www.austin.com - Drew Smith

Drew Smith

Written by Tamara Dwyer

Drew Smith’s Lonely Choir, circa 2008
Drew Smith; Photo: Ed Verosky

Music was never just background for Drew Smith. His parents kept the vinyl spinning as he was growing up—albums by Harry Chapin, Paul Simon, Peter, Paul and Mary, and John Denver. And young Drew Smith soaked it all in with precocious appreciation. He cared about every aspect of the recording: how the melody flowed, why the songwriter chose this word instead of that one. At the age of 12, Smith bought a copy of Marc Cohn's self-titled album, with the hit "Walking in Memphis," and learned to play piano to accompany himself singing every song on the album.

Now making his own records in Austin, Smith has never lost his devotion to the nuances of the craft, his fondness for the albums his parents played. The 1970s is “the decade in which timeless music was invented,” he says. Artists, not the labels, were in control in the recording studio. They created full-length concept albums. Recording techniques captured the warmth of analog, and Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" was fully realized. Smith strives to create music in this tradition.

And so, it is no surprise Drew Smith opens his brand new release, Drew Smith's Lonely Choir, with a song about listening to songs—an homage to one of his heroes, Harry Nilsson. Nilsson is not a household name today, but his pop standards topped the charts throughout the 1970s. If you can hum along with "one is the loneliest number ..." you know Nilsson's songwriting. And if Smith continues the radiant brilliance that is captured on Lonely Choir, you’ll soon know Smith’s songwriting too. Much like his heroes, Smith is creating timeless music, pop classics that can transcend the decades.

As with all things transcendental, it was a journey to get here.

Smith graduated from high school gigs in Colorado Springs coffee shops to bar bands during college in Omaha, Nebraska. A guitarist by now, he dreamed of a career in music. So Smith continued playing gigs while attending school and working at a pizza parlor. It was here, in a college pizza joint, that he and his friend Adam Virant hatched a crazy college dream. “With your music, and my business sense…” Virant would say. Some wistful college dreams, it turns out, do come true; Virant has continued to invest in each of Smith’s recordings, allowing him to stretch out creatively in the process.

But first, Smith would need to find Austin. He would do so with the help of his older brother Ted, who first introduced his younger brother to Austin’s music scene by sending him KGSR Broadcasts CDs—the wildly popular compilation discs the local radio station creates each holiday season from live radio performances. Drew Smith took the bait. After college he moved to Austin “for the music,” and gave himself two years to start earning his way as a musician, the first in his family to do so.

Like many other members of our "creative class," Smith thrives on Austin's music network and community. "At first, it's hard to meet people, and the suddenly, you find how interconnected it is; how many people are working on projects with other people," he says.

Photos: Ed Verosky

Like many blossoming Austin musicians, Smith found a refuge in Momo’s nightclub downtown, where he could hone his music, and earn some bucks. "It's amazing, how you go into Momo's and musicians are working. At one time I was tending bar, Dustin [Welch] was running sound, and Jeremy [Nail] was working the door," says Drew. When they weren't working, they played in each other's bands and on each other's records.

In his new friendships, Smith found people like himself, who enjoyed listening—really listening—to albums from start to finish. Now he could discuss the finer points of the melodies, lyrics, and production techniques without irritating his family. This new group would get together to introduce to each other to different sounds and debate the merits of each album. Years later, many of these people would play key roles in recording Drew Smith's Lonely Choir, including Welch and Nail, who both play on the record (Smith also plays rhythm guitar with Dustin Welch and the House Band).

Another is Barrett Walton, who engineered the recording sessions and shares production credit with Smith on Lonely Choir. It was Walton who introduced Smith to rock ‘n’ roll. Rather insistently. Smith remembers Walton spouting, "'you haven't bought a Kinks album yet? You call yourself a music fan? Go buy Arthur right now!' So I did and fell in love with it."

Smith incorporated a lesson he learned from the Kinks into his music: to create unexpected melodies, where the next note isn't what our ears are trained to expect, but it works to create a compelling tune. Joining him in this quest is collaborator Matt Russell, who joined Smith’s band in 2002. Smith dubs Russell a "mathematician of music," with training in composition at Florida State and Master of Jazz Composition from the University of Texas. Russell fleshes out Smith’s songwriting, orchestrating the lush pop sounds on stage and in the studio. The arrangements are eclectic; Russell weaves multiple instruments and background vocals around Smith’s lyrics; horns on one song, fiddle and banjo on another.

"After all these years in Austin, the banjo and the pedal steel crept in to add that Austin twang," Smith explains.

But it took a trip to New York City in 2007, a visit with an old college friend, to make the recording happen. Virant, his former pizza parlor co-worker, hadn’t forgotten the original college dream.

"We were talking about music and how it is difficult to write, practice and record music while keeping odd jobs to get by on rent and such,” Smith recalls. “That is when Adam proposed to start a label [Viro Records] that could support me for one whole month in the studio and concentrate only on this record—six-day weeks, twelve-hour days. He got the paperwork done and I started writing songs.”

Smith & the Lonely Choir in the studio

Ten of Lonely Choir’s eleven songs were written after this agreement, as Smith immersed himself in the project, including “NYC Song,” which immortalizes the significance of the visit with Virant. Back in Austin, Smith began 2008 entering Walton’s Infinity Recording Studios. A whiteboard on the wall marked the schedule for recording each song, and the musicians and instruments required Matt Russell's richly textured arrangements. Many from Momo's gang lent their voices and talents as members of "The Lonely Choir," — rising stars like Welch, Nail, and Ed Jurdi (Band of Heathens). The moment the album was finished, Smith shared it with Jon Patillo at Fat Caddy Records, who instantly got on board, working with Viro Record to distribute and promote the CD.

Smith does his part by continuing to play his heart out at Momo’s and, increasingly, at the Continental Club. In the crowds, some people know many of the lyrics from the newly available album and sing along with enthusiasm. During the tender ballad "Something So Much," couples hold each other tightly and sway gently.

New fans are won over too. A trio of people stepped into his September release show at the Continental Club without any expectations. Perhaps they were traveling through Austin and exploring the live music scene with a trip to the storied club. Maybe they were expecting to find "Austin music" as unvarnished cow-punk, or a lonely guy on stage with a lonely guitar. Instead, they were treated to the lush, pop sounds of Drew Smith. And as the band wrapped up with "Are You Lonely," they—along with everyone in the audience—were inducted into the Lonely Choir with the call-and-response vocals that give the album its name. The unsuspecting trio were overheard to say "I didn't really expect anything like this…it's every bit as good as the Wallflowers."

Smith will take the compliment. But he would argue it’s every bit as good as Nillson.

You can hear Drew Smith’s Lonely Choir at Waterloo Records in Austin (featured at the "Momo's Own" Waterloo Listening Post for September 20008) and on iTunes.

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