Concert #773 - Chris Smither at McCabe's Guitar Shop (April 9, 2016)

Last night I caught yet another fabulous performance by Chris Smither, who, in his seventy-second year of existence and just a few short months after having undergone some sort of a heart surgery, is yet to show any signs of slowing down. As I was watching him last night, all I could do was shake my head in disbelief - everything about his performance was absolutely superb: the way he held his audience captive, the songwriting, the delivery, the humor and, most of all, his guitar playing. The fluidity of his playing is out of this world and once again he proved to me that he has no equal when it comes to bending those guitar strings.

Chris Smither at McCabe's

Playing without a pre-determined set list, Chris performed songs from various stages of his prolific career. There were plenty of uptempo songs and his voice sounded stronger than the last time I saw him, a couple of years back. The show had quite a few highlights - the songs I liked the best were "Can't Shake These Blues", "Surprise, Surprise" and "Statesboro Blues", the evening's one-song encore.

Partial Set List

Open Up

Leave The Light On

Surprise, Surprise

Link Of Chain

Can't Shake These Blues

Lola

Get A Better One

No Love Today

Love You Like A Man

Train Home

Never Needed It More

Small Revelations

Make Room For Me

Don't Call Me Stranger

Time Stands Still

Statesboro Blues (Encore)

Chris Smither at the end of the show

The stage

The merch table

Concert #643 - Chris Smither at McCabe's Guitar Shop (June 29, 2012)

It's hard to describe what makes me want to catch Chris Smither in concert almost every time he's in town. Save for his new material, Chris' shows are pretty much the same. It's always just him. No unannounced guests, ever. No band, either. Always plays sitting down, with a piece of plywood under his feet and a microphone strategically placed a few inches above the plywood. Invariably delivers the same kind of self-deprecating humor that quite often involves his relationship with the other gender. Everything about a Chris Smither live appearance is predictable and, time and time again, all predictions materialize.

Yet there is an invisible force out there that makes me steer my car precisely to where Chris is scheduled to appear. Seeing Chris in concert may have become a routine thing for me, but it's yet to become a drag.

Friday night at McCabe's, Chris focused primarily on his new album, titled "Hundred Dollar Valentine". The new songs were "vintage Chris Smither", which is just another way of saying that his songwriting has not deteriorated with the passage of time. I liked all the new songs, but still, I found more pleasure in the songs I knew, especially the topical "Surprise, Surprise", "Origin Of Species" and "I Don't Know", a funny song written about the inquisitive mind of his adopted daughter. Dave Carter's "Crocodile Man" sounded great and so did Chris' own "Lola" and "No Love Today". There were no Bob Dylan covers, and that's just a statement, not a negative.

Chris Smither at McCabe's

Chris was in good vocal form. His guitar playing was exquisite, but then again, it always is. I will never get tired of watching his fingers at work and the way they produce that inimitable vibrato sound that I can instantly recognize as his and only his.

The 8:00 PM concert was a sell out, so a late show was added. This resulted in a slightly abbreviated first set, not too bad. For his one-song encore, Chris chose to play "I'll Be Home Soon".

The final bow

Before going home, I bought his latest two releases, the aforementioned "Hundred Dollar Valentine" and an all-covers six-song EP titled "What I Learned In School". I listened to the latter while driving home, so the good vibes of the show stayed with me a little longer.

The songs of "What I Learned In School" (2011)

It's true, Chris Smither's concerts are predictable, but his formula works every time to my full satisfaction. I'm pretty sure this wasn't my last time to see him perform live.

Stage set-up

Chris Smither greeting friends at McCabe's

Concert poster

Concerts #300, 319, 335, 421 at McCabe's Guitar Shop & Throop Memorial Church (March 14, 2003 - October 21, 2006)

Chris Smither is the perfect example of an artist who, from my vantage point, was a total nobody one day and a mega-star the next. I don't mean mega-star like Bruce Springsteen or the Stones. I mean mega-star like someone who I could simply not resist seeing again and again. And every time I went, I dragged a few reluctant friends with me, only to witness their own instant transformation into believers.

McCabe's is the perfect venue to see Chris. He always sells out there, and typically I'm among the first in line. Sitting in the front row gives me the complete experience, as I can watch his amazing finger-work and at the same time see his feet providing the drum beat on a miked-up piece of plywood. I was less lucky in November 2003 at the Throop Memorial Church in Pasadena, where I could not secure a front row seat.

Throop Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church, Pasadena, California

Chris Smither's gig at McCabe's on March 14, 2003, is available in its entirety, including all the chatter in-between songs, as a digital download from Amazon, Emusic and possibly other sites as well. Here's the set list:

Hold On

Dust My Broom

Get a Better One

Lola

No Love Today

Crocodile Man

Let It Go

Can't Shake These Blues

Drive You Home Again

Love You Like a Man

Train Home

Never Needed It More

Killing the Blues

Hey, Hey, Hey

Desolation Row

Duncan and Brady

Confirmation

I'm yet to overdose on Chris Smither. His shows are funny, engaging, and most of all, musically superior. He writes most of the songs he sings and never forgets to credit the author when he covers somebody else's work. In my opinion, Chris' strength is his guitar playing, which is nothing short of stunning. Others may argue that songwriting is his forte, and their point would be hard to refute.

As I write this, Chris Smither is almost 67 years old, a good reason for you to catch his live shows in your area, if you're fortunate enough to have him come to a venue near you.

Concert #587 - Dave Alvin, Chris Smither & Peter Case at McCabe's Guitar Shop (April 3, 2011)

Posters in the window at McCabe's

A rare triple-header at McCabe's, featuring three of the very best. I caught the 7 PM show. There was a late show as well, both had sold out much in advance. The show was great, but ... yes, there was a "but" ... after having seen the three protagonists perform separately countless times, I can say that in this case, the "whole" was smaller than the sum of its parts. Let me explain.

They all shared the stage and took turns at performing their numbers - when one of them went to work, the other two were simply watching. They sang four songs each, they all pitched in on a few more, then the show was over. In plain English, the concert was short, very short. I had seen many musicians delivering much longer sets all by themselves. Four songs from Dave, then four more from Chris and Peter left me wanting for much more.

From L to R: Rick Shea, Dave Alvin, Chris Smither, Peter Case

The concert started with an instrumental version of Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train", followed by Dave Alvin's "Down The Rio Grande", a song he co-wrote with Tom Russell. Dave's second song was "Black Rose Of Texas", a gorgeous ballad dedicated to the late Amy Ferris, one of his long-time musical collaborators. In response to a request, Dave followed up with "King Of California", then rounded up his set with the outstanding "Harlan County Line".

Dave Alvin

Chris Smither's first song was "Don't Call Me Stranger", followed by "I Don't Know", a funny song inspired by his adopted daughter, "Surprise, Surprise" and "Train Home". My impression was that he held back a bit - I had seen him displaying much more guitar virtuosity in earlier appearances.

Chris Smither

Peter Case was in excellent form, but sadly, I don't know the titles of any of his songs. One of them was a Ledbelly-written prison song, another one mentioned "Pig Nation", his band during his pre-Plimsouls years, but that's about all I remember.

Peter Case

The show ended with "Railroad Bill", a team effort, then for the encore they all sang "Casey Jones". There were plenty of fun stories between the songs. Rick Shea provided good support on guitar and mandolin throughout the show.

The day started with the sweet new sounds of Sara Lynn, my second grand-child, born just before 9 AM.

Sara Lynn, four-hours old

Todd and Lynn, Sara Lynn's other set of grand-parents, were my guests for the show. It was their first time at McCabe's and they loved it.

Lynn and Todd in line at McCabe's

Peter Case reporting to work at McCabe's

Concert #526 - Chris Smither at McCabe's Guitar Shop (October 25, 2009)

In September 2009, Chris Smither released a new album, "Time Stands Still" and kicked off a national tour that brought him back to McCabe's in late October, for two shows. I caught the early show. This was my seventh Chris Smither concert in nine years. He had just turned 65 and quite understandably, his energy level was one notch lower that before. But he still managed to delight me and amaze me. Gone were many of his power-numbers, such as "Dust My Broom" and "High Heel Sneakers", but "Love You Like A Man" and "Lola" were still there, and so was his unique guitar sound, sense of humor and humility.

The stage, just before the show - Note the piece of plywood serving as Chris' miked-up foot-tapping board

Chris performed his entire set seated on a piano bench. There was no opening act and no intermission. After the show, as usual, Chris signed autographs and chatted with his fans.

Chris Smither after the show

Chris Smither after the show

Concerts #228, 262- Chris Smither at McCabe's Guitar Shop (August 12, 2000 - February 8, 2002)

My musical radar works quite well at low elevations, but nonetheless, every so often someone big manages to fly under it and pass undetected for a long time. Chris Smither is a perfect example. He's a brilliant songwriter and a virtuoso guitar player, delivers songs like few others, so how come it took me decades to discover him? I don't know, you may want to ask the clowns in charge of radio and TV programming.

I'm not sure I know what made me buy a ticket to see Chris at McCabe's, but once I had the ticket in hand, I had to start researching his music - I went to the now-sadly-defunct Aaron's Records in Hollywood, bought Chris' just-released CD titled "Live As I'll Ever Be" and gave it a listen or two before showing up at McCabe's. Trouble is I focused too much on Chris' voice, so at that time I certainly couldn't call myself a fan. Obviously, I wasn't prepared for what followed - Chris knocked my socks off, to put it mildly.

My jaw dropped when he played "Dust My Broom" and "High Heel Sneakers", but his own songs were equally good. I loved everything about his performance: his ballads and power songs, his humor and humble demeanor, but most of all, his unique style of guitar playing. Even his less-than-stellar voice became in no time "music to my ears", just like it had happened years earlier with Richard Thompson's vocals.

This video shows Chris Smither bending his strings to produce a sound that is uniquely his:

I went back to see him again in February 2002, also at McCabe's, but this time I took two friends with me, Ken and Marilyn - there's no better feeling than surprising my music-loving friends with someone as good as Chris Smither. 

There was an opening act, Louise Taylor, a singer-songwriter who did not leave a lasting impression.

Chris started his set with "Link Of Chain", followed by, in no particular order, "No Love Today", "Get A Better One", "Hold On", "Drive You Home Again", J.J. Cale's "Magnolia", "Frankie and Albert", "Dust My Broom", the "High Heel Sneakers- Big Boss Man Medley", "Duncan And Brady", "Love You Like A Man", "Can’t Shake These Blues", "Winsome Smile", "I Am The Ride", "Drive You Home Again" and maybe a few more. Wow, what a set list.

With these two shows, Chris Smither established himself as one of my most beloved musicians.