Smith grew up in the rural Western Massachusetts town of Colrain,[4] learning piano, guitar, bass and drums as a teenager.
[3] As Smith described it, "My grandmother was a stride piano player, Jelly Roll Morton-style... She almost went professional, but because she was a woman in the '20s I don't think she felt she'd be able to go all the way with it.
Ears Like Golden Bats was described by eMusic.com as "one of the year's most thrilling surprises, an album that wraps wry gallows humor in glistening guitars and whistling synths.
The first words on the record are "God bless the criminal," and its remainder is filled with tales of sad sacks and pessimists who never built a bridge they wouldn't burn.
[7] In early 2010, the group solicited funding on Kickstarter for a new album, citing a plan to work with producer/musician Marc Kramer (of Butthole Surfers, Galaxie 500, and Bongwater).