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Chris Smither's Bio:

The accomplished Smither+ after 30-odd years of performing and recording+ has carved out a distinctive musicality and a close relationship with his audience. This live record makes letter-perfect use of both attributes. A far cry from 1999"s excellent but instrumentally diverse <I>Drive You Home Again</I>+ this is a spare+ intimate recording featuring just guitar and voice. But what a guitar+ and oh+ what a voice. Gravelly+ light+ and tuneful+ with a plaintive nasal pinch that bleeds wisdom and salvation+ he rhymes his storylike lyrics around effortless guitar twangs and a simple tap meter+ entertaining very lucky and appreciative live audiences with guile and an astute sense of observation. Songs like "Cave Man+" from 1997"s <I>Small Revelations</I>+ find an easy soulfulness in their unadorned settings+ and show off just how skilled Smither"s songwriting has become. Other tunes leave an endearing impression of hopeful whimsy+ as tracks like "Winsome Smile" trace a lover"s almost pathological grip on his precious melancholy. Smither"s deserved popularity has landed him in larger and larger venues for the last several years+ but this disc reveals the musician"s heart is still grounded in those intimate coffeehouses+ bars+ and sidewalk cafés+ where acoustic songcraft has always flourished. <I>--Matthew Cooke</I>
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Chris Smither's Albums
The Great Tomato Singer Songwriter Collection
Avalon Blues - A Tribute to the Music of Mississippi John Hurt
Honeysuckle Dog

Chris Smither Album Editorial:
Whether you call this previously unreleased collection Chris Smithers lost album or just an artifact of the early-70s singer-songwriter scare the pleasures it offers are evident if not always essential. Some of the songs would be rerecorded in tighter versions for 1984s IIt Aint Easy (although Lowell Georges slide work on Rosalie and It Aint Easy is brilliant) while others are reprised and improved versions of songs from Smithers first two records (IIm a Stranger Too and IDont It Drag On); the wistful original Braden River has never been heard before or since. The jazz-folk settings on half the cuts echo early Tim Hardin or Tim Buckley but Smithers signature delicately ornamented guitar work is in full-bloom--no other singer-songwriter at the time could begin to transform Bessie Smiths Jailhouse Blues the way he does. Die-hard fans will likely find this set a modest revelation. Roy Kasten
Train Home

Chris Smither Album Editorial:
New Orleans-bred folk-bluesman Smither has few peers. As a musician hes expanded the six-strings-and-foot-stomps delivery of John Lee Hooker into an elegant original style that draws as much on the sweet jazz melodies of gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt as the spidery swing of country bluesman John Hurt. And his writing has a poets eye for detail as when hes pondering mortality on the discs title track. Theres also a gentle sincere quality that comes through the dusty tones of his voice until he drops it to a mean-eyed growl to capture the soul of characters like his Crocodile Man--loners condemned to live in the dark neglected corners of their own hearts. But for much of this album Smithers coming from a happier place where love and life are full of possibilities and his blues are just another way of expressing joy and wisdom. Ted Drozdowski
Don&quot;t It Drag On
I&quot;m a Stranger Too
Live As I&quot;ll Ever Be

Chris Smither Album Editorial:
The accomplished Smither after 30-odd years of performing and recording has carved out a distinctive musicality and a close relationship with his audience. This live record makes letter-perfect use of both attributes. A far cry from 1999s excellent but instrumentally diverse IDrive You Home Again this is a spare intimate recording featuring just guitar and voice. But what a guitar and oh what a voice. Gravelly light and tuneful with a plaintive nasal pinch that bleeds wisdom and salvation he rhymes his storylike lyrics around effortless guitar twangs and a simple tap meter entertaining very lucky and appreciative live audiences with guile and an astute sense of observation. Songs like Cave Man from 1997s ISmall Revelations find an easy soulfulness in their unadorned settings and show off just how skilled Smithers songwriting has become. Other tunes leave an endearing impression of hopeful whimsy as tracks like Winsome Smile trace a lovers almost pathological grip on his precious melancholy. Smithers deserved popularity has landed him in larger and larger venues for the last several years but this disc reveals the musicians heart is still grounded in those intimate coffeehouses bars and sidewalk cafés where acoustic songcraft has always flourished. Matthew Cooke
Drive You Home Again

Chris Smither Album Editorial:
Bonnie Raitt may call Chris Smither my Eric Clapton but Smithers importance has less to do with instrumental prowess than with fusing sonic textures and with finely crafted lyrics. Smithers best songs aspire to poetic insights via the blues evoking troubled complicated moods through the incessant slinky groove of his guitar. Working again with session player and producer Stephen Bruton Smither weds lilting acoustic blues arrangements with more ambitious spacious sounds--including diverse percussive rhythms piano organ and blues harp. The sonics are at times reminscent of Daniel Lanoiss work with Bob Dylan. Smithers most memorable original work isnt found on this his ninth album though it may be his best collection. The only misstep is the zydeco jaunt Tell Me Why You Love Me which sounds out of place amid all the eerie meditations. In Smithers vision folk music like life plays out in very complicated measures / And they cant be simplified / If we just keep this together / All the rest is justified. And he shows the same intensity in his choice of covers especially Tim Hardins gorgeous Dont Make Promises here found in its definitive version. Roy Kasten
Another Way to Find You
I&quot;m a Stranger Too!/Don&quot;t It Drag On
Small Revelations
Up on the Lowdown
It Ain&quot;t Easy
Happier Blue

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