|
 ANNA ANGEL ponders the future with folk/blues veteran CHRIS SMITHER.
After over forty years of hauling his guitar all over the world, this all-American bluesman shows no signs of relenting. “Most people retire at around my age, and I’ve thought about it but it doesn’t really appeal to me, and I haven’t had anyone tell me I have to, yet,” 65-year-old Smither says.
He is taking five weeks away from his family – which now includes a five-year-old daughter – to tour Australia, playing a string of folk festivals and local solo gigs this month. Smither has said he wrote Time Stands Still, released late last year, so he’d have a fresh excuse to perform. “I consider myself a performer first, but if you want to do shows you need to have something new to sing,” he deadpans in a noticeable southern accent that is much too concise to be considered a drawl. These new tunes aren’t a mind-blowing deviation from Smither’s time-tested grizzly folk sound, with his classic man-and-a-guitar approach intact. “They’ll be recognisable shows to everyone who’s seen me before. Many of them won’t have heard the new record, but it’ll pretty much be a Chris Smither show.”
His tour route includes The Port Fairy Folk Festival, National Folk Festival, The Brunswick Music Festival, and a handful of other music events. Smither sees these slots as a way to reach new audiences – although it seems unlikely those on the folk festival circuit would have failed to notice his presence – and a rare chance to catch-up with other musos. “It’s the only time I really get to see my friends, when they play the same overseas festivals,” he laughs. He names Aussie singer-songwriter Jeff Lang, in particular, who is playing two of the same shows.
When Smither says he’s “going to sit back and let it gestate for a while” after his international tour winds down, he’s not finally taking a break, he’s just swapped songs for stories. Writing became an increased focus after being approached for an anthology by well-known songwriters, called Amplified. “I’ve always wanted to write some stories or a novel, but I work best to deadlines and had never before had someone crack the whip.”
Smither sounds somewhat tempted to put his guitar to rest, musing that you don’t have to “get on a plane” to write. “Songs require a lot of concentration … but short stories tend to run off by themselves.” After assuring me that he does still have an ongoing future as a musician, I pose the question you have to ask someone who’s been in the industry for so long. What is that future going to look like, anyway? He starts, in his thoughtful but decisive manner, “I wouldn’t know how to answer that”. But it seems he does, and he has a surprisingly optimistic view of the reshaping of the music industry. “Personally, I’m doing better now than I ever have. Those technological changes – the internet and downloadable tracks – have done nothing but help me. I don’t know what the future brings, but I read an article saying everyone is going to have to go back to live performance. I’ve been doing that for forty years, so I don’t mind.”
CHRIS SMITHER plays The Zoo on Wednesday Mar 17, The Sound Lounge, Thursday Mar 18, and Joe’s Waterhole, Eumundi on Friday Mar 19. More tour dates and information at www.smither.com. Album TIME STANDS STILL is out now through Shock.
|
| Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged. |
|
Be first to comment on this article
