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Neighbor News
By Kathy Sands-Boehmer, Patch Contributor
The welcomes renowned singer-songwriter Chris Smither to its stage on February 21 at 8:00 pm. Smither has been called an “American original” by the Associated Press because he is “a product of the musical melting pot and one of the absolute best singer-songwriters in the world.” The me&thee is located at the UU Church of Marblehead on 28 Mugford Street, Marblehead.
The career of songwriter, guitarist, performer, and bluesman Chris Smither spans five decades. He is a gifted writer, powerful guitarist and intense performer who draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poetry and humanist philosophy. One of his biggest hits, “Love Me Like A Man,” was made famous by Bonnie Raitt in 1970 and then got a new interpretation in 2005 when jazz singer Diana Krall recorded it. Smither’s latest record, Call Me Lucky (2018), features drummer Billy Conway (Morphine) and multi-instrumentalist Matt Lorenz (aka The Suitcase Junket), who played at the me&thee a few years ago.
Chris Smither grew up in New Orleans and started playing music as a child. He got hooked on the blues early and headed to Boston in the mid-60s where acoustic music was thriving in coffeehouses and house concerts, where he met legendary blues musicians and made friends with people like Bonnie Raitt, Dr. John and Lowell George. Fast forward to the 1990s and Smither’s album Small Revelations was climbing radio charts, leading to concert dates with B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Nanci Griffith and the hugely successful, original Monsters of Folk tour with Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Dave Alvin and Tom Russell. Over the span of his career, he has released eighteen records and performed all over the world.
Among his best-loved tunes are “I Feel The Same,” “Slow Surprise,” “Leave the Light On, “Blame on Me,” and “Killin’ the Blues.” You can also expect to hear heartfelt interpretations of Delta blues and a beat-driven, finger-picking guitar style strongly influenced by the playing of Mississippi John Hurt and Lightnin Hopkins, layered over by the ever-present backbeat of his rhythmic, tapping feet (always mic’d in performance). NPR says of Smither: “His finger-picked guitar lines are sleek, unhurried and insistent. And then there’s the voice — equal parts gravel and molasses.”
Tickets available at The Digital Docs at 157 Elm Street or Arnould Gallery at 111 Washington Street in Marblehead or ONLINE at www.meandthee.org
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