Chris Smither
b. 11 November 1944, Miami, Florida, USA. Smither began his music career, during the '60s, by performing in the coffee houses and clubs in New Orleans where he had reclocated from the age of 2. His first real blues influence came after listening to a Lightnin' Hopkins' recording, BLUES IN MY BOTTLE, at the age of 17. He moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1966, where he continued playing the lucrative coffee house/folk circuit. He also started associating with artists such as Bonnie Raitt, John Hammond, and Mississippi Fred MacDowell. After a promising start, with two albums on the Poppy label, the label folded. He recorded HONEYSUCKLE DOG, for United Artists, which featured Raitt, but this was never released. Smither has had his songs covered by numerous performers, including Bonnie Raitt, who included his Love Me Like A Man, and I Feel The Same on two of her albums and John Mayall who used Mail Order Mystics as the title track on his recent album. He has performed at various times with many musicians including Nanci Griffith, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, and also at numerous major festivals throughout the US. 
Smither' smooth, lyrical guitar style encompasses elements of folk, blues, country and rock and his voice is capable of sounding soft one minute and gruff the next. Having fought off the demon alcohol Smither faces the '90s as a survivor fresh and enthusiastic for his work. The live ANOTHER WAY TO FIND YOU, on Flying Fish records was recorded over two nights in a studio with an invited audience. HAPPIER BLUE shows the artist really coming into his own. This excellent set includes Lowell George's Rock And Roll Doctor and J.J. Cale's Magnolia in addition to the original title track Happier Blue. The powerful lyric of this song is but one example of his emotional talent; ‘I was sad and then I loved you, it took my breath, now I think you love me and it scares me to death, cause now I lie awake and wonder, I worry I think about losing you, I don't care what you say, maybe I was happier blue’. Smither's guitar playing is worthy of noting (Bonnie Raitt calls him her Eric Clapton) as he is able to be percussive and rhythmic, together with a fluid busy style that is as breathtaking as it is effortless.