Chris Smither News

DVDs

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  • Time Stands Still

    Time Stands Still with Bonus DVD (2009)

    $20.00
    1. Don’t Call Me Stranger
    2. Time Stands Still
    3. Surprise, Surprise
    4. I Don’t Know
    5. Call Yourself
    6. Old Man Down
    7. I Told You So
    8. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
    9. Miner’s Blues
    10. Someone Like Me
    11. Madame Geneva’s
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  • The Guitar of Chris Smither

    The Guitar of Chris Smither Arrangements in Contemporary Blues Style

    $30.00

    85 minutes, DVD, VHS, or PAL, includes music and tab book.

    (Note: DVDs are formatted to play on universal players.)

    Watch a sample lesson!

    In this video, Chris Smither teaches the guitar arrangements to some of his most popular songs. You’ll learn the bass-line shuffle groove of “Link of Chain”, the sliding harmony figures of “Happier Blue”, and a load of great licks to pull them together (including Chris’s trademark use of his feet for rhythm accompaniment).

    Moving into open D tuning, “Hold On” features bluesy vibrato, bends and hammer-ons, while Roly Salley’s heart-wrenching “Killin’ the Blues” highlights his unique style of ballad accompaniment.

    Back to standard tuning, Chris slows down the Skip James-type lick that’s at the heart of “Can’t Shake These Blues” and then closes with a Delta-style “The Devil’s Real.”

    Chock full of musical advice, clarity, and good humor, this lesson will add powerful licks and interesting ideas to your song accompaniments and blues technique.

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  • Chris Smither Fingerpicking Arrangements

    Chris Smither Teaches Six Outstanding Fingerpicking Arrangements

    $30.00

    90 minutes, DVD, includes music and tablature.
    (Note: DVDs are formatted to play on universal players.

    Watch a sample lesson!

    On this DVD lesson, Chris shows you how he uses his alternating thumb and syncopated two-finger picking, along with a variety of left hand techniques, to create the rhythmic drive and distinctive harmonies that distinguish his unique arrangements.

    “No Love Today” (the fruit and vegetable song), a rich evocation of old New Orleans street life, is one of Chris’s most requested songs; “Drive You Home Again”, a moody minor-key blues, is the title song of one of his best-selling CDs; Bob Dylan’s titanic “Visions of Johanna” gets a new treatment; the humorous “Get a Better One” features infectious single note riffs against a steady bass groove; “Leave the Light On” is joyous, straight-ahead fingerpicking in open D; Lightnin’ Hopkins’ spooky “Blues in the Bottle” is played and taught on both 12-string and 6-string guitars.

    Chris’s wry humor and deep understanding of traditional styles help to make this an outstanding guitar lesson for all fingerpicking enthusiasts.

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  • Troubadour Blues

    Troubadour Blues DVD (2011)

    $19.99

    Troubadour Blues is a journey into the world of well-traveled singer-songwriters like Peter Case, Mary Gauthier, Chris Smither, Dave Alvin, Slaid Cleaves and many more. This 95-minute documentary, produced over a 10-year period by filmmaker Tom Weber, provides a revealing look at the heartbreaks and joys of these modern-day wandering minstrels. The film contains live performances of 40 brilliantly crafted songs by these assorted artists, as well as informal moments and interviews in which the artists reflect on audiences, songwriting, the music business, and life.

    This is a story that needs to be heard. In our media-saturated age of instant pop stardom, there is real danger that the tradition of the itinerant working musician is being diluted or lost. This is a concern expressed in the film by a number of artists. Troubadour Blues explores the hidden corners of our culture, where honest, authentic songs reflecting the human experience are still being composed and sung.

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