Chris Smith
Chris Smith is the author of five books and hundreds of articles in magazines such as Rolling Stone, Men’s Journal, and the Tyee. He now teaches cultural criticism at the University of British Columbia, and is the founder of the Canada Party and author of America, but Better: the Canada Party Manifesto.
19 articles
List of articles in the library
Interview by Chris Smith, Performing Songwriter, March 1998
BRIAN KENNEDY is caught between a pillow and a soft place. On the one hand, he's an emerging solo artist whose debut album in 1990 ...
The Chieftains: Paddy Moloney: The Abundant Life of The Chieftains
Interview by Chris Smith, Performing Songwriter, March 1998
IF YOU'VE EVER visited Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, one of the most memorable legs of the tour (not quite as touching as the meditation garden ...
Paul Brady: The Ever-Changing World of Paul Brady
Interview by Chris Smith, Performing Songwriter, March 1998
A MENTOR ONCE told me there were two rules to writing about other people's lives: First, always remember that as the journalist, you're not the ...
Report by Chris Smith, Performing Songwriter, March 1998
IF YOU HAD said to someone twenty years ago that Ireland was hot, they would have assumed you'd never been, because, truthfully, the place is ...
Peter, Paul & Mary: What Makes A Song Endure
Interview by Chris Smith, Performing Songwriter, May 1998
IT'S APRIL, 2048, the year of the cockroach. The lines curve out the door of Radio City Music Hall, around the block, and down Sixth ...
Interview by Chris Smith, Rock's Backpages audio, June 1998
We start with Smith's second attempt at interviewing Martyn: the Scottish bard on his covers album The Church of the One Bell; on starting out as a musician; on his influences such as Davey Graham and the impressionist composers; on writing 'Solid Air' for (and about) Nick Drake. Following that, we present Smith's first attempt at the interview, in which a soused Martyn slurs about impressionism, drink and religion, and tells incomprehensible jokes.
File format: mp3; file size: 38.2mb, interview length: 39' 49" sound quality: ** (phoner)
Tori Amos: The Loudest Voice in the Chair
Interview by Chris Smith, Performing Songwriter, September 1998
My scream got lost in a paper cup you think there's a heaven where some screams have gone?I've got twenty-five bucks and a cracker do ...
Interview by Chris Smith, Rock's Backpages audio, 8 September 1998
The outlaw-country icon talks about what makes Texas such fertile ground for songwriters and musicians; about his discovery of the Austin scene; his early years as a writer in Nashville, and pitching 'Crazy' to Patsy Cline; the struggle to break through as an artist, and at some length about songwriting.
File format: mp3; file size: 23.9mb, interview length: 24' 51" sound quality: ****
Willie Nelson: The Lone Star Spirit of Willie Nelson
Profile and Interview by Chris Smith, Performing Songwriter, December 1998
THERE WAS, of course, Texas music before Willie. Problem was, nobody outside of Texas heard it. The eclectic styles growing from lone star roots before ...
Woody Guthrie: Nora Guthrie on her father Woody (1999)
Interview by Chris Smith, Rock's Backpages audio, 15 January 1999
Nora Guthrie talks about setting up the Woody Guthrie archive: discovering, preserving and cataloging old paperwork; the involvement of archivist Jorge Arevalo; setting up the travelling exhibit with the Smithsonian; taking it to Woody's home state of Oklahoma; the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame tribute concert, tribute albums by other artists, and putting Woody into a present day context with the help of artists like Billy Bragg.
File format: mp3; file size: 52mb, interview length: 54' 11" sound quality: ***
Chris Smither: Accoustic Blues
Profile and Interview by Chris Smith, Revue, 13 May 1999
DESPITE HIS UNPARALLELED folk-blues guitar work, a voice that seems to channel ancient, Appalachian spirits, and near-legendary status in folk-circles, Chris Smither has never been ...
Townes Van Zandt: A Far Cry From Dead
Review by Chris Smith, Performing Songwriter, 15 July 1999
STEVE EARLE ONCE gushed, "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the world, and I'd stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my boots ...
Spirit of '69 Woodstock Alive At Falcon Ridge
Comment by Chris Smith, Billboard, 14 August 1999
BLAME IT ON the heat. Blame it on poor security. Blame it on the cause/effect relationship between artist persona and audience behavior. Blame it on ...
Interview by Chris Smith, Rock's Backpages audio, 4 September 1999
Ms. Gauthier talks about her road from a tricky childhood, via addiction and alcoholism, to her place as a songwriter: ambition vs. self-destruction; her community of outsiders; the meaning of truth; her move to Boston and running restaurants; doing her first open-mic nights, and all about songwriting.
File format: mp3; file size: 30.9mb, interview length: 32' 11" sound quality: ***
Mary Gauthier: The Darker Side of Dixie
Interview by Chris Smith, Rockrgrl, January 2000
MIDNIGHT HAS LONG since passed, and we're sitting in the dim alley behind the legendary Club Passim in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The fire ...
Interview by Chris Smith, Rock's Backpages audio, 30 August 2002
Sinead talks about "de-Enya-ing" her first album; her new album of traditional Irish songs Sean-Nós Nua; her love of American music; the cultural benefits of ethnic immigration into Ireland; the current state of Irish music; the difference between performing her own songs and covering others'; collaborating with Massive Attack and, possibly, Buju Banton!
File format: mp3; file size: 13.4mb, interview length: 14' sound quality: ** (phoner)
Alan Lomax: A Life Less Ordinary
Obituary by Chris Smith, Performing Songwriter, September 2002
SUMMING UP ALAN LOMAX'S contributions to folk music in a single magazine article is like trying to list everyone you've ever met on a single ...
Janis Joplin: Got Them Battlin' Janis Bio Blues
Report by Chris Smith, Texas Music, Summer 2005
AH JANIS. OK, so you gave us an alternate spelling for 'cosmic,' helped corral all the hippies into San Francisco, proved white people can sing ...
Comment by Chris Smith, Texas Music, Summer 2005
"BITCH TITS." That's the first thing that comes to mind whenever we think of Meat Loaf anymore. ...
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