Alex Smith grew up in Long Lake, in the heart of New York’s Adirondack Park, and his music strives first and foremost to echo the people of that area. He builds songs from a blend of traditional folk harmony and strikingly modern lyrics, confronting today’s most pressing issues with grace while paying homage to the masters who came before him.
Smith’s mother is a historian and his father is a writer and boat builder. Their influence is evident in his attention to detail: each of Smith’s characters, though fictional, lives and breathes a balance between beauty and imperfection. His stories draw on the triumphs and hardships of friends, relatives, and neighbors near and far.
Smith fine-tuned his ability to observe and capture human nature while earning his Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Lawrence University, where he majored in English with a focus on fiction writing. Taking cues from legendary Adirondack folk musicians Dan Berggren and Christopher Shaw, he works tirelessly to carry the music of northern New York to new audiences. Smith has had the privilege of sharing the stage with Berggren and Shaw numerous times, and is quick to acknowledge the value of their feedback and support.
In the fall of 2012, at the close of his first extensive summer tour, Smith signed with acclaimed folk label Wepecket Island Records. He has since toured nationally with his band The Mountain Sound, been featured on Emmy-Award winning documentary “Songs To Keep” alongside Pete Seeger, Peter Yarrow, and Dan Berggren, and received extensive radio play nationwide.
Sarah Craig, director of the legendary Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY, calls Smith “A natural storyteller with a rich voice who is creating poignant songs rooted in the heritage of his Adirondack home,” while Country Music News International’s Bob Everhart says he is “a wonderful, poetic writer who captures words full of meaning, matching them with creative music that creeps quietly into the past at the same time as dancing with the present and sneaking a peek at the future.”
When he’s not on the road, Smith lives in the southern-Adirondack town of North Creek, N.Y. His first studio album, Hamilton County, was released in June 2014 and joins Live with Dylan Rice and Sawdust in his rapidly-growing discography. Close To Home, Smith’s next project, is slated for release in the summer of 2015.
Alex Smith
