★★★★★
Singer/songwriter Smither has always found his sound's beating heart in folk blues and his twelfth studio album taps directly into that bloodstream. Oddly, it's his first comprised of all originals in a four decade career. He does revisit two earlier compositions bringing the wisdom of his advancing years to the regretful "I Feel the Same" and the cautionary "Every Mother's Son" whose biblical references of offspring gone bad are just as pertinent today...
- www.americansongwriter.com
2013-04-25
★★★★★
Chris Smither's first album I'm a Stranger Here Myself dates back to 1970, a year known for the for the Kent State shootings, Detroit muscle cars, and a time when sweet baby James Taylor and the paranoid Black Sabbath could both be on the top ten best selling records of the year charts. It was a strange time, but Chris Smither was a strange dude so he fit right in. The Crescent City blues man let his six string guitar do most of the talking, something he still does today...
- www.popmatters.com
2012-09-04
★★★★★
Chris Smither's voice is like good, aged whiskey. It goes down smooth but still burns and yields a hefty kick. Extending the metaphor, his deft finger picking acoustic guitar riffs are the wooden barrel that gives the alcohol its flavor. The playing contains rich resonances that make one pay attention and savor the quality. Smither's folk blues are the aural equivalent of good American spirits like Knob Creek or Maker's Mark, and listening to him will make you thirsty for more...
- www.popmatters.com
2011-01-20
★★★★★
Born in Miami but weaned on the mid-'60's coffee house scene around Boston, Smither remains a strangely undiscovered talent. The 11th album of his 33-year recording career is a masterclass in deftly-picked country blues guitar, drawing on Lightnin' Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt (a sunny-side-up cover of "Candy Man") alongside the more lugubrious Fred Neil. Smither's weathered old pipes are a joy as he tramples over melting chords like a bear with a migraine...
- www.uncut.co.uk
2010-06-19
★★★★★
His dad died, the economy crashed, and his easy groove feels more amenable very year ("Surprise, Surprise," "Old Man Down").
- www.robertchristgau.com
2010-02-12
★★★★★
Chris Smither has been doing what he does for years now, and what he does is pretty simple. Armed with an acoustic guitar and a well-worn boot heel, Smither spins out haunting, surprisingly melodic blues. Like the late John Lee Hooker, Smither metronomically taps out the rhythm with his foot (Smither makes sure each performance space doesn't have a rug or carpeted floor) while working his gruff voice through the highs, lows, and in-betweens of songs of hard living and redemption...
- www.adequacy.net
2009-07-21
★★★★★
Raised in New Orleans on Lightnin' Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt and schooled in the Boston and Cambridge coffee shops of the '60s, Chris Smither stands outside of the mass of late '60s white boys questing for American authenticity...
- www.mojo4music.com
2009-07-21
★★★★★
Chris Smither is someone a friend of mine has been trying to get me into for a long time and now I see why. On Leave the Light On, Smither showcases the lived-in voice and stellar acoustic blues guitar picking that have won him acclaim from folks like my friend for more than 40 years.The disc gets off to a terrific start with the wry shuffle "Open Up" and the fantastic title tune, a song about growing old, the passage of time and its occasional fluidity...
- www.ink19.com
2009-07-20
★★★★★
Smither writes tough-minded yet numinous post-folk songs that do justice to his adventurous taste in other people's--the covers include "Friend of the Devil," "No Expectations," and "Down in the Flood." His Vaughan-Monroe-sings-the-blues baritone is both yearning and astringent, and he sounds like he wishes he were playing bottleneck even when he isn't. A smart record.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-17
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