Sam Smick, who has been a part of the Delaware music scene for the past 15 years, is traveling new roads on a vast musical journey.   His self-titled debut EP Sam'pler and his full length LP "Strange Trichodomy", have a sound that is both new (modern) but also rooted in a rich musical past.  Both CD's feature his trademark vocals, piano and distinctive style which has been compared to the likes of Stephen Stills and Bruce Cockburn.  Nonetheless, Smick's musical quest has led him to a point wherein he now displays a songwriting sensibility that is all his own.    

          Before writing and recording his own CD's (or "records" as he likes to call them) Smick has been involved in a wide range of musical situations.  At age 7, he began to study the trumpet but then at age 15 Sam switched to the french horn which he continued through college and eventually went on to play for two seasons with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra. It was also in his early teens that Sam picked up a guitar for the first time. Smick recalls:

         "I have the distinct memory of all the hub-bub that was created in our household just after The Beatles had 'invaded' America, although I was too young to really 'get it', a few years later my older brother Tim had brought home 'Abbey Road' or something, I was like 6 years old…oh man I was really blown away….I was totally 'hooked' right then and there! And then, when I was 13 or so, my brother Dan showed me a few chords on the guitar…and a couple of weeks later, it was me who was teaching him the chord changes to a whole bunch of these Beatles, CSN and John Denver songs!"

         Sam grew up the youngest of 4 boys, his parents being devout, yet independently-minded Christians. Undoubtedly, religious music played a significant part in his early artistic development. However, it was Smick's longstanding career as a solo acoustic performer along with his well-crafted and incredibly diverse "cover-sets" (which caught so many people's attention from the mid 1980's through the 90's) that seems to

have played the most important role in his musical development. In 1992 and in 1993 Sam was honored with Delaware Today Magazine's Best of Delaware Award as "the best acoustic guitar act" in the state. Then, in 1994, Smick founded the "cover band" aptly named "Green Eggs and Sam" (an 11 pc. ensemble) that gained a respectable regional following. Sam speaks about that experience:

          "Green Eggs was a really great time, although it was at that point that I knew I wanted (and needed) to do something more (than cover other people's songs)…that I really had something more I wanted to say".

But in an age where it seems like just about "anyone and everyone" has their own CD on the market, Smick felt that if he was going to do this, he needed to win over not only the ears of his listeners, but their hearts and minds as well. Sam speaks about this:

          "I found that it was so easy for me to shy away from the obvious…but a person only has the ability to run away from the 'truth' for so long. Something eventually has to give! So that kind of brings you up to date on the current leg of this crazy odyssey that I'm on…I'm just figuring out my own personal little tid-bits of 'truth' and then maybe (or maybe not) writing about it. You know… coming up with a few interesting chords and adhering to a direct obligation to the truth…that's my formula, so to speak (if there is such a thing). And if people can identify with it…well then… that just makes this whole thing that much more wonderful! You hear a lot of songwriters who talk about the process by which they found their quote/unquote 'voice'. For me, I really knew deep inside that I had things (both musically and lyrically) that I wanted to say, and at the same time, I was getting so tired and irritated when I found myself in situations where I was supposed to be performing to a room full of people but it seemed that I was only there to serve as some kind of 'human jukebox' or 'musical wallpaper' , all for the benefit of this or that establishment. So, eventually I quit that 'bit' and started writing my own songs…it was inevitable really."

Smick continues, "Or maybe it's just an 'ego thing' wherein

you have to dare yourself to surrender to your own voice…dare yourself not to always play it safe…dare yourself to contribute whatever it is that you have to offer… and dare yourself just to go ahead and give it a try".

So it is, that all of this music that had so profoundly influenced Sam for so many years (The Beatles, Elton John, Brian Wilson, CSN&Y, The Eagles, Paul Simon, Yes, Steely Dan, Bruce Cockburn, the Allman Bros. Band, Lyle Lovett, … the list goes on and on), was precisely the music that he felt he needed to abandon somewhat in order to find out what his own voice was going to be. The result??? Well, it could be said that Smick's music seems to defy genre. Nonetheless, it seems that Sam still cannot help but draw on his many musical influences, but he now does this by synthesizing them into his own fresh, evocative musical language. Bringing together the best elements of blues, pop, and acoustic rock, Smick crafts intelligent and catchy tunes that seem to stay in your head long after listening. Sam comments on this element in his music:

          "When I consider my audience, I always think about this one strange phenomenon: There will always be those songs that are just so instantly appealing to all of us, and other songs that seem to have some kind of built-in need to slowly reveal themselves to us over time...and with that being understood, it is interesting to me that this same phenomenon runs parallel to the way that songs 'come to' us songwriters. Some songs seem to be instantly realized by the artist and might take 20 minutes (or less) to write, while others can take nearly 20 years of artistic 'mid-wifing' to reveal themselves into their own existence...go figure!".

          Whatever his method, it's safe to say that Sam's metamorphosis from "acoustic cover gig expert" into a performing singer-songwriter has resulted in a better, more musically defined Sam Smick. He is easily compared to the ancient story of the "phoenix" who according to that legend, has risen from the ashes of his own "acoustic-minstrel" heritage and has now "taken flight" into a whole new musical existence. So listen for the song of this "firebird" and keep your eyes toward the sky and you'll be sure to see Sam Smick soaring high above!

By Susan Landis,
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Interview by Graham Erikson