The San Anselmo singer/songwriter is back December 7 at the Throckmorton Theatre for her ninth annual charity benefit. Audiences love her soulful vocals and the fact that 100 percent of proceeds go to ExtraFood.org.

BY JIM WOOD

What first drew you to ExtraFood Marin, and how long have you been contributing to its efforts?

My best friend, Heidi Krahling, who owns Insalata’s and Marinitas in San Anselmo, introduced me to ExtraFood because of my interest in giving back and my ability to raise money for good causes. I’d been involved with Meals on Wheels San Francisco for a long time, but wanted to do something in my own community. That was five years ago.

Precisely what is it that you do for them? And what do you get out of it?

Nine years ago, I started a benefit concert to celebrate my turning 50 years old in a positive way. Getting food to people in need seemed like a good thing to do. Since then, 100 percent of all proceeds from my music go to assist various organizations in San Francisco and Marin that help the homeless, the LGBTQ community, food banks, anti-bullying organizations and various drug rehabilitation programs. Why do I do it? It makes me happy.

Do you perform in benefits outside of Marin?

Next year, I’ll do a widely publicized concert at Eglise Saint-Eustache, one of only two churches in Paris, France, that welcomed people suffering during the early days of the AIDS epidemic. This amazing church also started a soup kitchen that is still active today. This concert, and my upcoming record St. Mary’s, will be part of my 60th birthday.

What inspires or motivates you to do these concerts?

I grew up in Detroit in a big family and, as the oldest, I always felt a strong sense of responsibility. While raising my sons around a lot of affluence here in Marin, I taught them that economic grace comes with responsibility. We do it in our family business, BMW of San Francisco, and we do it in our family life. I love grand gestures that help people, but all acts of kindness matter. My husband of 40 years, two sons, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, granddaughter and future grandson all remind me every day of how lucky I am. I know that all the gifts I have been given are for a reason, and it is my job to put them back out into the world in whatever way I can.

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THANK YOU so much for making our 8th annual benefit concert the best ever. We SOLD OUT again and helped ExtraFood.org get some much needed food to those in need. Everyone had a good time, enjoyed a respite from the stress of 2016 and helped a worthy cause while listening to some holiday music, all picked from my four Holiday CD’s: Christmas Gifts, Another Christmas Story, To Remember You, and Christmas on Pine Mountain. The profits from these four records will go to Extrafood.org.

Save the date December 7, 2017 for our 9th annual holiday concert at 142 Throckmorton Theatre, Mill Valley CA.

You can tune into Michelle at the Michelle Schmitt Holiday station on Pandora as well. ”’Tis the season”.

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Singer, songwriter and Marin County resident Michelle Schmitt is a believer in giving back. Schmitt’s annual holiday concert on the first Thursday of December is a staple of the season, and with the release of her newest holiday album, Another Christmas Story, she’s expanding her charitable efforts and donating 100 percent of album sales and concert tickets to the Marin-based nonprofit ExtraFood. She performs on December 3 at the Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley.

Schmitt credits her father for introducing her to holiday music. “He was a huge inspiration for me,” she says. “He was kind and patient, and he loved holiday music. We learned every song.”

Born and raised in Detroit, Schmitt also grew up on the rock ’n’ roll of bands like MC5, as well as folk rock like Crosby, Stills & Nash and Joni Mitchell. She has been playing music since she was 12 years old. “I think it just became part of my cellular makeup,” she says.

Schmitt moved to California in 1977 and briefly sang alongside Norton Buffalo and others. She stopped performing to raise two sons. Fast forward 20 years, and Schmitt once again found herself drawn into music in the early 2000s.

“I decided to make a small holiday album as a way to raise funds for St.Vincent’s School for Boys in Marinwood,” she says. The album eventually found its way to music manager Robert Hayes, owner of San Jose’s Sound Management Inc., who offered her a recording contract.

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Season of Giving

Michelle Schmitt on parental influence, the holiday spirit and Detroit rock and roll.

Singer, songwriter and Marin County resident Michelle Schmitt is a believer in giving back. Schmitt’s annual holiday concert on the first Thursday of December is a staple of the season, and with the release of her newest holiday album, Another Christmas Story, she’s expanding her charitable efforts and donating 100 percent of album sales and concert tickets to the Marin-based nonprofit ExtraFood. She performs on December 3 at the Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley.

Schmitt credits her father for introducing her to holiday music. “He was a huge inspiration for me,” she says. “He was kind and patient, and he loved holiday music. We learned every song.”

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ExtraFood Executive Director, Marv Zauderer is thrilled to announce that Bay Area singer-songwriter Michelle Schmitt will bring her 6th annual holiday concert to 142 Throckmorton Theatre, Mill Valley tonight, December 4, 2014 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $25 for General Admission and $100 for VIP tickets and are available online at 142 Throckmorton Theatre, by phone at (415) 383-9600 or at the 142 Throckmorton Box Office. VIP tickets includes Michelle’s new album, TO REMEMBER YOU, a pre-performance VIP food and wine reception courtesy of Insalatas at 6:45 p.m. and priority seating. General Admission tickets also include the new album. All proceeds from tickets sales will benefit ExtraFood and their mission to help end hunger and reduce waste in Marin County.

“The holidays would not be the same without Michelle’s benefit concert. Her longtime support of organizations feeding the hungry, touches the lives of so many and has fed tens of thousands of people over the years. We are all grateful for her support” says ExtraFood board member Heidi Krahling.

Schmitt says, “The holidays are a time to help those less fortunate and I’m thrilled to be returning to 142 Throckmorton to share my music knowing that it is benefiting those in need.”

Michelle Schmitt is a Bay Area singer-songwriter who has been making music since the age of 12. Schmitt, who has lived in the Bay Area since the late-seventies, grew up in Detroit and was exposed to great music and credits artists like Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Carole King, Bonnie Raitt, Natalie Merchant, Tracy Chapman, & Stevie Nicks for her inspiration.

“TO REMEMBER YOU,” her latest and second holiday album, will be released on Thursday, December 4th and features lush orchestral arrangements and interpretations of holiday favorites as well as Michelle’s original holiday songs.

Schmitt’s songs are observations about life’s experiences of the heart. Her music spreads messages of faith, love & hope. Her soulful vocals are accompanied by drumming sensation, Ricky Fataar, gifted guitarists George Marinelli & Drew Zingg and Graham Patzner on keyboards, Marc Levine on bass, Anton Patzner on violin and Lewis Patzner on cello.

Benefit attendees will enjoy the debut of “TO REMEMBER YOU” as well as songs from Schmitt’s “Christmas on Pine Mountain,” which has raised much-needed funds to feed the hungry. All proceeds from the album “TO REMEMBER YOU” benefit ExtraFood in perpetuity. Michelle’s ten CDs, including “TO REMEMBER YOU,” will be available for purchase at the concert, with 100% of the evening’s proceeds going to ExtraFood.

Tickets are $25 for General Admission and $100 for VIP tickets and available online at 142 Throckmorton Theatre, by phone at (415) 383-9600 or at the 142 Throckmorton Box Office. VIP tckets includes Michelle’s new album, “TO REMEMBER YOU,” a pre-performance VIP food and wine reception courtesy of INSALATAS at 6:45 p.m. and priority seating and General Admission also includes the new album.