Smith was the lead guitarist for the duo Hall & Oates during the band's heyday from 1979 to 1985, playing on several albums and five number one singles.

[1] Smith has recorded and performed with many acclaimed artists, including David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Roger Waters, Tina Turner, Tracy Chapman, Tom Waits and Dan Hartman.

[3][2] His albums as a solo artist include In the World (1981), Get a Little (with the Saturday Night Live Band, 1993), Incense, Herbs and Oils (1998) and Stony Hill (2020) with Leroy Bell.

On his 11th birthday Smith's mother bought him his first electric guitar, a Fender Esquire,[7] a model that dated to 1952, his birth year.

As a teen he was already earning money as a musician, playing in various venues, including resorts and high school dances in the Pocono Mountains in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

[5] In the early 1970s, Smith left Northeastern Pennsylvania for the New Haven, Connecticut, area, where he played in a group called The Scratch Band, which also included his future Hall & Oates bandmate Mickey Curry.

From 1979 to 1985, Smith played lead guitar with Daryl Hall and John Oates, a band which also included Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, Charles DeChant and Mickey Curry.

He also led bands for the Muddy Waters tribute and the 1998 and 1999 Mark Twain Awards honoring Richard Pryor and Jonathan Winters, which aired on PBS and Comedy Central, respectively.

[20][21][22] In July 2016, Smith again led the house band for candidate Donald Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Ohio.

[24] To get a better understanding of what inspires famous musicians and artists from a variety of fields, Smith and his wife Taylor Barton founded the concert series Portraits in 2015.