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The folk-blues troubadour
Chris Smither is one of the talented spiritual children of the great prewar pioneers of acoustic country blues like Blind Willie McTell, Lightnin' Hopkins, Fred McDowell, Son House or Mississippi John Hurt on one hand, and of their great folk music counterparts like Doc Watson or Woody Guthrie on the other. Smither, who took part in the late period of the folk-blues revival on the New York and New England scene, made the junction between both genres. At 77, he is now one of the veterans of a long line of folk-blues revivalists like John Hammond Jr., Roy Book Binder, Steve James, Doug MacLeod or Jorma Kaukonen, which was later continued by younger artists like Toby Walker, Richard Ray Farrell, the late Kelly Joe Phelps, Fiona Boyes, Nathan James, Tom Feldman, Mike Munson...
Standing at the folk and blues crossroads, Smither's gifts for beautiful melodies and meaningful lyrics make him a fine poetic songwriter who saw some of his songs covered by renowned artists like his friend Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris or Diana Krall... His funny intro to "No Love Today" proves that besides being an accomplished guitar finger-picker and singer, he is also a good showman. His folk-blues crossover appears as soon as the superb opening "Hold On I" with a thrilling open-tuning guitar sound confirmed by the following magnificent "The Devil's Real" and "Link Of Chain", and to be true, by all the tracks on this live. Smither's warm finger style guitar is enhanced by his use of a foot stomp wooden pad which brings extra groove to each number. But his instruments primarily stay at the service of the lyrics and melodies which is why Smither doesn't propose any instrumental. Note that Smither has a singularity : contrary to most of his contemporary folk-blues guitarists, he doesn't play any slide. The numerous videos I selected on Onurblues clearly confirm this peculiarity.
Smither's sense of melody is illustrated all along the album with ballads like "Cave Man", "Slow Surprise", the magnificent "Small Revelations", "I Am The Ride", and his cover of "Killin' the Blues" (a song written by Chris Isaak's bassist Rolly Salley), the country-folk "Winsome Smile" and "Help Me Now", and the more blues-oriented "Can't Shake These Blues", "Up On The Lowdown" and his very personal version of Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom".This live album exhales a flavor of melancholy that haunts you for a long time after the last track has vanished. Beautiful and superbly performed by a master songwriter guitarist. ■
Biography express
William Christopher Smither was born in 1944 in Miami but spend the most part of his youth in New Orleans. He discovered blues at 17 when he heard the Lightnin' Hopkins 1961 album "Blues in the Bottle". In 1965, back from a studying year in Paris, France, he went to Cambridge, Massachusetts, a high spot of the 1960s' folk-blues revival and started his songwriting and performing career. It was there that he first sung his song "Love You Like a Man" in front of Bonnie Raitt, who later recorded a version of the song.Smither's first album was released in 1970, followed by another one in 1971. His third project (1973) was never issued by United Artists Records who had just dropped him, until Tomato Records released it in 2004. A dark period followed, due to serious drinking problems.
Smither finally won his decade-long fight against alcohol, and released his official third album in 1984. From then on, he didn't stop working on multiple projects (articles, fiction writing, DVD...), recording studio and live albums, touring regularly and receiving several awards. Around, 1996 he started to record some of his concerts for a future second live album, the one presented here.Few artists have had the honor to see their career commemorated while still alive through an all-star tribute record like it was the case for him in 2014 with "Link of Chain : A Songwriters' Tribute to Chris Smither" featuring famous names like Josh Ritter, Bonnie Raitt, Loudon Wainwright III, Dave Alvin, Peter Case, Tim O'Brien or Patty Larkin...
Today 77, Smither is apparently not ready to retire.
Live videos
● Kate Wolf Fest., Laytonville, California, 2022 : ● The Tin Pan, Richmond, Virginia, 2017,
● Greensburg, Pennsylvania, 2014 : ● Ashland, Virginia, 2014 :
● Tuebingen, Germany, 1990 :
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