DUDLEY-BRIAN SMITH
My first memories include songs and hymns sung by my mother and grandmother and an old bakelite radio playing “Sugar in the Morning” by the Lennon Sisters.
I always sang in school and church choirs and started playing guitar at 12 years old. My father, a former swing musician, taught me both trumpet and upright bass so that I could play in the
school marching and swing bands. My mother, a dancer and radio standards singer, made sure we all went often to plays, puppet shows, concerts – anything we could afford that offered cultural input.
From my older siblings, I tuned into the music of the folk boom – all those harmonies and acoustic instruments. My sister, Kate, and I made the rounds of coffeehouses in the late 60's/early 70's and I
first played in a band with my younger brothers in 1971 - an acoustic and vocal group. After singing in the U.S. Navy Blue Jacket Choir, I founded Laughter in 1973 in Pensacola, Florida. That band
relocated in 1976 to Alexandria, Louisiana with my brothers and we shortly thereafter changed our name to Charmer.
Charmer released its first single (A Place In Your Heart) in 1977. After a break in Boulder, Colorado to play with fusion band the Flying Wedge (which included
current Rippington’s bassist Kim Stone and later keyboardist/singer Steve Conn), I began to put together Charmer's first album, "Only the Wind", for release in 1981, working with David Praet
on that and the band's second LP, "Must Be The Gypsy". After a brief hiatus in Nashville, Charmer regrouped with singer/songwriter Jan Dedon. (Yes, we met at a recording session and have been together ever since.)
Charmer would release a total of 8 albums before again changing names to Smithfield Fair in 1989, and performed regionally, opening concerts for such acts as John Prine, Nanci Griffith, Arlo Guthrie,
Jesse Winchester, the Washington Squares, Louisiana’s LeRoux and others.
As of 2011 Smithfield Fair has released 17 albums in 21 years under that name and we continue to tour and perform. To date, I have written literally thousands of songs
and hold hundreds of copyrights on songs, recordings, book manuscripts, poetry and articles. Somewhere in there I got a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Science/History and a Master’s Degree in
Communications. I’ve had a 'colourful' life and have done a little bit of everything from digging ditches and farm work to being a carnival and circus roustabout to producing and promoting festivals
and concerts to public relations, teaching, waiting tables and researching. But what I really love is making music - which for me starts with a guitar and an imagination.
INSTRUMENTS - Primary guitars are all Westerly Guilds - for Recording: 1974 D-25 (FrankenGuild - pieced together by Holger Notzel), 1975 G-37SB, 1973 F-112 ('Betty');
for performance: 1988 GF-25BLK and a 1994 F-15CE; Mid-Missouri M-O Mandolin (Big Muddy Mandolins); all fitted with Shure SM-11 microphones with flush-mount XLR connectors, except a Fishman pick-up on the F-15;
I play in Vestapol or Open-D tuning (D-A-D-F#-A-D, low to high) or tuned down a full step to Open-C (C-G-C-E-G-C) and use Shubb and Kyser Capos, Medium gauge 80/20 bronze strings and .60 Jim Dunlap picks.
All of my instruments are maintained and set-up by Holger Notzel at Riverfront Music in Baton Rouge. (Photos left to right: Pat Saylor - 1979, Jim Zietz - 1989, T.J. Shuflin - 2009)
Smithfield
Fair Bios
