craigSMOOT

About me:

My innate passion for drumming helped me to embrace music at an early age (7), and gave me the drive to persue it. I know my parents probably cursed the day when MTV came into existence, because that was "it" for me—I knew that I had to start making real music from that moment on. I officially took up playing drums (in school band programs) and the guitar back in 1981, and I've never looked back. Over these 30+ years of honing my craft, I've always endeavored to expand my musical vocabulary to incorporate other instrumentation and musical styles into my proverbial bag. My guitar playing, however, has always been my forté. Music is such an ingrained part of my being that to separate myself from it for any duration longer than, say, a week...would be akin to depriving myself of the air, food and shelter I need for survival.

Since the idea of "Starving Artist" never really appealed to me, I got into database programming / development back in 1991, and from there moved into the realm of website design / development in 1994 (before most people even knew what "the web" was). I thought to myself: "Hey... what better way to support my 'habit' [music] and avoid bitterness and burnout than to make some killer career coinage, yanno?" ;)

Besides, the more I studied and learned about all facets of the Music Biz... the less enchanted with the "Big Time" I became until I eventually just said "F**k it!" and stopped persuing it actively altogether. However, I still write and perform with my main band of 14+ years, BLACK LABEL (the [ahem] original; not the famous one who "borrowed" our name 4 years after the fact), so it's not as if I gave up on music. I simply realized that the trite notion of trying to "make it big" in this f*cked up industry is a pipe dream that only comes true for a handful of lucky individuals who happened to be in the right place at the right time (and in most cases: A) were the right age, B) had the right looks, C) had the right waistline, and D) had just enough talent to barely squeak by).

So after a decade plus of being a part of one of the premiere High Octane Rock troupes in the NoAL (North Alabama) scene--in addition to my other musicial outlets; BLACKEYED SUSAN and KICKSTAND--I continue to forge ahead, writing and performing for the sheer sake of having FUN (first and foremost). And hopefully along the way I can turn the audience on to some of the music that moves me.


WHERE I'LL BE NEXT: