Chris Smither

acoustic blues · blues · contemporary folk

Chris Smither is an American acoustic blues and folk singer-songwriter, born in Miami during World War II and raised in New Orleans, where he started on music as a child after an uncle showed him basic chords on a ukulele. His playing came out of hearing Lightnin' Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt records, and it settled into a beat-driven fingerpicking style paired with rhythmic foot-tapping that he amplifies on stage as part of the arrangement. In the mid-1960s Eric von Schmidt encouraged him to move to Boston, where he became part of that city's folk scene and formed a lasting friendship with Bonnie Raitt, who recorded his songs "Love You Like a Man" and "I Feel the Same" and later guested on his album Train Home. His recording career runs across five decades and several labels: Poppy issued I'm a Stranger, Too! (1971), Don't It Drag On and Honeysuckle Dog; Adelphi released It Ain't Easy in 1985; Flying Fish put out Another Way to Find You and Happier Blue, which won the NAIRD award for best folk recording in 1993; HighTone released Up on the Lowdown, Small Revelations, Drive You Home Again and Train Home through the 1990s and early 2000s; and since 2006 he has recorded for Signature Sounds and his own Mighty Albert imprint, including Leave the Light On, Time Stands Still, Hundred Dollar Valentine, Call Me Lucky and All About the Bones in 2024, which sets his songs against the playing of jazz saxophonist Chris Cheek. Still on the Levee (2014) is a two-disc retrospective recut in New Orleans with guests including Allen Toussaint. David Goodrich has been his longtime producer, and he has worked with Lowell George, Dr. John, Tim O'Brien and Ollabelle.

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