9-10-2016
Great music sounds easy. And great musicians make it so. The bluesmen on the Delta and the Appalachian mountaineers made timeless art with just voice, guitar and a stomping foot. And that is the root of the art of Chris Smither. Over the last decade Smither has released one gem of an album after another. His music draws as deeply from the blues as it does from American folk music, modern poets and humanist philosophers. Guitar-heads are drawn to his Lightnin' Hopkins/John Hurt derived fretwork; spiritual seekers nod in recognition at the hard-won knowledge and deep, wise songs, casually tossed off in taut lyrics. And just plain music fans who have come to him on their own - or have learned of his music from the multitude of artists covering his songs - return again and again.
"Still On the Levee," released in 2014 is Smither's career-spanning retrospective double CD. Recorded in New Orleans with studio-mates, The Motivators, the record plays host to special guests including Allen Toussaint and Loudon Wainwright III. The record highlights the vast catalog of an American music master. His music continues to draw deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets and humanist philosophers. 'Link Of Chain', a tribute album of Chris Smither originals with stellar versions by Dave Alvin, Tim O'Brien, Bonnie Raitt, Josh Ritter, Loudon Wainwright III, Jorma Kaukonen, Eilen Jewell and others also released in 2014.
Chris Smither's music never shouts; it whispers. This is deeply passionate American music that can be easy to underestimate. But when you stop to listen you know that in a world dominated by cartoonish depictions of good and evil, where rebellion is a marketing concept and the natural world is merely a means to sell mass-produced consumables, to make music such as this is an act of supreme defiance and serene confidence.
Watch a video of Chris HERE
at Bull Run Restaurant
215 Great Road Route 2A
Shirley, United States
Orignal From: CHRIS SMITHER
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