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Chris Smither

Chris Smither
Folk Singer-Songwriter

Born in Miami, during World War II, Chris Smither grew up in New Orleans where he first started playing music as a child. The son of a Tulane University professor,
he was taught the rudiments of instrumentation by his uncle on his mothers ukulele. Uncle Howard, Smither says, showed me that if you knew three chords,
you could play a lot of the songs you heard on the radio. And if you knew four chords, you could pretty much rule the world. With that bit of knowledge under his belt, he was hooked.

In his early twenties, Smither turned his back on his anthropology studies and headed to Boston at the urging of legendary folk singer Eric von Schmidt. It was the mid-60s
and acoustic music thrived in the streets and coffeehouses there. Smither forged lifelong friendships with many musicians, including Bonnie Raitt who went on to record
his songs, Love You Like A Man and I Feel the Same. (Their friendship has endured with Bonnie guest-appearing on Smithers record Train Home.What quickly evolved from
his New Orleans and Cambridge musical experiences is his enduring, singular guitar sound a beat-driven finger-picking, strongly influenced by the playing of Mississippi John Hurt
and Lightnin Hopkins, layered over the ever-present backbeat of his rhythmic, tapping feet (always micd in performance).

A profound songwriter, Chris Smither draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets, and philosophers. Reviewers continue to
praise his dazzling guitar work, gravelly voice and songwriting. Smither is an American original a product of the musical melting pot and one of
the absolute best singer-songwriters in the world.Associated Press.

Chris Smithers struggles make fodder for funny, reflective songs San Francisco Chronicle
With a weary, well-traveled voice and a serenely intricate finger-picking style, Mr. Smither turns the blues into songs that accept hard-won lessons
and try to make peace with fate.NEW YORK TIMES: