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Hollywood - Parkersburg West Virginia has it's very own Hollywood Star, and his name is Michael Smith. Having been a nominee or award winning performer for the last 6 years at the annual Los Angeles Music Awards, the Michael Smith band is about to receive the biggest honor anyone can receive who enters the very competitive world in Hollywood. After receiving numerous accolades as a performer and music award nominee since 2004, Michael Smith is about to step up into the major leagues of the Hollywood elite and receive his very own Hollywood F.A.M.E.award at the Avalon Theater on Thursday, November 12th, 2009. Also receiving an award that night will be Michael Smith's manager Kathryn Ward, who will be presented with the coveted Music Manager of the Year award from the Los Angeles Music Awards.

Smith was chosen to receive this prestigious honor after six years of participating in the yearly LA Music Awards event. Smith will walk the red carpet along with major celebrities and dignitaries from the worlds of music, film and television. To learn more about these events, go to www.hollywoodfameawards.com or www.lamusicawards.com

By Robert M. Sutton

While there is a spiritual side to The Michael Smith Band, it cannot be pegged as a Christian band. Like U2 and Jars of Clay, the group is able to coexist within the religious and secular world, appealing to both without offending the other. It's a fragile balance; any slight tipping of the scales in either direction carries the risk of alienating a particular fan base. For the most part, Smith doesn't call God by name in his lyrics; his approach is more subtle, often letting the word "you" refer to a higher power. In "I've Got Love," Smith sings, "But in my darkest hour, you were with me all along." Overcoming tragedy and despair is the theme that binds the CD, and Smith is able to convey his hopeful, uplifting messages without preachiness or sentimental sap.

Musically, Smith takes his cues from U2 and other adult alternative acts. The title track is awash with Edge-like guitar shimmer as Smith's comforting vocals are carried aloft by immaculate keyboards and an additional layer of acoustic seasoning. It's majestic and startlingly pretty, almost sounding like offspring from U2's October album. "Today I watched them take your body away/I wonder why it has to be this way," Smith laments, reflecting the televised images of death and destruction from the war in Iraq. (Its video has been recently nominated by the L.A. Music Awards as among the year's best.) On "Mother Earth," though, Smith spins a new web, utilizing Spanish backdrop to reveal his concerns over the environment.

Smith's voice seems familiar even though he really doesn't sound like anybody else. Perhaps it's his friendly tone, as gentle and coffeehouse warm as James Taylor at times. However, that doesn't mean that Smith doesn't get aggressive. "Fancy Free Society" is particularly gritty, a fairly raw blues cut that exposes his sharper corners. But it's the smooth, handsomely polished meat-and-potatoes rock that Smith serves here that hypnotizes the senses.

Track listing: Days of Wonder; Mother Earth; The Iron Will Stand Forever; We May Never Love Again; Elizabeth; I've Got Love; Fancy Free Society; Open Heart; It Was You; I Will Live.

Personnel: Michael Smith: vocals, acoustic guitar; Rick Witkowski: electric guitar, background vocals; Jamie Peck: saxophone; Anthony Rankin: drums, keyboards, piano, Moog synthesizer.

Style: Beyond Jazz
Published: April 05, 2009

Source: All About Jazz

(West Virginia) - Local singer/songwriter Michael Smith (http://www.themichaelsmithband.com) once walked away from death; now he might walk away with Video of the Year from the prestigious Los Angeles Music Awards. The Michael Smith Band’s clip for “Days of Wonder,” the title track of their latest CD, features haunting images of American soldiers fighting in Iraq cutting into a serene summer afternoon between father and son, life and death separated by miles of physical separation but connected by the closeness of brotherhood. The music video has been nominated by the L.A. Music Awards (http://www.lamusicawards.com), which will hold its next red-carpet ceremony on November 12, 2009 at the Music Box Theater.

 

Smith’s heartfelt, melodic pop offers a soulful, optimistic alternative to much of the cynicism and negativity in modern rock. “Days of Wonder” echoes the incandescent chime of U2 while other tracks unite the distance between Americana and acoustic pop. Lyrically, Smith draws from his own experiences of overcoming tragedy and despair. In 1978, a 15-ton crane fell on Smith while he was working at his family’s construction business, his body pinned to the ground from the torso down. After being rescued, Smith underwent multiple surgeries; however, doctors kept delivering the bad news. At first they said his chances of survival were poor, yet Smith lived. Then they told him that he wouldn’t be able to use his legs again. Within six months Smith was able to walk again. Inspired, he learned how to play and started writing songs. Even in his darkest hours, such as when his father was found dead after mysteriously disappearing in 1986, Smith never allowed the black days to weaken his soul.

 

Al Bowman, executive producer of the L.A. Music Awards, describes Smith as an “exceptional singer/songwriter who makes good music continuously.” The often-imitated L.A. Music Awards is now in its 19^th year and is renowned for its ability to discover promising new talent. According to Bowman, Smith “represents exactly what we are looking for in an artist.”

WTAP News: Musician Michael Smith On His Album and a Recent Honor