Alfie Smith

Artist Information

Biography

Alfie Smith is a true modern day Blues Man, Blending hard edged Rock and Roll, Gospel, Folk and Jazz with Pure Primal Blues to create his own unique sound. He is adept at many instruments such as 7 string slide guitar, banjo, guitar, 12 sting and lap steel. Alfie’s musicianship has earned him endorsements with Godin Guitar, Composite Acoustics, Eastwood and Stonebridge. First and foremost Alfie is a singer with a deep passionate brooding baritone vocal style in the tradition of the old Blues shouters. Brass & Steel is Alfie’s 5th CD released in October 2007.It has 21 tracks and features Alfie and his band the Hard Cases on six of the songs. The Hard Cases are: Bob Doidge on Trumpet & Bass and James Richards on Drums. He is at ease playing solo or with his band. This is Alfie’s 1st release with Busted Flat Records. Alfie has been a featured performer at Mariposa, Festival of Friends, Home County, Eaglewood, Mill Race, Red Rock, Brampton, Niagara Blues Festival, Harbourfront Blues Festival, Octoberfolk, Orillia Spring Blues, Barriefolk and Orangeville Blues & Jazz festival. Alfie was selected for official showcases at the O.C.F.F. and the 2005 Blues Summit II. He was nominated for Best Blues Album at the 2006 & 2007 Hamilton Music Awards and also nominated for Guitarist of 2007.

Workshops are my favorite thing to do at festivals. Here are some possibilities: Songwriting, Guitar, Banjo, Slide, Lap Steel, Blues & Jazz

To see live clips please go to www.myspace.com/alfiejohnsmith

Instrumentation

Nicole Christian - Bass, Guitar, flute, slide

Discography

Sometimes the Rain 2011
Brass & Steel 2008
Flesh & Bone 2006
Buckshot Blues2003
Alfred John Smith(Self Titled) 1998

Official Website

http://www.alfiesmith.org

Links

• Facebook
• MySpace

Audio

• Sometimes The Rain
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• Graceland
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• Two-Toned Snake
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• Let It Burn
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• Broken Bones
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• Man Makes the World Hard
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• How can I find my way home
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Lyrics

• Sometime the Rain

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• It’s pretty much impossible to get any better than this. [+ Show ]
  

  In the Ontario folk-blues world, it’s pretty much impossible to get any better than this. Hamilton’s...In the Ontario folk-blues world, it’s pretty much impossible to get any better than this. Hamilton’s Alfie Smith is a playful bear of a man who sings the blues in an operatic baritone and plays acoustic guitar with a fluidity that is seldom seen anymore.

• Alfie Smith’s Sometimes The Rain [+ Show ]
  

  Alfie Smith’s Sometimes The Rain Few singers capture your attention on first listen – but anyone wh...Alfie Smith’s Sometimes The Rain
  Few singers capture your attention on first listen – but anyone who hears that bourbon–soaked sounding baritone of Alfie Smith can’t help but take note. The Hamilton native picked up the guitar at 13 and hasn’t looked back, creating a sound that blends blues, jazz, folk and rock over five CDs. One of the area’s premier blues guitarists, Smith offers his sixth disc, Sometimes The Rain, which focuses on his obvious vocal and fretwork talents but perhaps in a more sombre tone.
  Over the last decade plus, Smith has released a CD every two years or so – that is until about three years ago when calamity struck.
  “The community really helped when the fire happened,” confides Smith. “I was away playing a festival and came home to a burned out house. It was quite a shock and there was a fundraiser planned for me before I even knew about the fire. We have a very supportive community in Hamilton.
  While the community rallied around him, the trials and tribulations beset upon Smith did seem to influence the song writing for this new CD.
  “When your house is flooded to about seven feet in the basement because of a water main break then five years later burns to the point it has to be torn down, you start to think the world might be against you,” notes Smith. “But both times I was very lucky no one got hurt and in the end it’s all just stuff. Overall, I have a good life and am very grateful for everything in my life.”
  Fans are thankful for a new Alfie Smith CD and while it took three years this time out, Sometimes The Rain was worth the wait. Most records I hear aren’t recorded in a five–hour session in one night but the sparse presentation underscores Smith’s raw talents and captures a special performance, a moment in time.
  “It’s a record of time; a recording to me should capture a moment,” offers Smith on Sometimes The Rain. “I wanted it to sound like I am coming into the listener’s room and playing just for them.
  “Most records before the 1960s were recorded live and in a day or two and in a lot of ways are better to me,” muses Smith on recording technique. “I spend about six months practicing and arranging the songs outside the studio so I don’t waste time in it. Amy King at Grant Avenue is so quick and great at capturing sound, I don’t think it would be the same record without her, she also plays all the piano parts on the record.”
  While the world is going downloading digital and pyrotechnic stage shows – Smith’s more traditional music finds its way to his audience through more traditional means. The quality of the recording and the artwork included are important for Smith and for his fans. When choosing a more intimate venue with less of a focus on bar sales, Smith’s CD release party picks up where the recording sessions left off, showcasing Alfie Smith live, raw and very intimate – almost like he’s playing in the listener’s room.
  “I wanted to play some place where I don’t need a P.A. or microphones and amps to get in the way and I love the Staircase Theatre,” explains Smith.
  “Record sales for me luckily don’t seem to have been affected,” adds Smith on the modern downloading age. “Fred J. Eaglesmith I think said it best. You can get water out of any tap but people buy bottles water because they want quality. Amber Delaney did an amazing portrait of me for cover of the record. She deserves a lot more recognition to her art than she gets [www.artbyamberdelaney.weebly.com]. More fans are always good but I always record to please myself first. I hope that people like it as much as I do.”

• Get mellow with Alfie Smith's acoustic [+ Show ]
  

  Alfie Smith is a big man with a big talent. His sixth album and sophomore Busted Flat release, Some...Alfie Smith is a big man with a big talent.
  His sixth album and sophomore Busted Flat release, Sometimes the Rain, is a solo, acoustic offering that finds the Hamilton-based bluesman in a mostly mellow, but not passive, mood.
  His big, rich baritone resembles a whisper rumbling around the bottom of a barrel. His nimble fingers glide over acoustic, slide and baritone guitars and “one lonely banjo.” Amy King provides tasteful piano on a trio of tracks.
  Smith, who has appeared at both the TD Kitchener Blues Festival and Mill Race Festival of Traditional Music, wrote all but one of the album’s 16 songs. The exception is a tender reading of Paul Simon’s Graceland.
  The song titles offer a snapshot of the album’s brooding mood including Painted Blue, Sad, Lonely Song, Love is a Lonely Grave and Scars Never Heal, not to mention the title track.

• None is better than Alfie Smith when it comes to the acoustic slide and he's got a voice to match [+ Show ]
  

  "Hamilton is blessed with a wealth of great blues guitarists. None is better than Alfie Smith when i..."Hamilton is blessed with a wealth of great blues guitarists. None is better than Alfie Smith when it comes to the acoustic slide and he's got a voice to match."

• Alfie Smith is about as unpretentious as they come [+ Show ]
  

  "Blues artist Alfie Smith is about as unpretentious as they come. Naming his latest album Brass & St..."Blues artist Alfie Smith is about as unpretentious as they come. Naming his latest album Brass & Steel was, therefore, an obvious decision given the Hamilton musician's skills at slide guitar, but the strength inherent to those two words is also a reflection of what Smith packed into its 21 performances.
  
  Whether he's solo or with his band, the Hard Cases, Smith's powerfully soulful voice and muscular playing never betrays its roots in the Mississippi Delta, but at the same time could only come from someone with a tough working-class background."

• Roars like a Lion
  

  "He purrs like a kitten slumbering in a blanket or roars like a lion defending a carcass."

Setlist

Originals and Traditional Blues

Workshops are my favorite thing to do at festivals. Here are some possibilities: Songwriting, Guitar, Banjo, Slide, Lap Steel, Blues & Jazz

Basic Requirements

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