An enigmatic singer/songwriter whose work veers from the bitterly comic to the profoundly spiritual, Richard Shindell initially gained attention with the Fast Folk Musical Magazine series (which previously launched then-unknowns like Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith, as well). A native of Lakehurst, New Jersey, Shindell was a former seminary student whose first musical exposure came while playing guitar in the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band alongside the young John Gorka; he began composing songs during the late 1980s, and quickly earned a word-of-mouth cult following. Signing with the ...