Don Smith performs on 6- and 12-string guitars, mandolin and tenor banjo.
Influences
In addition to those mentioned in the "About Don Smith" section ... Gillian Welch/David Rawlings, Bill Monroe, Merle Haggard, John Denver, Utah Phillips, Henry Clay Work, Robin & Linda Williams
Don Smith was born in Burlington, NC in 1950 and has spent all of his 58 years in the South, 54 of them in the Tar Heel State. He came to playing an instrument later in life, not buying his first guitar until he was 28. Don performed with the local trio of Emerson, Smith & Phelps for six years, ending in 2007. In late 2004, he also began playing solo at coffee houses across the Triangle and has appeared at a number of venues in Raleigh, Durham, Apex and Clayton. He draws his material from old public domain tunes, from traditional American artists such as The Carter Family and Woody Guthrie, and from more recent folk singer-songwriters such as Tom Paxton and Norman Blake. An evening with Don is a sort of trip through America's rich folk/traditional music history. Performing on 6- and 12-string guitars, mandolin and tenor banjo, he sings of train wrecks and ships lost at sea ... of hobos, outlaws and orphans ... of lost love ... of what it is to see the coal mines shut down or the entire year's crop lost to drought. But before you grab the "crying towel", you should know that he also sings of what it's like to suddenly realize that you've become your own grandfather ... or that tonight's main course for dinner has just appeared in your headlights ... or that your name is William Morgan, but your wife spends money as if it was J P Morgan instead! Some of his songs will make you laugh; others might make you cry. But nearly all of them have a story to tell, and Don has a story to tell about many of them as well. By the time you leave his show, you'll have been not only entertained, but also educated and enlightened about some parts of American history that you might not have known when you arrived.
