Stephen D. Smith
Guitar and Vocals
Stephen Smith was born in Brooklyn NY but raised in New London Connecticut and Upstate New York. His first musical instrument was the piano and then the accordion, taking group lessons at the YMCA in Poughkeepsie. At age 16 he was gifted a balalaika, a three stringed Russian instrument that he had no idea how to tune, let alone play. He began making up tunings and chords and eventually gave up in disgust, instead purloining a real acoustic guitar from the same sister that had given him the Russian toy. This began a life-long fascination with stringed instruments, primarily the guitar and bass with some forays into the banjo and oud.
Stephen is self-taught, which accounts for his cumbersome way of playing with the thumb rather than a pick. However, after years of practice Stephen can alternate-pick with the thumb, a style of playing only a few have attempted to master. “I often see other guitar players looking at my hands with a question in their eyes”, he says. “They don’t realize that I am playing notes both on the down and the up strokes and so my notes sound faster than they look”.
Stephen has played in many local bands in the Hudson Valley and Albany areas. Eclipse was the first Funk and Disco band, but he also has played in reggae bands such as The Transnationals, The Ravers, The Dreadnots, and The Bounce-back Band. R&B bands include the Funk Masters, and Room Service. Jazz bands included the Funk Merchant and Slippery When Wet. Rock bands include 24-7, and Trial and Error. Stephen also performs solo and in a duo arrangement known as As-Is. Currently, Stephen is also acoustic guitarist and lead singer for the Bluegrass and Americana band Three Quarter North.
“I guess if there is such a thing as a “happy place” mine would have to be in front of an audience playing and singing music. It doesn’t really matter to me what kind of music either. If the people are digging it, I’m having a good time.”
