[1] He has released fourteen albums since 2000, largely with group Sonny & The Sunsets.. His work has variously encompassed blues, folk, pop and rock elements.
[1] Smith is a songwriter in the tradition of Ray Davies whose songs are often populated by characters with an emphasis on outcasts, weirdos, freaks, death, love and atypical transformation.
They sometimes recall the 1950s era doo wop of The Falcons combined with the direct sincerity and positive spirit of Modern Lovers’ Jonathan Richman, the kitchen sink wisdom of Michael Hurley and the absurdity of The Hairy Who?
[1] Skipping between the Rocky Mountains of Denver, San Francisco, and Central America, he began to write original songs, short stories and plays.
With the Release of Tomorrow Is Alright on Fat Possum, Sonny & the Sunsets began to tour more extensively through US, Europe, Australia and Japan.
The songs were small noir like comic book episodes, Robert Crumb meets Randy Newman, set to garage rock inspired doo-wop music reminiscent of The Kinks.
[4] The album was recorded to tape and takes influence from Gene Clark, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Townes Van Zandt, Johnny Cash and The Kinks.
The song “Modern Age” highlights computer created confusion and “White Cop on Trial” discusses the civil rights abuse.
Then the pandemic began, and everyone was alone now, and it felt like it had been strangely prescient to write about being alone” The album title and cover art takes inspiration from a painting by artist Chris Johanson.
[10] Much of the album was written and recorded alone during the pandemic, though Smith later collaborated with steel guitar player Joe Goldmark, Rusty Miller and Dylan Edrich.
“Helen Brown was born in Vancouver, Canada, but raised in an Athens, Georgia-based religious cult, and was blinded in one eye from a childhood baseball injury.
For years, she lived alone in a mountaintop in southern Alaska, where she befriended a Cherokee Shaman (later revealed as a fake) who encouraged her to pursue a frustrating academic career.
However, a few sides did emerge in the late ’90s (recording dates unknown), which feature a unique mix of country, girl group, R&B, and ghoulishness.
He holds production credits for the following albums:[19] Smith founded Rocks in Your Head records in 2018, where he has produced and released music for Sonny & The Sunsets and other bands such as Galore, Fake Fruit, the Gonks, poet Tongo Eisen-Martin and more.