Vashon singer and songwriter Kat Eggleston will present an artist she calls one of her favorite musicians in the world, Claudia Schmit, in concert at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, at the Vashon Havurah, at 15401 Westside Hwy SW.

Schmidt has recorded 22 albums in a storied, almost four-decade career as a traveling troubadour, songwriter, recording artist and muse to other musicians.

“To say that Schmidt is simply a performer with a talent to entertain would be a miscarriage of understatement,” said the Door County (Wisconsin) Advocate. “Schmidt takes her audiences into her world as easily as the child who discovers the endless universes that exist in a cardboard box.”

“When Claudia sings a song, it stays sung,” said Garrison Keillor.

But don’t take those critical voices as the last word.

Eggleston also has lots to say about Schmidt — calling herself both a longtime fan and friend of the singer/songwriter.

“Claudia is incapable of phoning it in as a performer,” Eggleston said. “Everything she gives to an audience is completely real. The kind of singing that she does takes a courageous spirit, and commitment every time. I’ve always aspired to that, and Claudia has always been one of the reasons why.”

Eggleston recounted a story from the 1980s when Schmidt reentered her life in an unlikely place.

“I went grocery shopping once and lost every train of thought when I happened to walk under a speaker and could hear the music that was playing throughout the store,” she said. “I remember it clearly because I couldn’t move until the song was over. The song was ‘Hard Love,’ written by Bob Franke, and I knew the voice had to be Claudia. I’d worn out her first record, and then lost track of her until I heard that song in a random grocery store. It was from her (then) recently released third album, ‘Out of the Dark.’

Now, many albums later, Eggleston is bringing Schmidt back to Vashon, a place she has performed before to rapturous audiences.

Eggleston can’t wait.

Find out more about Claudia Schmidt’s music, and take a listen, at claudiaschmidt.com. Tickets to her Vashon concert are $20 at the door. Contact kat@kateggelston.com for reservations and more information.