Poet/professor/historian Norbert Krapf and celebrated local pianist Monika Herzig are separately remarkable talents; together, they weave a love letter to Indiana, with Krapf delivering smooth, laid-back readings over Herzig's compositions.

Spoken word performances are nothing new, but Herzig's virtuoso skills and Krapf's keen eye for the local create a distinctive, unmistakably Hoosier flavor.

"There's music and there's words, and how much more powerful can they be together?" Herzig told NUVO in September.

The duo has performed together numerous times before, as part of a collaboration currently being recorded as Imagine: Indiana in Music and Words, including a previous show at Boulevard Place Cafe'. They return this weekend to the cafe', which has established a reputation as one of the city's go-to spaces for singer/songwriters. Certainly with its relaxed, intimate atmosphere, it's the ideal venue for this sort of performance.

The Indiana they explore in music and words is a combination of seen and unseen, landscapes and nature and, perhaps most importantly, what's missed in everyday life. After a few hours with them, you won't quite look at the state the same way again.
 

Photo and article © 2007 Paul F. P. Pogue, all rights reserved; thanks for permission to include here.

Photo caption: Norbert Krapf and Monika Herzig at Indy Hostel.