Country Sound in a Big City

If you only had to go on the music of Jonah Smith, chances are you'd probably think he lives in Nashville or New Orleans, but in reality he resides in New York City - a city that has a little or even a lot of everything when it comes to music.

Smith, 30, who rocks out as much as one can on a Fender Rhodes, is the songwriter behind some of the most expressive, serene and soulful compositions of the year all on his self-titled debut album on Relix Records.

“I didn't really have a specific thing in mind, like I wanted to play American roots music when I moved to New York,” said Smith. “I moved to New York to be a songwriter and to be a musician. This is my first national record, I guess you could say. I've recorded two other albums before (one jazz-inspired and the other classic R&B) independently and each record is pretty different from the last one.”

The works feature his band - Ben Rubin on bass, David Soler on steel pedal guitar, Marko Djordjevic on the drums, Bob Reynolds on saxophone and Andy Stack on guitar - along with famed jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, Garth Hudson of The Band on accordion, and Texas fiddler and singer Carrie Rodriguez, the former who played at the request of Lee Townsend, who was a dream producer come true.

Smith now lives in Brooklyn, moving there from nearby Boston. With a nasal ebb and flow in his vocal repertoire reminiscent of Van Morrison and even Ben Harper, Smith sounds nothing like his singing version when in conversation and cites a library of influences. Smith wrote all of the album's songs (one co-authored by Soler) with the exception of one: a cover of Malcolm Holcombe's “Dressed in White.” The album was recorded at the Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, N.Y., where Smith met local resident and member of The Band, Levon Helm.

“I grew up listening to a lot of different music. I have just always been fascinated with American music and the roots of American music, everything from blues and a lot of jazz up through soul and R&B and classic rock,” said Smith. “But I have just kind of tried to follow my muse and go where it takes me, and it takes me to all sorts of different places. It's not like it's real drastic, I'm not going to be doing a gothic metal album any time soon. It is all based in American roots.”

The record is a sincere illustration of American roots music combining elements of jazz, blues, gospel and even country, fused with Smith's low, Southern vocal drawl stretching over a collection of deep, moving lyrics. The band is conscious of working as a collective whole the way a group of clouds come together for a rainstorm, and the end result is a set of polished, mid- to slow-tempo songs rich in their melodies with lingering harmonies and involved rhythmic patterns. One can't help but imagine how the songs translate to the stage, chances are twice as good as on record: an authentic mark of an accomplished band.