Mindy Smith

Saturday, November 13 • Doors 8pm • Show 9pm • $20 Flat • Over 21 Only • Buy Tickets

w/ Elijah Aaron

Art helps us articulate emotions. When complex feelings seem impossible to condense into words, we turn to musicians to speak on our behalf. On her new album, Stupid Love, Mindy Smith gives voice to the myriad sentiments, from elation to sorrow, that accompany falling in love.

Few singers are better prepared than Smith to sing convincingly about such a wide range of emotions. Her pure, unaffected soprano illuminates her words and sentiments—even when it seems as if she is singing for just herself, as on the intimate “Telescope.” Each performance is rendered with exquisite care. Listen to the way she slowly rises out of world-weary dejection on the opening “What Went Wrong,” the light gradually filling her voice like dawn breaking over the horizon.

Effortless as these performances feel, Smith is a perfectionist when she steps up to the microphone. “It is really important to me for every vocal to be as good as it can be.” Especially in the recording studio. “There are some songs I do in one take and others where I have to go through and sing line by line.” While making Stupid Love, she pushed herself harder than ever as a singer, building and sustaining passages. “There were a lot of parts that required big, long breaths,” she admits.

Musically, Stupid Love reflects Smith’s diverse personal tastes. “I’m influenced by all kinds of music,” she confirms. Some arrangements incorporate banjo or slide guitar; others are graced with strings, particularly the cello parts of Matt Slocum. “There was a lot of exploring and experimentation,” adds Mindy. On “What Love Can Do,” an uplifting rocker that sounds more like a product of Southern California than Nashville, she played a beer bottle; several cuts feature parts played on an iPhone. The result is an album as variegated as vintage Fleetwood Mac or Steely Dan.

Smith is careful not to disclose particulars about individual songs because she worries that might interfere with the listening experience. “People tend to relate to my songs because of their own experiences. And they’ll take what works in their own life away from this record.” But rest assured all her music comes from the heart. “Everything here is definitely from my personal experience,” she concludes. “Heartbreak, healing, all that stuff… it’s all legit.” And you can hear that honesty in every note she sings on Stupid Love.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 4:24 pm and is filed under Past Shows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.