Chris Smither

With his rugged baritone and distinctive fingerstyle guitar work, Chris Smither has cut a deep path through American folk and blues music during his six-decade career. After coming up through the mid-'60s Boston folk circuit, he released just two albums before a lengthy struggle with alcoholism derailed his recording career in the '70s. Though he remained a dynamic live performer, Smither didn't begin recording again until the early '90s, when he enjoyed an unlikely, but well-deserved revival. A prolific run in the '90s and 2000s helped cement his legacy with albums like Up on the Lowdown (1995) and Time Stands Still (2009) receiving widespread acclaim. Beyond his talent as a singer/guitarist, Smither is best known for his great songs, which have been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, and others. Compared to some of his peers from the same era, he remains somewhat unheralded, though late-period efforts like Call Me Lucky (2018) and All About the Bones (2024) have elevated his profile to a higher level than he'd enjoyed previously.