Catching Up with Laura Smith
By Roger Douglas
Bursey
Laura Smith is a
singer and songwriter who is no stranger to success. In fact, since the release of her 1994 album B’tween
the Earth and My Soul she’s won an ECMA, a Gemini, and had a Juno
nomination. It is no surprise, given the
fact that her haunting and lamenting vocals captivates an unsuspecting audience
and takes them on an emotional journey that leaves everyone breathless and
asking for more. Recently, I caught up with her after her performance at the
Harmony House in Hunter River, PEI.
Congratulations on your return to the stage. Could
you share with me and our readers what it felt like to perform for the very
first time after such a long hiatus?
LS: Thanks,
you’re so kind...It’s so great to be back at it, but you know, I didn’t really
leave. Although I didn’t put an album out in 16 years and as bad as I was, I
still managed to perform. I’d throw my guitar over my shoulder and head out to
the open-mics and anywhere else I was asked to play…I love the stage. I was born to be on the stage, so this is just so great
to be back at it.
Since the release of Everything Is Moving,
what has the response been like from your loyal fans and for that matter, the
public in general?
LS: I still have the continued support of my fans and I got some wonderful
reviews and a couple of “Record of the Year” [mentions] with radio stations.
College radio and stuff, which is very good. I'm completely thrilled.
Your music crosses such a number of different genres, some Celtic,
folk, and traditional old songs that you’ve revived. Can you tell us about your
musical influences?
LS: I was talking to Don Brownrigg who opened the show tonight and he's a
huge Nick Drake fan. I discovered Nick Drake in the early 70s from a friend who
was in charge of the import section at Sam the Record Man in Ontario. And,
he was bringing in all kinds of great stuff. So Nick Drake, but in terms of my
stage show now, there’s just so many people that got me here. You know I think
back to my brother's record collection: Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Joan
Baez, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Murray McLauchlan...oh my gosh....Yeah
Bruce Cockburn was in the little club I started out at… David Wiffen, Colin
Peterson, Nancy Simons ...Victor Garber taught me the first a capella song I
ever learned. He didn't teach it to me directly, but he sang it and I was so
gobsmacked by it I had to go out and learn it. That was Golden Apples of the Sun.
As I was listening to you talk
about where you get your ideas for your songs...to me the ideas almost sound
like they come to you like an apparition. Could you walk us through the
creative process?
LS: [gives a hearty laugh] Well,
there definitely is an element of other-worldliness. I think to the creative
process, one must tap into the invisible.
You know composing is not driving. It's connecting to …what was the word
you used?
I said...like it's like an
apparition.
LS: Yeah there certainly is an element of…it can be very surprising as the
imagery comes. And, as you start to formulate your ideas; and, I learned very
early on, and I've talked about it my whole career, that you can't edit this.
You mustn't edit it. You must stay out of your own way completely and let it
come... For years I didn't write anything down. I don't write down the lyrics
as they come. I just sing them. I put them right into the song. And, it was only a good friend of mine who
was so freaked out that I didn't write them down and he started archiving my
work, and making sure it was at least on a page somewhere. Now I tend to write
things down a little bit more. But yeah. I hear ya. I know what you’re talking about
[laughs]. And I have a wonderful record company and I think they'd like
another record. So, that’ll be a conversation we’ll need to have later.
Is there one in the
future?
LS: Well, no I'm not working on one, but they would like one, so that's a
conversation we'd have to have. I have some ideas. But, I never thought I'd put
out this last one. The fact that it even exists is a miracle; so, if I can do
it once in sixteen years, maybe I can do it twice in seventeen? [laughs]
I don't do anything
alone, ya know. There are people that I confide in and help me, who I
share the vision with and who help me... because I can’t produce a record on my
own. I don't have the energy or the smarts for that, and then finding the funding... Jumping through all those hoops and
getting it done. As we age, it's hard not to get a little nervous. Just how it
is all going to play out, but I feel pretty good. I'm so proud of this
recording. I feel so fortunate to have been able to find the wonderful people
to help me make that record. I feel that it bodes well for the future and that
it could happen at all, given the shape that I was in…So, I just think, you know,
onwards and upwards is all I really can think about.
Since your last album in 1997, we
saw the advent of social media; how has it impacted your career?
LS: To
be quite honest, social media hasn’t really had any impact; and because of it,
I don’t know if I’ll even have a job next year. Just for the fact that I am not
interested in having a presence on YouTube or a Twitter account. I’m not a
techie person. However, my record company is always after me to get a presence.
All I rely on is Facebook and a webpage, so fans can see where I’m performing
next, and that’s the extent of it.
If someone came to you and they
were thinking about following a similar path getting into the music industry, what
kind of advice would you give them?
LS: The trouble of actually entering into the music industry, I'd tell them
not to bother. One can think in those
terms. If you are a writer or you're a composer you know it. You either are or
you aren't—you’ve just got to do the work.
You’ve got to do the work and make time for it. Make time to do the work
and love it with all your heart and do the very best you can...I sang every
open mic night, and I went everywhere they would let me play and hone my craft.
I mean you’ve just got to do it ‘cause the industry is not [long pause]
your friend. It's the work that is your friend.
The people you meet who share
your vision of music are your friends. The industry…I don't even think it's
worth thinking about. If you find yourself with people who have a role in that
world, who you trust and who want to help you get a leg up, great, but art does not exist for an industry.
Art came first. The industry has tried to usurp art and sometimes it's done a
good job of it and sometimes it hasn't.
I mean if you want to get into
the music business, study accounting, or become a lawyer or whatever…I'm in the
business of music. I have to make decisions everyday about, you know, what I'm
going to pay my accompanist, what I have to pay for gas…I have to do all kinds
of things. I have to deal with an accountant. I deal with a banker. There are
all kinds of decisions I have to make every day about the business of getting
to work. But, they have nothing to do with me making songs....or becoming the
artist I am today. I mean, if I can continue to make songs that make me happy
and that I don't work, someone will hear them. Someone will say, "Wow, Laura.
Wow, what a great song!”
It's about the music; it's about
the craft. One has to hone their craft and work at it. That was a real eye opener, because I had to
think about what I do. I'm not sure I like that. I'm not sure I'm good at it. But
it was quite enlightening to have to talk to people about what it is I do,
because I usually don't talk about it.
If someone asked you, what does
the future hold for Laura Smith, what would you tell them?
LS: To be healthy, hone my craft, and have another album out, play as long
as I can, and to continue to play at places like The Woods Festival.
Where was that at?
LS: The Woods Music and Dance camp.
For the first year this year it was up at a place called Bark Lake which is
near Haliburton, Ontario.
Oh, yeah…
LS: For 25 years I think it was on Lake Rosseau, but it's a brilliant camp
with brilliant teachers and I was very grateful to be a part of it.
Excellent
LS: Anyway, I think I should go. I think we're keeping these
people...
Thank you very much once again. I
appreciate it.
LS: Thank you
Roger
Douglas Bursey
is a musician, writer and a Newfoundlander currently living in Prince Edward
Island. He looks forward to taking Laura Smith up on her offer of bodhrán lessons next time she’s on the Island.
Read Bursey’s review of Smith’s latest album: http://artseast.blogspot.com/2013/09/laura-smith-is-back.html
