By the early '90s, Chris Smither was on a full-time schedule of making his music happen. One could make the argument that most successful couples do exactly that, each of their shadows kicking them from behind even though the other partners see the shadows always looming, plain as day. Stop to worry – I get left behind. So if we are to follow the general human trajectory of such things and believe these lyrics he wrote in the aftermath, we can surmise that Young pretty much saved Smither's creative life, if not his very existence.
Chris Smither Leave The Light On Chords
When asked about his career-long predilection for mixing in outside songs with his own material, Smither says, "This may sound a little self-important, maybe, but I like to hold these things up and say, 'These are the people I consider my peers, and my stuff stands up to this. No moral to this story, we run for peace of mind. Smither, on the other hand, actually had Carol, in the flesh, right there in his house. Truth to tell it can hurt like hell, But it keeps me clean. In addition to his thorough blanketing of the US and UK, he toured New Zealand and Japan, returned to the venerable Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans, and joined John Prine and Joan Baez on tour. Has taken the blues in a direction entirely his own: stoic existential ruminations sung in a pained, weathered moan and set to quietly virtuosic guitar. Don't wait up, leave the light on, I′ll be home soon. Grand voice, stomping foot, blues-drenched guitar, and abiding interest in the problem of evil. You'd wonder if it would work right throughout his set, but, yes, it does, putting both Chris and the audience into a kind of trance as each song progresses. Perfectly playing to his strengths, each version is an exquisite example of Chris Smither's contradictory mastery; the calm, almost happy acceptance of one's own mortality and the vicissitudes of life. I been left for dead before - but I still fight on - Don't wait up - Leave the light on. Chris Smither belongs to the latter group.
But Smither is not much for conventional religion, and in this expression of ardor and humility, it's more like he's channeling Dante and the latter's beloved, idealized Beatrice. Blindness starts us off, not of the visual kind, but a blindness of spirit, will, and self-direction. 31 to go, but I ain't keepin' score. Sympathique folkeux-bluesy porté sur l'acoustique et les ambiances laid-back, Chris Smither est à ranger dans la catégorie des songwriters avachis tels qu'on en rencontre des quantités, passé minuit, dans les bars à bière d'Austin, Texas, depuis que ce cossard de Jerry Jeff Walker, chef de file reconnu du mouvement (et influence manifeste du paisible Chris) a choisi de s'installer dans la région. So when you get sufficiently tired of it, you either descend into utter obliteration or you get out, and so I got out. Always wanted to have all your favorite songs in one place? He was supported by the one-man band Matt Lorenz, who unpacked his percussion kit from an old suitcase, which then became his bass drum. He told us he inhabited the music of Mississippi John Hurt, Lightnin' Hopkins, Blind Willie McTell and the other country blues guys when he first started out playing – he says he wanted to be those guys. Every child, every athlete, every spiritual person, every lover, comes to learn that—or else. Thankfully Mr. Smither invited him back later to accompany him with some tasteful slide guitar in a couple of songs later on.
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He explained how he does it – I'm none the wiser – but it was mighty impressive. I once was fast, in the distant past. Streaming and Download help. While the world was out chasing glamour and flash in the second half of the twentieth century, Chris Smither settled into his groove, mining a vein of American music he has made purely his own. The difference, though, is that most reports indicate Dante met Beatrice but two times in their lives, only briefly and in passing, whereupon Dante built an edifice of the imagination and heart to fancy her as his own gateway to the divine. Lowell George and Dr. John helping out, United.
But the race we're running now is never-ending - since s***e and time are bending. "I can't not do it, " he once told an interviewer regarding his footwork, which involves both feet, heel and toe, tapping out the often syncopated rhythms that are but one of the qualities that give his music its distinct, "Oh, that must be Chris Smither" feel. Carol is presented as the straightest of shooters in the next verse: Keep it simple, keep it clear. 6 Cold Trail Blues 4:29. His return to steady nationwide touring and regular releases of consistently brilliant albums quickly cemented Smither's reputation as one of the finest acoustic musicians in the country. Why did I get well when so many other people don't?
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Howard showed me two chords, but when I learned a third I knew you could pretty. Chris Smither is truly an American original. Smither was in his '40s when he faced this existential choice, got off the dime of indolence, and took the plunge. Leave the Light On Songtext. "Since I started recording again around 20 years ago [22, actually], I've been writing about the same sorts of things; it's just about my own growing perception of it, and how clear can I make it? " What is the tempo of Chris Smither - Leave the Light On? 18/ Thanks To You 19/ Caveman.
Smither's next record would not be made until. And among what they and all of us got in return was this achingly deep song of confession, desperation, devotion, appreciation, wisdom, and in a way we will touch on below, transcendent, divine love. King, Bonnie Raitt, Nanci Griffith, and the hugely successful "Monsters of Folk" tour with Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Dave Alvin, and Tom Russell. Blues In the Bottle. Help Me Now / Ouside Looking In / Duncan & Brady / Magnolia. On hand is young neo-gospel group Ollabelle, who bring a complementary loveliness to Smither's "Seems So Real" and additional resonance to the traditional "John Hardy. " Today, Smither is known to the cognoscenti as a true musician's musician, one whose recordings receive uniform accolades, whose triple-threat prowess is spoken of in hushed tones. Get it for free in the App Store. Find more lyrics at ※. And once one bathes in that world with him, it is hard not to agree. Since space and time are bending and there′s no finish line. The band sets up a slow smoky electric groove, and in an aching duet with Kate Lorenz, Smither sings, in his distinctive, honeyed growl: I may live to be a hundred, I was born in '44. I once was smart, it was back at the start. The four non-originals on Leave the Light On—also including Peter Case's "Cold Trail Blues"—indicate where Chris Smither comes from; the eight new songs he's fashioned show where this deeply soulful artist is now, and what lies ahead.
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You better be on time. Now we hardly rhyme at all - but here's a few. There's just one destination. It's an interesting problem, but I've talked to enough writers to realize I'm far from unique in that respect. And unlike Beatrice, she returned his love. To that little known dimension, a taste of endless time. He's perfected a kind of tone-shifting singing style where he can produce harmonics in a kind of extra accompaniment to his singing of the lyrics.
After teenage years spent woodshedding, then winning a battle of the bands at the Saenger Theatre on Canal Street, Chris headed to Boston at the urging of Eric von Schmidt. The effect is extraordinary; strength compounds strength, and leaves the listener feeling touched by grace, or an almost otherworldly wisdom. Now it′s hard to dance, but if you stick with me. I wouldn't realize what it is to be a human—not really. 2 Leave the Light On 3:48. I love the lines about her not wanting to hear about metaphors and disguises. "New tunes not only have a freshness of their own, but they also freshen up all the old material as well—they cast a new light on it, " he points out. "It's an interesting process, " he confirms. Make no mistake about it, he's a terrific guitarist, with that rock steady, alternating thumb thing he has going and his clever licks on the top strings, but, like all great guitarists, he has an unmistakable style. What is immediately recognizable to anyone who has encountered Smither on record or in live performance during the course of the last four decades are his been-there, done-that voice and the crystalline, wordlessly eloquent sounds of his fingerpicked acoustic guitar. Aside from his effortless, rippling guitar ("one-third John Hurt, one-third Lightnin' Hopkins and one-third me") every bit as distinctive as Richard Thompson's British-folk derived axework, Smither's particular genius has been to reimagine the acoustic blues as a vehicle for rich, philosophically complex lyrics. 16/ Drive You Home Again 17/ Happier Blue. Much rule the world.
And the payoff has been great. 10 Blues in the Bottle 3:29. Don't wait up – Leave the light on. Link Of chain / No Love Today / Rock 'n Roll Doctor / Shake These Blues / Never Needed It More. I might think I did, but it wouldn't be the same. What a way to end a season of sensational concerts. After coming on the radar in 1970 with the well-received debut album I'm a Stranger Too!
In a mighty demonstration of my will, I kissed her twice at the speed of light. If I were young again, I'd pay attention - To that little-known dimension.