When it comes to showcasing the wealth of Roots music and the Acoustic Blues traditions, there is no greater proponent than Chris Smither. Over a career that stretches back to the 1960s, when he first heard the Country Blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt, Chris Smither has been a huge influence and at the frontier of change in promoting Folk music and highlighting the timeless heritage from its rural origins. Chris took time to speak with Lonesome Highway about his new album and reflect upon his storied career.
Congratulations on the launch of your new album. ALL ABOUT THE BONES was released in early May and represents your 20th album in a career that spans five decades and counting. How do you keep the fire burning brightly after all this time?
Well, it helps to have a team of people who know how to get me going, my wife Carol, and my producer David Goodrich are the most important actors ... but I really do want to keep it happening ... it's what I do.
You have been on the Signature Sounds label since the release of LEAVE THE LIGHT ON (2006). What is your relationship like with the label and how much artistic freedom do you have in working with them?
We're friends ... I have every freedom, if I make a record they'll put it out.
On the new album, you continue to fine-tune your enduring relationship with producer David (Goody) Goodrich. He also contributes on various instruments and can you tell us about your special synergy together?
There's a mutual trust that has grown for decades now ... there's a mutual stimulus arrangement in which I trust him to understand what I'm trying to do and he trusts me to come up with something he wants to work on.
The new album has a very authentic feel to the ten songs. The interplay among the musicians is very organic and spontaneous. Did you record live off the floor?
Pretty much ... my guitar, vocals and drums are live on all of them, and there are only a few overdubs ... the harmony vocals, sax on the tunes that it appears on, David's guitar part.
The songs deal with a number of topics including the passing of time, personal relationships, the legacy we leave behind when we die and the world we are shaping for future generations. How long did these songs take in the writing and did you have others that are sitting on the substitutes bench for future use?
They took a surprisingly long time to get started, at least the lyrics did ... the musical ideas were in place for a long time before I got any words down, but when they started coming it happened pretty quickly ... about 4 months. There's nothing left, though ... everything I wrote is out there now.
Do you see a theme running through the songs selected?
If there is one it's probably the perspective that old age brings ... of course I've spent my whole life thinking that I was finally getting the answers, only to find that they keep changing.
I wanted to ask about the song In the Bardo. Were you ruminating on the cycle of life, as I believe that the word ‘bardo’ refers to the liminal state between death and rebirth in Buddhist teachings?
I was scribbling words without a real sense of where they were going and I finally stopped and realized that I didn't know where I was, that I was lost, and I jokingly said to myself, "we'll call this Smither In The Bardo," then I took it seriously.
The inclusion of songs by Eliza Gilkyson and Tom Petty are interesting choices. Both Calm Before the Storm and Time To Move On could be taken as personal goals in keeping a measured path when moving into an uncertain future. Almost a focus to live every day in the moment?
I'll buy that, but I don't think it occurred to me until you said it ... I just like the songs ... David suggested the Petty song, and as soon as I transposed it from G to A I knew it would work.
The harmony vocals of BettySoo are really engaging on the new songs, adding greatly to the colour of the album. How did you come to work with her?
BettySoo is a performer in her own right, and has played support for me on many occasions...I heard her sing harmony with a few people, including James McMurtry ... she generates an intimate quality in the vocals, almost like she's crawled into my shirt to sing with me, and it has exactly the effect on the listener that I look for ... a sense that I'm confiding something to the listener.
The addition of Chris Cheek on saxophone is an interesting choice. He brings great character to the songs and adds a very resonant sound in his playing. His jazz background apart, there is a real sense of the blues of Missouri in his playing. He was born in St Louis and did you want him to bring a fresh element to the song arrangements?
Chris is a friend of Goody's (David), and the addition was entirely Goody's idea ... he said " how would you like some truly world class sax on this record?" and I said ‘bring it on.” One of my better moves as it turned out. I agree with you. Not really my doing, but I'm glad I said yes.
Your rich baritone is sounding as potent as ever and when you hit that special groove I find the music almost meditative. I get a similar reaction with artists such as the deeply missed JJ Cale and I wanted to ask whether you find yourself in that special zone where you are playing purely from the subconscious?
Now you flatter me in a most agreeable way, JJ Cale occupies a special place in my pantheon. I once had a conversation with a shrink who attended one of my shows, and he said that in his opinion I dis-associated while I was in the song, and he wondered how I got back to reality so quickly in between numbers ... I'm not sure I completely understood him, but I know that when I'm playing well it feels like another world ... I leave it reluctantly.
Looking back over your impressive career, what are the key touchstones that stand out for you?
I'd have to think about that for a year or two.
You have always found good people to work with and tried to focus on the music. Growing up in New Orleans you must have been influenced by the melting-pot of musical styles there. At what point did you decide to focus on Folk Blues as your real inspiration?
I was seventeen when I heard Lightnin' Hopkins and realized that he was playing rock and roll all by himself ... that's how I heard it ... and I wanted to do that. I've learned to work with other musicians, but in the beginning I was embarrassed that I knew so little about how music worked, I was self-taught, and I didn't want to expose my ignorance by being in a band.
I lose count of the many cover songs that are included on your albums, dating back to the debut, I’M A STRANGER TOO in 1970. What is your process for selecting a song to cover?
Often I'll cover a song that I wish I'd written myself ... when that happens it's sometimes because I think there's something else in the song that I can bring out that wasn't emphasised in the original ... a chance to add something.
Can you remember when you first started to mic your feet in order to provide that tapping rhythm to compliment your fingerstyle guitar technique?
I've always tapped my feet ... I can't NOT tap my feet, and if I can't hear them it messes up my playing ... I realized in about 1985 that if it was important for me to hear it, the audience should probably hear it too.
Was it a challenge to keep everything in time when you are picking those intricate guitar progressions while trying to keep the beat?
Not really, it's just what I do.
You have always been prepared to bring new elements in the recording process, using musicians that can bring variety to the songs. When you play live the dynamic is so different however. Do you have to work hard at reinterpreting the songs for solo performance?
Again, not really, if you could isolate my part on the recording you'd find that it's very close to what I do live, the genius is that of the other musicians who find a way to complement my part without stepping on it.
How did the Covid-pandemic impact upon your creative process?
It stopped me ... I thought initially that it would be a great chance to get a lot done, but I got almost nothing done ... I had to get back out with people, with the world.
Is touring something that still brings you great satisfaction or do the years bring a sense of wanting to slow down the merry-go-round of airports, hotels, venues and continuing the lifestyle of a road warrior?
I still love performing, the travel is more wearing now than it was, but I travel more comfortably now and stay in nicer places ... I still want to do it.
You have been honoured by your peers with the release of a tribute album, LINK OF CHAIN, back in 2014. As a songwriters tribute, how did you feel about the songs chosen and did you accept their acknowledgement of your talents with pride?
I was amazed ... the songs are like my children ... they grow up and go out into the world, and it's amazing to see them come back home to brag about what they've been up to ... I love it. I'm happy for them, and I approve of the friends they've made.
In the past, you have had songs included in both film and television productions. Is this an area that can bring greater reward in the future or do you see these opportunities as more like a one-off?
They're lucky happenings ... I don't see them coming, it's another world out there, I'll welcome them when they come along.
You are also a published author. Do you continue to explore this medium?
I scribble some ... I don't like to talk about it because it raises expectations.
Are you working on other new projects that you can share with us?
Nothing right now, but stranger things have happened.
Hopefully we can see you play in Ireland again in the future. I know that you were a regular visitor in the past and you also played a role in introducing a young Peter Mulvey to Irish audiences when he was starting out?
Mulvey's still one of my very best friends and we still work together, and you will see me in Ireland in 2025, that's pretty certain.
Is it important to you to empower new generations of young musicians that are looking for a foothold in what is a very difficult industry these days?
I do my best to give them support slots and advice if they ask for it ... it's what was done for me, and I try to keep it going.
Interview by Paul McGee Photography by Joanna Chattman