Chris Smither

Country Blues singer-songwriter and guitar player Smither got his start in the Cambridge, Mass., coffeehouses during the folk revival of the 1960s. He was an influential performer on the circuit, and Bonnie Raitt, who was also on the scene at the time, has covered a number of his songs. Smither recorded several records at that time but nothing much came of them, and he spent a good part of the '70s in an alcoholic haze. Since cleaning up, Smither has given his career a full throttle revival with a constant schedule of touring and critically praised releases. His style involves intricate guitar fingerpicking and percussive foot tapping that backs up his powerfully bluesy voice.