Music Feature Issue #21.37 :: 09/10/2008 - 09/16/2008 Organically Grown Corey Smith
Capital City Stadium: Friday, Sept. 12 | Even though he’s one of the most successful independent musicians around, Georgia native Corey Smith admits it wasn’t exactly something he planned.
“It’s all been a very organic process,” Smith says. “I never thought I’d be playing music for a living. It was a hobby for a long time, while I was a high school teacher. I picked up gigs around town, made a demo for family and friends and to sell at shows, and it took off from there.”
That’s a modest assessment of Smith’s exponential growth as a touring artist, as he at one point claimed the title of the No.1 unsigned country artist on MySpace. The Jefferson, Ga., native made two more albums while he was still teaching at North Gwinnett High School in suburban Atlanta before making the decision to pursue music full-time. Even he agrees that his story is atypical of most indie acts.
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| Corey Smith |
“What’s different about it is that I’m closer to mainstream country music than anything else, and that’s an unusual genre to be an independent musician in,” Smith says. “Country is typically seen as huge production, very glitzy and polished, and my stuff is really just amateur.”
It’s the homemade nature of his music that Smith says is probably one explanation for its appeal.
“We’re becoming more desensitized to mass media,” Smith says. “We’re so bombarded by everything now online and on television. We’re looking for things with value, that we can find on our own.”
People have been finding Smith on their own, or through friends, for a while now, and early on the talk was all about how great a party his shows were. Imagine Jimmy Buffett and Robert Earl Keen fans put together and you’d have some idea of the earlier, wilder Corey Smith concerts. Smith says that was fun while it lasted, but he’s now indulging a more serious artistic side of his music these days.
“Especially a couple years ago, the party image was fitting with songs like ‘21’ and the other party songs I played; there were a lot of kids coming to the shows just to drink,” Smith says. “With the solo acoustic shows I was doing, it was hard not to do the party atmosphere, just to get heard over the crowd and to get a positive reaction. It has evolved now in many ways — I’m not drinking on stage any more, and for the past year-and-a-half, I’ve created a really dynamic show that’s just about the music.”
He’s also not flying solo at gigs any more, Smith adds.
“Now, I have a full band with me: bass, fiddle, the works,” Smith says. “That has really helped the show evolve. Also, the songs are about more than just one thing — I’m not just that drinking-song guy, or that nostalgia guy.”
Hard-Headed Fool, Smith’s most recent studio album, is instead full of songs that chronicle the growing pains of a man who’s realizing the road doesn’t go on forever and the party eventually ends.
The crowd at this week’s show will be even more familiar with Smith’s music than most since it comes the night before the USC-Georgia football game, and plenty of Smith’s hometown fans will be in attendance.
“I’ve played towns before where UGA is playing football, but music transcends culture, and even allows different colleges to get along,” Smith says when asked about playing a show on enemy turf. “USC fans will be chanting at me during the show, probably. Last year, UGA was beaten by USC and I was playing a show in Columbia about a week later and changed the words in ‘Maybe Next Year’ to, ‘Maybe next year Georgia won’t lose,’ and the crowd went nuts.”
No doubt, USC fans in the audience will be hoping his prediction won’t come true even as they start their tailgating parties a day early.
Capital City Stadium is located at 301 S. Assembly St. Patrick Davis and Crowfield open; check out free-times.com for Kevin Oliver’s interview with Davis. Doors open at 8 p.m.; tickets are $15. Tickets are available at etix.com. | |
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