Craig Cardiff has played in living rooms, basements, prisons and bars. No crowd is too small, no venue too obscure.  What counts, Cardiff says, is making music in the most unexpected places –– because that’s when something special happens.

On Wednesday, Cardiff played the cozy London Music Club. Chatting from his office earlier this week, he recalled his last appearance at the venue. Attendees pushed all the chairs and tables to the back of the room and sat on the floor. It was a typical Cardiff show — surprising and intimate.

“When music happens in places where people don’t expect it to, it’s more interesting and makes it more important,” Cardiff says.

The veteran singer-songwriter, known as much for his unique venue locations as for his lush folk songs and storytelling, has gained numerous memories from his time on the road.

Once, when a house concert planned in Brantford was booked beyond capacity, Cardiff’s show was moved to the local Best Western motel. “It was a Sunday in Brantford, and we had 150 people crammed into this hotel,” he recalls.

Another Cardiff show was a workshop for a camp of youth whom he says ––struggling to find the right word –– had not been given enough love, and made some “bad decisions.

WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS. Craig Cardiff will add Western’s Delaware Hall to his list of unconventional performance venues when the Waterloo native plays in its formal lounge Sunday.

“It turned into a beat box workshop with live sampling of different things that were happening,” Cardiff says of the memorable experience.

In the end, everyone is a potential concert promoter to Cardiff. “You can fit 100 people into your house,” he says.

For the residents of Delaware Hall, that’s the intention.

Cardiff’s appearance on campus this Sunday is rather unconventional: he’s playing the residence’s formal lounge, a venue typically reserved for movie nights and coffeehouses.

Typical musicians wouldn’t say yes to a show like that. But Cardiff is far from typical.

“I’d rather connect with 10,000 people throughout North America in a meaningful way than 10 million in a way that’s fleeting,” he says.

Perhaps this explains Cardiff’s unique take on music distribution. In the past, he has provided CDs of outtakes with album purchases, allowing people to share his music with their friends. Sometimes concertgoers are encouraged to bring USB sticks to his shows to download tunes.

“You need to be innovative,” Cardiff explains. “I meet so many artists who are afraid to give their music away.”

Cardiff, however, is anything but afraid. Working on his next album, Floods and Fires, Cardiff says the only way to finish is to give the songs to people in a live setting. So it’s no surprise he’s making the most out of his trip to London.

“I want to teach people to make music important, make art important, have it happen everywhere,” he says. “As a species, music and art is one of the non-crummy things we do for each other.”

Cardiff plays on Sunday at Delaware Hall for students at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 at the door. Students living in residents can bring off-campus guests.