Sitting in the Mexican restaurant above the legendary music club, The Turning Point, in Piermont, NY, Chris Smither sat quietly an hour before his Thursday night show.  It seemed all part of the routine a professional acoustic touring musician (like Mr. Smither) enacts more than 250 nights a year.

Chris Smither live at The Turning Point May 15, 2014

I gave Chris a big hearty hello, offered to buy him a beer (he politely declined) and told him how much we enjoy his music here in Piermont during his twice annual visit.


A disciple of Jorma’s thumb picking guitar style, Chris Smither has a unique talent for carrying a tune solo without gimmicks (see Keller Williams sampling style).  A real entertainer. 


He uses the tapping of his cowboy boots like no other (see the video clip below of “Hold On”) and has a very chunky catalog of cynical and winsome songs that rivals the mighty John Prine and JJ Cale.  He even has a line in his song “Don’t Call Me Stranger” that goes…”I’m not evil, just bad.” 


Pretty cool in my book.

No matter if I knew the song or not, I (as well as the other 150 people in the basement cellar club) was kept engaged and never felt like “most of his songs sound alike”… a hard-to-avoid syndrome for a solo act playing the blues.


Whenever 6 foot plus singers take the small Turning Point stage, they seem to hold so much power.  I remember seeing the bounding Rick Danko tower of me in the audience while he belted out whatever came to mind.  As much as I remember the Danko show with a smile, I really enjoyed Smither’s relentless pace as he powered through song after song.


His long flowing hair and crooked smile help create an image of a true musician.

Cheers to you Chris Smither…keep on, keeping on.