Johnsmith: Gravity of Grace

Gravity of Grace


You know the name: John Smith. If you do not yet know John Smith, Wisconsin based teller of tales, maker of stories, singer whose approach to music is both contemporary and timeless, then his new album, Gravity of Grace, is an excellent place to make his acquaintance. At times his songs draw from where he is and where he has been in his own life. At others he creates memorable pictures of moments in the lives of others. He often brings the natural world into his work, too and there’s a strong but definitely not preachy spiritual bent to his work. The spiritual side is about respect, really, and paying attention. Those are qualities which come through in all John Smith’s work.

Father's Day and Right Into Love are two of those stories drawn from Smith’s own life tales. As good songs have a tendency to do, they focus on years told in moments. That’s true, too, as he tells of Eliza Jane, who turns out to be on a journey to both give and receive. Scotch Pine frames ideas about life’s turns and twists in the natural world. Smith has spent time in Ireland, and in fact regularly leads tours there. Touches of that come through in his work, here especially in the joyous welcome for a newborn child in Juni Rae and the a song you can easily imagine Smith sharing with his audience at the end of a gig in Ireland and America, called Safe Home.

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