Admission is free! Doors open at 7 p.m., show begins at 7:30 p.m.
Darden Smith
Over the course of his remarkable three-and-a-half decade career, Darden Smith has released 17 studio albums, landed singles on both the country and pop charts (including the Top 10 hit “Loving Arms”), composed a symphony, scored works for dance-theatre, produced a documentary for BBC Radio, published a widely celebrated book on creativity, exhibited works of visual art, and co-founded the non-profit SongwritingWith:Soldiers program, which pairs veterans with musicians in order to tap into the transformational possibilities of collaborative songwriting.
His latest project, Western Skies, is a multi-media project comprising of a new studio album; a book of photography, lyrics, and essays; an accompanying spoken word album of readings set to music; drawings, lithographs and works on paper; video and theatre. The Daily News hailed Smith as “one of the most respected American musicians working today,” while the Austin Chronicle dubbed him a “master song craftsman,” and AllMusic called him “a singer-songwriter blessed with an uncommon degree of intelligence, depth, and compassion.” In 2023 Smith was named the inaugural Songwriter-in-Residence at the University of Texas at Austin.
Zach Dennis
Zach Dennis is an aspiring singer-songwriter and graduate student from Grapevine, Texas. He has always had a love for music, poetry and Texas, so it was only natural for him to develop a love for the Cactus Cafe. He has been honing his skills at the Cactus since his sophomore year, and he plans to graduate at the end of next spring with his master’s degree in accounting.
Coming into his final year of college, he founded Longhorn Songwriters as a student-side initiative towards live music on and off campus. The organization aims to provide community, insight and opportunities for singer-songwriters at the University of Texas at Austin through songwriting circles, gigs, open mics, workshops and more.
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