There may be twelve years between the release of Mindy Smith’s self-titled album and her new album QUIET TOWN, but the Long Island-reared singer-songwriter, currently living in Nashville, has packed a lot into those last dozen years. She wrote and co-wrote a number of songs for the television series Nashville, helped raise funds for the non-profit organisation Captain Planet Foundation and recorded songs for the animal rescue benefit compilation album SONGS FOR SHELTER ME. Her most significant experience was in 2014 when she connected with her biological family in Southwest Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains and learned of their musical leanings. Much of the material on QUIET TOWN was written after discovering her birth family. After releasing her song Little Wings in 2023, she decided to forge ahead and record the eleven songs on the album. Mindy recently spoke frankly and passionately with Lonesome Highway about the songs on the record and her team of close friends, which helped bring to life one of our favourite recordings of 2024.
You grew up in a religious household on Long Island, New York State. Did you embrace that or rebel against it?
I didn't rebel against it. It wasn't an iron fist situation in our household, even though my dad is a Minister. My parents wanted us to believe, but it wasn't 'you must do things this way.' They encouraged us to try and figure out how to cope with life ourselves and make good decisions. It was just something they instilled in us, and they hoped we would take what we needed from it. Ministry to my parents was exactly that. So, I didn't have a lot to rebel against. I don't go to church now; music actually makes me feel closer to honing in on that side of things. I'm also too easily distracted, focusing on lots of other things.
Was there a country music scene in New York when you were young?
No, it's so different now. Country music is a big deal in New York now, but when I was growing up, I recalled that there weren't any country music radio stations; if there were, they were A.M. stations, which I spent little time tracking down. I did listen to John Denver, and Kenny Rogers was someone that my mom and dad played, and I loved him. The artists that crossed over from country to mainstream, like Dolly Parton, were popular in New York but less with traditional country music, though I occasionally listened to Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson.
What was your 'go-to' music back then?
As a kid, I didn't have disposable cash; it wasn't like now when you have Apps that your parents can dump some money into. So, when I ventured out into my own music world, and in the era of cassette tapes, I had to wait for my favourite songs to come on the radio and then press record on my cassette player and build my own catalogue of mixed tapes that way. I loved The Police, Sting, Prince, and Cyndi Lauper. Then I crept my way into discovering the gateway into alternative music by listening to Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Sundays, and U2, music that was a little darker and sonically drew me into those progressive bands. Every step in my musical journey would take me to the next step.
When did those steps lead you to country music?
When I moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, I discovered John Prine, Nanci Griffith, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, and Gillian Welch. All those steps created the monster that I am.
Was that move to Knoxville to pursue a music career?
I always wanted to do music, but as a child, I was not encouraged by my music teachers at that time and almost gave up on the idea. My mother, who had studied music, was a choir director, and another gentleman was very encouraging, but other than that, no one else. When I found myself in Knoxville, I had a neighbour who was into going to open mics and took me along. My eyes were opened, and I started singing again, mostly a capella. Eventually, I wrote a song in the middle of the night, and then I picked up the guitar. From there, I just went out and threw it out to see what would stick.
Discovering your biological family in Appalachia and their musical backgrounds must have given you a rationale for being drawn to country music.
Yes, that's what is interesting. I've always loved traditional Irish music, which is a huge part of the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains style of music; it is so much a part of all the other styles of music that grew up in that area. I found myself being drawn to their music and bluegrass, Americana and folk music. I then found out that I'm a 'Long Island Hillbilly.' I say that with love and the utmost pride because there are many beautiful things about the Appalachian people, their history and their music. I was really excited to find that all my biological family were musical.
At what point did you decide to seek out your biological family?
I knew I was adopted from a very young age, and as I got older, I got to know the story about my biological mother. I heard what I needed to hear to allow me to process it; that was my journey, anyway. I had a song that I did with a little-known artist, Dolly Parton, called Jolene. Dolly graciously agreed to participate in the video for that song which was for an album that Bob Ferguson produced celebrating Dolly's songs called JUST BECAUSE I'M A WOMAN. That video was played on CMT and some of the other bigger stations that played videos back then. That is when my biological mother pointed out to my biological sister that it was her sister in that video. I was contacted through My Space by her back in 2006, and I would talk to my sister and mother, but it took me a while, until 2014, to have the courage to go there and actually meet them. It does take time and courage because I'm very thankful to my adoptive family, my mother, father and siblings, and I just had to be ready to make that move. My adoptive Dad was amazing and offered to go with me; my adoptive mother had passed away when I was nineteen, so she couldn't join in. I'm sure she would have loved to.
Your new album, QUIET TOWN, is such a great listen. Before we discuss the songs, tell me about the connection with Neilson Hubbard, who produced the record.
I've known Neilson for years. I did a couple of songs on a project for public television called SHELTER ME, which is an animal activist programme and a beautiful concept. One of them I did with my good friend Matthew Perryman Jones and was a duet called Who Saved Who. We pitched it to Neilson to produce, which he did, and a couple of years ago, I ran into his wife, Audrey Spillman, who is also an amazing songwriter and vocalist, and we both spoke about me working with Neilson again. He is a tremendous person; my understanding of his philosophy is to allow artists to be who they are musically.
Great players, including Megan McCormick, Will Kimbrough and Lex Price, joined you in the studio. Were they your selections, or did Neilson bring them on board?
We talked about who we wanted to play on the album, and Neilson brought them in to participate; it was a team effort in terms of building the band. I had worked with many of these people previously; they are all artists in their own right, and I trusted them to bring their own brushes and paint to our painting party in the studio. I adore Megan McCormick and love her presence, music, and spirit. I also love Will Kimbrough; he has played on my records before, and Lex Price, who I've worked with for many years. He has done so many wonderful albums and is one of Nashville's 'first call' bass players.
Was your single Little Wings from last year the springboard for writing and recording the album?
Yes, it was. The cool thing about that song was that it told me, as an artist and writer, that I had to make a record. I was getting further and further into this not-so-happy cocoon, and I had to figure out a way to get out of it. That song was the scissors that cut me free.
Yet, you did not include that song on the album.
The way that fell apart was weird. We had twelve songs done for the album, including that song. When it came to the process of putting the songs in synch and getting them to flow together, I kept moving that song around. The record is a journey, and I couldn't find a place for it, so I rang Neilson and asked him how he felt about not putting Little Wings on the record; as producer, I wanted to know how he felt about leaving it out. We agreed to leave it on the back burner, and we may find a place in the world for it someday.
You include a number of co-writes on the albums, although the stories are most definitely your own.
When you get to sit in a room with some of the writers that I've been fortunate to spend time with and be creative with, I do try to indulge in giving in to their strengths, but it's not always hunky dory. You can have a great friendship with someone but not be a good co-writing team or relationship. I got really fortunate with my co-writers on this album. Some of the songs were written shortly after I met my biological family and were based on how I was feeling and the sounds that were coming out of me. Some of the songs were cold starts where you have an agenda and have a conversation before the writing, like the song Jericho, written with the iconic artist and songwriter Matraca Berg.
I love that song, Jericho; it is so full musically and has a classic Bobby Gentry feel.
It was fun to track that song. It could have gone further and wilder, but we had to pull the reins in. We had Danny Mitchell in the studio, a tremendous keyboard player who plays in Miranda Lambert's band. He also plays flugelhorn and played beautiful, heart-wrenching, and intense horn notes over that song. It was as intense as it was supposed to be.
Quiet Town became the record title and opening track.
Neilson, Heather Moody, who is also part of this project, and I had a conversation about how that song encompassed what we were doing; walking through life or walking through a changing town. We had the album mastered with the sequencing that I had done, but something was not working. I sat with it for months before calling Neilson and agreeing to change it. Quiet Town, as well as the album title track, became the first song on the record.
The hymn-like Hour Of My Departure, written with Daniel Tashian, who also contributes his vocals, sounds like it has been around forever.
I love writing with Daniel. He is one of a number of artists with whom we get really self-indulgent when we are in a room writing. We wrote that song several years ago, and I always felt drawn to it. At that time, Daniel was a relatively new dad, and his daughters were young, and he was writing from a father's perspective. For me, it became about the interaction that I had as a child with my parents.
Is the song Peace Eludes Me a statement of your past or present frame of mind?
It's always present. I'm always trying to figure out how to have some sense of calm with the things I personally deal with on a daily basis and the struggles that everybody has. There is always a constant push forward to find peace, and I tend to gravitate towards people who have a peaceful outlook on life. The problem is that if I ever figure this all out, I don't know what I'd write about.
The industry is presently different from when you released your self-titled album twelve years ago.
The new approach is so different even in the twelve years since my first independent record. Even with STUPID LOVE, my last album with Vanguard in 2009, it had started to change. Keeping up with the pace of how much music comes out and how rapid and fleeting it is, is difficult, and attention spans, including my own, are so short.
Country music has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, and female artists are leading the charge.
Absolutely. I have some really close friends in the country music scene who have been at it for a long time and are now getting their dues. There was a long time when we ladies were going, 'Hello, we're still here, writing songs with these people.' It is cool, and I hope it continues to swing a little more, embrace more women, and be more inclusive of people's lifestyles, African American people, and the gay community.
Interview by Declan Culliton