Samuel Graf - Guitar/Bass/Vocal/Keys/Organ/Drums
BJ Buttice - Guitar/Bass/Vocal/Keys/Organ/Drums
Jonathan Alonzo - Guitar/Drums
Dom Buttice - Drums
Chris Love - Keys/Bass/Drums (when he feels like it)
Guest Artists:
Ryan Heller - Drums/Bass (when Dom Breaks Bones)
Aaron Farinelli - Drums (sometimes, if in town and Dom is gone or broken)
Tim Maddocks - Drums ("Sam. Well, hell..." EP)
Dave Maddocks - Accordion ("Sam. Well, hell..." EP)
Anna Maddocks - Vocal ("Sam. Well, hell..." EP)
Influences
Friends and Family
Sounds Like
awesome....
FREE DOWNLOADS OF THE FULL ALBUM!! Click Albums Below For Free Download
Record Label
Dead Pigeon Studios
Type of Label
Indie
Smile and a Shoeshine (New Band: Sam!! Well, Hell)'s Latest Blog Entry
[Subscribe to this Blog]
Sam. Well, hell... lyrics and musical credits
(view more)
About Smile and a Shoeshine (New Band: Sam!! Well, Hell)
"if you kick me out of this bar now, i will come back more drunk than you could possibly imagine..."
Smile and a Shoeshine's frontman, Samuel Graf has returned to making music in the greater Fort Collins and Denver area. After a two year hiatus with Smile and a Shoeshine, he is slowly changing over to something more of his own. New project Sam!! Well, Hell.
Click the image below to be come friends with Sam!! Well, Hell
FREE DOWNLOADS OF THE FULL ALBUM!! Click Albums Below For Free Download!!
"Nobody dast blame this man. You dont understand: Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He dont put a bolt on a nut, he dont tell you the law or give you medicine. Hes a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back Thats an earthquake, and then you get a couple of spots on your hat, and youre finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy, it comes with the territory. DEATH OF A SALESMAN BY: ARTHUR MILLER."
Smile and a Shoeshine's front man, Samuel Graf has returned to making music in the greater Fort Collins and Denver area. After a two year hiatus with Smile and a Shoeshine, he is slowly changing over to something more of his own. After witnessing local success with Smile and a Shoeshine, the graduation over to "Sam!! Well, hell..." will be gradual and probable.
As promised, Smile and a Shoeshine returned to the studio in September 2009. Joining with members from Fort Collins folk-rock phenomenon
"Paean ",
Samuel Graf and Jonathan Alonzo constructed Smile and a Shoeshine's first complete EP since 2003 and is slotted for release in mid-January 2010. The album features worn-out and broken love ballads, and defeating illusions of hope through whining slide and over-driven electric guitars behind lethargic acoustic chords. Do not expect the same screamy, angst driven rock that gave Smile and a Shoeshine their sound in years past. Pursuing a more matured sound,
“Sam!! Well, hell…”
emerged as carefully punctuated disagreement with life by embracing influence from folk/country legends Towns Van Zandt and Floyd Tillman. Combining new influence with the old, “Sam!! Well, hell…”
presents a nicely balanced sound from mid-tempo acoustic pleas with broken hearts in “I felt as though that I” to cowpunk-esque love stories in “When I knew”. “Sam!! Well, hell…” is the best and most unique Smile and a Shoeshine album yet recorded.
The EP is currently featuring six tracks with a possible addition of one to two more. Listen and download the pre-release version now at Last.FM.com
Artists featured on this album include:
Samuel Graf-guitar, vocal, bass, acoustic, and electric guitars
Jonathan Alonzo- slide guitar, electric guitar, and percussion
Timothy Maddocks- percussion
David Maddocks- accordion
Anna Maddocks- background vocals
BJ Buttice- percussion
Smile and a Shoeshine is a Fort Collins based band. Established in 2002 with members Samuel Graf, BJ Buttice, and Dom Buttice. Most of Smile and a Shoeshines accomplishments were done DIY and bartering. First album was recorded in John Hruska's (currently in Fucking Orange)
basement. The album was released as a split with John's band "Double Plus Down". Later in 2003, Smile and a Shoeshine traded an Audio Technica 4050 microphone for, what was intended to be a full length album. The album wound up being released as two EP's, "6 Song EP" and "Humans Are But Transportation Devices For Cowboy Hats". The "6 Song EP" sold over 2000 copies in Fort Collins alone in just a few months. Unfortunately the "6 Song EP" was never mass produced again. In 2005 Smile and a Shoeshine got the opportunity to be recorded by Johnny Schou at the legendary Blasting Room to complete Johnny's internship without cost to the band. This project is available for the first time On Facebook or at ilike, titled "The Johnny Schou EP". Other recordings were done in basements from BJ and Sam's home in Fort Collins and Warehouses around town. Smile and a Shoeshine still performs on rare occasion in the Fort Collins/Denver area. Future tours and more consistent shows will resume September of 2009. In the meantime be sure to check out side projects "Sour Boy, Bitter Girl " and "Signor Farini and the Marmadook Weatheralls".
PRESS:
Grungy Nirvana, U2 (the earlier album "War"), Drama Rama and Cursive all give Smile And A Shoeshine its sound and offer the bulk of this band's influence.
The beginning of December will be hot if you make it to the Aggie early enough to see the second act: Smile And A Shoeshine. This six-year-old Fort Collins act has a new member: Chris Love.
I asked Love, who plays the keyboard, how he felt his addition to the band changes the sound of Smile And A Shoeshine.
Chris replied, "It pretty much makes it 10 times better, I think. … It adds an element of class to the music."
Drummer Dominic B**** added, "It just fills it out more."
The Aggie will host three awesome bands and a solo show on Dec. 1. Headlining is The Hot IQs, and next up is The Photo Atlas in the middle of this sexified gooey sandwich. The night finishes with Smile And A Shoeshine. And of course, the opener for this kicker is solo artist Jon Yeager.
This line-up seems like an Arcadefire-esque dance rock show, and for the most part it is. The Hot IQs is definitely a clap-along dance band and The Photo Atlas is probably one of Colorado's best dance bands.
But then there is Smile And A Shoeshine on the bill. Smile is there offering a slyly juxtaposed addition; they are not dance band and the keyboard may throw one off, but they are still ROCK and nothing else. Find this Dec. 1. ---Matthew Azrael Martin, The Rocky Mountain Collegian.
Staff writer Matthew Azrael Martin can be reached at verve@collegian.com. The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the individual author and not necessarily those of the Collegian.
"Smile and a Shoeshine is like a welcomed disease, they make you wonderfully nauseous for a night, partially the next morning. Then they disappear for a year or so, only to do it all over again.” -
90.5 KCSU FM.
Recently the bassist of The Descendants and our friend Karl, suffered a heart attack, he is ok, but now has huge medical bills... if you have any spare cash he would sure appreciate it...
hey guys, it's good to meet you! i hope you can make it out this friday or next as we'll be in your neighborhood! and we're just such a great time! ;-) it's true, though like, whoa.
Hey thanks for the friendship Please check us out if you didn't get a chance yet. We just recently started up and are trying to spread the word. If you're into it, we just put up our first EP on our page. Check it out! We'd love it if you got your friends to check us out as well. Feel free to talk with us, and thank you for the support! -Joe AO
Superheroes of Philanthropy: Comic Book Silent Auction & Exhibition to benefit Bands for Lands FREE and ALL AGES!! Sat Sept 5th, 3pm-9pm The Oriental Theater 4335 44th Ave.
what are you up to today!? talk to us! p.s. our ep is now up for a supa supa free download at purevolume.com/ohanty. i will give you a bear hug if you download it.
Sorry to spam you, we know it's lame. But, we're releasing our debut CD Zugenruhe next Friday (May 22nd) at Avogadro's Number right here in Fort Collins, and we would really love to see you there! The show starts at 9pm and is all ages and only costs $3. There will be an afterparty to be announced at the show. Thanks for putting up with our shameless self promotion. We really hope you can make it. -Alana, Brett & Erin (Stella Luce)
My BFA thesis film Ghost Story (2008) is now up on Vimeo! View the picturesque scenery of Northern Colorado now in slightly better video quality! Revel uninterrupted in my little brother’s killer performance! Show your friends & family! Write to me at Taryn.G.Jones@gmail.com!
You're all a bunch of beautiful babies and I like to kiss you all on the head. (I'm drunk) It was great playing with you guys and I hope we can do it again soon!
the benefit show raised 1500 bucks that paied for about 90% of the dental work. I am amazed how supportive the local scene was to me. Still on blows/alsohol classes but I would enjoy getting a chace to see you when you get here.
![ALL OUT ["LIGHTS" ON ITUNES]](http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/93/s_c4cd5be8bac543ce8c2ada13d2279538.jpg)
![Oh, Antarctica [Next Show Announced!]](http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/51/s_ea5b7070abdb462d89de0124233242e6.jpg)
