An enigmatic singer-songwriter, master guitarist, and a powerful, evocative singer, Richard Shindell veers from the bitterly comic to the profoundly spiritual. An expatriate New Yorker now living in Argentina, and a former seminary student, he began composing during the late 1980s, quickly earning a word-of-mouth cult following as a meticulous craftsman of song. After several solo albums, he teamed with Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky in the group Cry Cry Cry. The trio toured for two years and released a widely acclaimed self-titled album. Returning to his solo career, last year he released Somewhere Near Paterson (Signature), a powerful, dark, yet ultimately irresistible experience that secures his place as a master among songwriters. Last month he released his fifth album, Courier, a collection of live performances. that capture his singular intensity and inventive spirit. Singer-songwriter Amy Rigby