Sonny Smith (musician)

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Sonny Smith (born 1972) is an American musician, playwright and multimedia artist, residing in his birth place San Francisco, California, United States.^[1] He has released fourteen albums since 2000, and creating his own backing band known as the Sunsets. His work has variously encompassed blues, folk, pop and rock elements. AllMusic noted that his 2002 album, This Is My Story, This Is My Song, lifted him from obscurity to cult status.^[1]

Life and work[]

Smith began playing blues piano in bars when he was seventeen years old.^[1] Skipping between the Rocky Mountains of Denver, San Francisco, and Central America, he began to write original songs, short stories and plays. Smith’s travels in Central America inspired his narrative approach and original style of folk music. AllMusic noted that his 2002 album, This Is My Story, This Is My Song, lifted him from obscurity to cult status.^[1]

In 2003, Smith was commissioned by Watchword literary magazine to make a CD of one-act plays delivered as songs.^[1] This project led Smith in a new direction, incorporating theatre and dialogue into his evolving approach to music.^[1] At the Headlands Center for the Arts, he was awarded a residency in May 2005 to create a feature-length musical, The Dangerous Stranger, which included guest performers such as the folk singer Jolie Holland, local singer Peggy Honeywell (artist Clare Rojas), Miranda July, and set designer Daniel Tierney.

He wrote his 2013 album, Antenna to the Afterworld, based on some paranormal experiences he had.^[2]

100 Records[]

For a 2010 project called 100 Records, first exhibited at Gallery 16 in San Francisco^[3] and later at Cinders in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Smith invited 100 artists to produce artwork for the record covers of fictional bands.^[1] Smith concocted the personas of all 100 fictitious bands, then wrote and recorded two hundred songs (the A-side and B-side) for each. Smith displayed all the original album artwork as well as a jukebox, that played all two hundred songs recorded by Sonny Smith and other musicians. Artists who participated in the project include Reed Anderson, Alika Cooper, Chris Duncan, Harrell Fletcher, Jo Jackson, Chris Johanson, Tucker Nichols, Ed Ruscha, Paul Wackers and William T. Wiley.^[4]

Discography[]

Albums[]

• Who's The Monster...You Or Me? (Self-released 2000)
• This Is My Story, This Is My Song (Jackpine Social Club 2002)
• Sordid Tales of Love and Woe (Self-released 2003)
• One Act Plays (self-released 2005)
• Fruitvale (Belle Sound 2007)
• Tomorrow is Alright (LP Soft Abuse / Secret Seven 2009; CD Fat Possum 2010)
• Hit After Hit (Fat Possum 2011)
• Longtime Companion (Polyvinyl Record Co. 2012)
• Antenna to the Afterworld (Polyvinyl Record Co. 2013)
• Talent Night at the Ashram (Polyvinyl Record Co. 2015)
• Moods Baby Moods (Polyvinyl Record Co. 2016)
• Sees All Knows All (Empty Cellar Records 2016)
• Rod for Your Love (Easy Eye Sound 2018)
• Hairdressers From Heaven (Rocks In Your Head Records 2019)^[5]

Singles and EPs[]

• "Love & Death" 7" + comic book (Soft Abuse 2009)
• "Broom & Dustpan" 7" (Home Skillet 2009)
• "The Hypnotist" 7" (Future Stress 2010)
• "Sonny & The Sandwitches" 7" EP (Empty Cellar Records 2010)

Box sets and compilation albums[]

• Untitled (CDr, Comp) (self-released 2010)
• 100 Records CD/box Volume 1 (Gallery 16 2010)
• 100 Records Volume 2: I Miss The Jams (Turn Up Records 2010)
• 100 Records Volume 3 (Glitter End Records 2012)
• 100 Records Volume 1 (Polyvinyl Record Company 2013)

References[]

External links[]

• Sonny & the Sunsets official website
• Soft Abuse artist page
• San Francisco Bay Guardian review
• SF Weekly review