DJ Interviews: Bruce Smith

Hi there everyone its DJ Dizzy here & I had the pleasure of interviewing a singer & leader of his own band his name is Bruce Smith & he had so much to say on his musical career.

1.  My Mother is a very good musician and I got started playing the piano, for a short time, when I was very young and then the trombone in elementary school and junior high.  I messed around with the guitar a very little bit in high school and college, but didn't get real serious about it until I graduated.   Two of my very best friends and I would get together and play and we eventually formed a band together and I haven't turned back since.

2.  Many, many influences!! Of course The Beatles, Elvis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Rolling Stones, John Fogerty, Motown etc.  But my two major influences are Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.  I also love John Hiatt, Elvis Costello, Los Lobos and Graham Parker, to name just a few.

3.  Robert Duval played a country singer in Tender Mercies named Mac Sledge.  An aspiring band asked Mac for advice and he said, "Sing it the way you feel it."  If you're able to play it and sing it the way you feel it, that is it's own reward.  Akin to that, I would add, the feel and the groove is more important to me, than playing it note or pitch perfect.  If you're having a good time and diggin' what you're doing, the more likely other folks will feel the same way.  You just gotta Rock On!

4.  I like to think that we are a very good band that makes good records with good songs, but our preference is to play live.  It is a very organic and homespun feel we have been able to cultivate for a long while.  Spencer Jarmon (guitar), Randy Caballero (keyboards and Grammy winning producer) and I have been playing together for 16 years.  We have added Spencer's son, Zeke (bass) and my nephew, Conner Church (drums) in the last four years.  We love playing together and we love playing in front of people, thriving on the synergy between each other and the audience.   To have a complete stranger come up to you and thank you for your music is something you csn't put a price tag on.  I also think we do well in a variety of genres and I don't think we can (nor want) to be easily pigeonholed. 

5.  I have 3 new singles out.  Pots and Pans (Cacophony Symphony) and Angels, both odes to our amazing health care and hospital workers doing such a herculean job of taking care of all of us.   I Can't Breathe is an historic retrospective of events that have led up to the ever present and current crisis we are faced with now.  

Hoping '59 Stratocaster, a song I wrote for the movie Clear Lake, will make the cut.

We also hope to begin recording a new album soon with a projected early 2021 release date.  

Due to our current health situation, I have been playing a Facebook Livestream every Wednesday from my back porch.  We are very anxious and eager  to return to our rigorous playing schedule as soon as we can!