12:00 pm
Location: Elderly Instruments
in-store performance (free)

Christine Albert and Chris Gage have been raising their voices and melding their multiple instruments (guitars, accordion, piano...) together since 1996. Over the course of four duet albums, they have demonstrated that disparate backgrounds do not preclude musical soulmates from finding one another. Although they have functioned as a duo for just over eight years, both musicians' pedigrees are far more extensive.

Christine Albert's French grandmother lived in Paris and her mother was born in Switzerland, so it may be inevitable that Edith Piaf songs migrate into her sets of original material and carefully-chosen covers. In 1992 she recorded Texafrance, an entire album of lovely Franco-Lone Star fusion, and ten years later released a sequel, Texafrance-Encore!. She cut her musical teeth in New Mexico, in the chic environs of Santa Fe and in the rough-and tumble biker bars along the Turquoise Trail. Christine has released five solo albums and in 1996 was voted Female Vocalist of the Year in the Kerrville Music Awards poll associated with the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival, and she has appeared on Austin City Limits. A community activist, she is also known for her work on behalf of sexual-assault survivors.

Chris Gage is a journeyman musician and South Dakota native who literally began touring in a station wagon at age 15. In the mid 70s and early 80s he led the popular midwestern country-swing Red Willow Band, and then graduated to an eight-year tenure on piano with guitar virtuoso and country star Roy Clark. After moving to Austin in 1991, Chris began commuting to San Antonio to take the reins as musical director for the Fiesta Texas Theme Park. During (and following) his next incarnation, as bandleader for West Texas alt-country singer/songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Chris carved out his own place in the Austin scene as an in-demand session player and accompanist. Albert & Gage was formed when Christine heard Chris play with Gilmore, and the duo subsequently toured as members of Gilmore's ensemble and as his opening act.

Their most recent release, Albert and Gage at Anderson Fair, is a live album recorded at the venerable Houston folk club and mixed and edited at their own MoonHouse Studio.

On Saturday evening following their in-store Elderly performance, Albert & Gage are playing for the Paint Creek Folklore Society with Michigander Matt Watroba at Rochester's Tin Whistle Coffeehouse.

"An engaging and lively mix of folk, country with a kick, and jazz." - Dirty Linen

"Albert and Gage at Anderson Fair snaps and pops with musical energy....a wild and eclectic mix while remaining a cohesive and exciting exploration of the roots of popular, mostly American, music." - Sing Out! Magazine

"From George Jones and Tammy Wynette to Richard and Linda Thompson, male-female duets are one of popular music's most delightful permutations. And...Christine Albert and Chris Gage easily slot right in with the best." - Houston Press

Check out recordings we carry featuring Christine Albert & Chris Gage