There are 8 tunes up there for streaming into your computer: The Elevator Man & Children of the World from Backdrop Mirage and The Curious Incident of the Pizza Delivery on the Outskirts of Las Vegas & A Little Bit More & The Windowsill from Damage Control and Cant Buy Into It & The Purgatory Express & Waking Here In Your Forest from Landfall.
Copies of Landfall & Backdrop Mirage are available again!
Where you might just be finding me these days
Upcoming Features & Gigs & Things:
January 2nd, 2015: featuring at the GALA Art Show Coffeehouse, 7:30pm-9:40ishpm
205 School Street, Gardner, MA 01440
In the precambrian past I was known to make many appearances & occasional features at these open mics:
Tuesdays:
Heidi Jo's Open Mike at that den of iniquity, The South Gardner Hotel (SoHo!)
Occasionally Bill McCarthy's open mike at Greendale's on the north side of Worcester.
Wednesdays:
William's Pub & restaurant in Gardner, MA, hosted by Bernie Frenette
Thursdays: nothing
1st Fridays:
The Open Mike at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Peterborough, NH,
hosted by Jack Kid
2nd Fridays:
The Open Mike at the Meetinghouse Stage, Rindge, NH,
hosted by Dave Lister
All other Fridays:
Hosted by Captain Picard, The Coolest Place On Earth (TCPOE) at the Main Street Cafe in Groton, across from The old Groton Inn. More info might be found here
Wasa Street in Gardner!!!! The newest artist conclave in Massachusetts - right in Gardner on 9 Wasa Street in the renovated church so amply & warmly welcomed by host Bethany Price. Bring a potluck dinner or toss some money into the jar. No alcohol, please. Sound by JBSound!! You can get studio quality recordings!
==> But I would be remiss not to mention the absolutely fine thing they have going on right now in downtown Fitchburg at the Chaibo's. Wonderful stuff.
Nate Smith sings from deep down because he really means it. I
like his versions of Bob Dylan's songs, and many of his originals have
that Dylanesque feel. His range expands when he plays old-time banjo to
accompany his old-time songs about modern times. Little guy, big soul,
middle-age crazy...good show.
~ Dave Fishken of Fishken
& Groves, October 25, 2004
Standing at the microphone in an old soft hat with a beat-up
guitar and a neck rack harmonica, Nate Smith mixes his own songs with
Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen material. Other influences include Woody
Guthrie, Joni Mitchell, and Pete Seeger. Nate is a frequent participant
at the folk open mikes scattered around eastern and central Massachusetts
and no Dylan tribute night would be complete without him, but he may also
sing an old time traditional song with open back banjo accompaniment played
claw-hammer style. His writing is playful. In the older song I’m A
Sponge, he writes “Someday I might want to go away / by changing into
a big stingray! / but right now I'm fine as I am / absorbing everything I
can”. In 2003’s Anything, he writes, “You can be anything you want /
just turn the next page, ride on a wind / let yourself go, set forth
again / you can be anything you want”. Nate has one CD out*, a mostly
live recording titled “Searching for Refuge”, and there are few copies
left of an earlier tape called “Full Length Mirror”.
~ Geoff Bartley, November
1, 2004 *at the time of this quote
album photo by Dennis Olden & Fred Fluchel
Quick Bio:
Nate Smith has been writing & singing his own songs since way
back in the 60's. Originally performing in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he moved
east to Massachusetts in 1970 and soon was making the rounds in Cambridge
for a brief spell. Then he moved west to Fitchburg and took time off for
a family. In 1999, at the insistent urging of his wife, he began singing
at the Boulder Coffeehouse in Fitchburg, ably run by Keith Penniman. Soon
he was back out on the circuit, mostly in the north Worcester County area,
but occasionally making a strategic venture into the Cambridge scene at
Geoff Bartley's open mic, along with visits as far northwest as Keene, NH.
In 2003 Nate was able to compile his first CD, Searching For Refuge, with the aid of the amazing talents
of soundman Don Goguen (see his site at
FolkCafe.com). It features 12 originals with 8 of them recorded LIVE.
Local radio station WICN in
Worcester, MA, played the 3rd cut, "Goodbye, My Sweet Marie", in their
regular Saturday night program, Against the Grain, hosted
by Nick DiBiasio. Now he has 3 more CDs out, Damage Control
, featuring 4 banjo tunes and 3 others accompanied by bass &
drums, along with 7 other tracks. This CD was recorded & engineered by
Jeff Root at the famous Root Cellar! The 1st song, "We're Drinkin' Down Our Coffee"
has been getting some airplay on Worcester's WCUW. And recently, along with
singing several Dylan tunes, Nate sang 3 of his own tunes live over the air on
WCUW. Following that came Landfall . Landfall features his famous song "Purgatory Express" and was then succeeded by his 4th CD, Backdrop Mirage featuring "Elevator Man" and "Pitchblack Mornings".
The hotLinks to the lyrics are ready. The 1st one you pick may take a moment to load into memory, but then the others should be pretty quick.
My 1st all-original CD, Searching For Refuge, featuring 8
live cuts, is out of print, but will be back!
You used to be able to hear these songs at DF-Jams.
There was a SOLD OUT single CD featuring my song Here On Red Apple Farm. It had 2 bonus tracks included - The Curious Incident Of The Pizza Delivery On The Outskirts Of Las Vegas from Damage Control and an alternate acoustic version of Little Balloon from Landfall.
I may still be able to find copies of a CD single out to support the family of one of New England's dearest friends, Mike Duffy, featuring my song The Ballad Of Mike Duffy.
Damage Control is available the same way, when it is back in print!
Some of this photo collage for the Damage Control cover artwork is by Leo
Rousseau
Landfall cover photography by Justin Smith
Backdrop Mirage cover photography by Justin Smith and a family friend
You can order copies of these at some future time by sending me email!
Or you can see me in person on the circuit when it comes around again
on the guitar.
For a complete view of ALL of my lyrics, click here.
Boulder Coffeehouse, Fitchburg
Old Groton Inn, Groton
The Bull Run Restaurant, Shirley
Parish Center for the Arts, Westford
The Woods Hole Public Library, Woods Hole
GALA Art Show, various sites annually, Gardner
McNally's Pub & Grill, Westminster
The Cantab Lounge, Cambridge
Nameless Coffeehouse, Cambridge
Red Apple Farm Thanksgiving Fest, Phillipston
The Keene Music Festival, Keene, NH
Fitchburg Farmer's Market, Thursday afternoons
Fitzwilliam Farmer's Market, Fitzwilliam NH
Sholan Farms Fundraiser in Leominster, MA
Main Streets Market & Cafe, Concord
Savoury Lane Deli & Caterer
Stagecoach Inn, Groton
The Loft at the Grange (formerly The Village Gate) at the Village Store, Brookline, NH
Sweet Bites Bakery & Cafe, West Acton
Continental Cafe, West Acton
Sit'n'Bull Pub, Maynard
The Gazebo Lounge in the Four Points Hotel, Leominster
The Mariposa Museum, Peterborough, NH
Webster House Restaurant, Worcester
Bob Jordan's Dylan Tribute at Cafe Fantastique, Worcester, via Troy Tyree, Executive Director, WCUW 91.3/Rotman's Furniture
WCUW's 2006 Bob Dylan Tribute, Worcester, 91.3 FM.
Bob Jordan's Dylan Tribute at Elm Street Park, Worcester, hosted by Troy Tyree, WICN 90.5
Bob Jordan's Dylan Tribute at Cafe Fantastique, Worcester, hosted by Troy Tyree, WICN 90.5/Rotman's Furniture
Gardner Music Hall, Gardner
Northeast Organic Farmer's Association, Hampshire College
Wachusett Village Inn, Westminster
Thunderbird Cafe, Barre
Barre Folkfestival, Barre
William's Restaurant, Gardner
The Plough & Stars, Cambridge
Blueplate Lounge, Holden
Lake Ripple Lounge, Grafton
Troy Coffeehouse, Troy, NH
Lincoln Laboratory Concert Series, Lexington
Knights of Columbus, Leominster
Radio station play:
WICN, Worcester, 90.5 fm
WCUW, Worcester, 91.3 fm
Open Mic Guest Host:
The Nameless Coffeehouse, Cambridge, MA, 2005
The Cantab Lounge, Cambridge, MA, 2004
