Camp Street Café Spotlights Albert, Gage Friday

CROCKETT - Locals seeking weekend entertainment can head to the Camp Street Café this Friday, Dec. 2.

Doors will open at 7 p.m. for Austin singers, songwriters and guitar players Christine Albert and Chris Gage.

According to the duo’s website, the pair have been making music together for 12 years and have six duet albums recorded. Their style ranges from folk, rock, country, blues and bluegrass to French music.

South Dakota native Gage began touring at the age of 15 and was part of the Midwestern country-swing Red Willow Band in the mid 70s and early 80s.

“And from there graduated to an eight-year tenure on piano with guitar virtuoso and country star Roy Clark,” the website states.

He moved to Austin in 1991 to become the musical director and Fiesta Texas theme park and soon became the bandleader for country singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore.

Albert, who grew up in New York, got her start in New Mexico and relocated to Austin in 1982.

With a French grandmother and mother born in Switzerland, the influences occasionally drift into her music. A few of her albums bear a ‘Texafrance’ title, in which she fuses the two styles.

She released several other solo albums and made appearances at Austin City Limits during the years before meeting Gage.

“After being a sideman for several years I was ready to start my own band again,” Gage states on their site. “I wasn’t sure exactly how that would manifest, and then I met Christine.  What we brought out in each other was magical.”

Albert met Gage in 1995 after hearing him play with Gilmore. The pair joined forces in 1997.

“Musically, I like to go in lots of different directions”—from country songs to French chansons—“and Chris goes right along with me,” Albert states on their site. “It’s not just that he plays bluegrass or folk or blues, but that he plays it all with so much integrity and soul.”

According to Albert’s website, the have toured across the U.S. and a dozen other countries on their own or opening for shows with Gilmore or Slaid Gleaves. Gage also plays guitar with Jerry Jeff Walker, and the pair were featured on his latest album.

Songs on their own albums in which could possibly be played Friday night include titles such as “Dakota Lullaby,” “If I Die Tomorrow,” “It Should’ve Been Me,” “La Vie en Rose,” and “Up Up Up.” The duo also have a Christmas album with popular Christmas songs such as “Baby It’s Cold Outside and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” mixed with their own penned medleys.

Tickets for Friday night’s performance cost $22, with tax included.