Singer-songwriter Chris Smither was born in Miami in 1944; living in New Orleans, Ecuador and Paris during his youth. His Uncle Howard taught him three chords on the ukelele when he was 8 and by the time he was 16 he won his first hootenanny on guitar. He started an anthropology program at Tulane University in 1963 but discovered Mississippi John Hurt's music the same year on a Blues at Newport 1963 album. Two years later, on his way to Paris for his junior year abroad, he stopped at the infamous Gaslight in New York to see his hero perform. He did carry on to Paris before being completely overtaken by the blues and getting booted out of his college program. In 1970 he released his first album, I'm A Stranger, Too on Poppy Records. In 2001, ten albums later, Chris was invited to be part of the Mississippi John Hurt tribute record Avalon Blues.

Chris Smither is one of the most sought after singer-songwriters on the circuit. He is an engaging and generous performer "exposing a personal foible one minute, exploring the thread in a zen tapestry the next," always charming, always driving the song ahead with the steady stepping of an amplified shoe. His sound is rooted in the acoustic blues but the songs are all his own. His eleventh album, Train Home, was released on High Tone in the summer of 2003. It is classic Smither a little further down the road, offering seven new originals and featuring special guest, Bonnie Raitt.

http://www.smither.com/

Click here to read an interview with Chris Smither from the Mercury.