Alfie Smith

In the Ontario folk-blues world, it’s pretty much impossible to get any better than this. Hamilton’s Alfie Smith is a playful bear of a man who sings the blues in an operatic baritone and plays acoustic guitar with a fluidity that is seldom seen anymore. - The Hamilton Spec

Alfie Smith’s Sometimes The Rain
Few singers capture your attention on first listen – but anyone who hears that bourbon–soaked sounding baritone of Alfie Smith can’t help but take note. The Hamilton native picked up the guitar at 13 and hasn’t looked back, creating a sound that blends blues, jazz, folk and rock over five CDs. One of the area’s premier blues guitarists, Smith offers his sixth disc, Sometimes The Rain, which focuses on his obvious vocal and fretwork talents but perhaps in a more sombre tone.
Over the last decade plus, Smith has released a CD every two years or so – that is until about three years ago when calamity struck.
“The community really helped when the fire happened,” confides Smith. “I was away playing a festival and came home to a burned out house. It was quite a shock and there was a fundraiser planned for me before I even knew about the fire. We have a very supportive community in Hamilton.
While the community rallied around him, the trials and tribulations beset upon Smith did seem to influence the song writing for this new CD.
“When your house is flooded to about seven feet in the basement because of a water main break then five years later burns to the point it has to be torn down, you start to think the world might be against you,” notes Smith. “But both times I was very lucky no one got hurt and in the end it’s all just stuff. Overall, I have a good life and am very grateful for everything in my life.”
Fans are thankful for a new Alfie Smith CD and while it took three years this time out, Sometimes The Rain was worth the wait. Most records I hear aren’t recorded in a five–hour session in one night but the sparse presentation underscores Smith’s raw talents and captures a special performance, a moment in time.
“It’s a record of time; a recording to me should capture a moment,” offers Smith on Sometimes The Rain. “I wanted it to sound like I am coming into the listener’s room and playing just for them.
“Most records before the 1960s were recorded live and in a day or two and in a lot of ways are better to me,” muses Smith on recording technique. “I spend about six months practicing and arranging the songs outside the studio so I don’t waste time in it. Amy King at Grant Avenue is so quick and great at capturing sound, I don’t think it would be the same record without her, she also plays all the piano parts on the record.”
While the world is going downloading digital and pyrotechnic stage shows – Smith’s more traditional music finds its way to his audience through more traditional means. The quality of the recording and the artwork included are important for Smith and for his fans. When choosing a more intimate venue with less of a focus on bar sales, Smith’s CD release party picks up where the recording sessions left off, showcasing Alfie Smith live, raw and very intimate – almost like he’s playing in the listener’s room.
“I wanted to play some place where I don’t need a P.A. or microphones and amps to get in the way and I love the Staircase Theatre,” explains Smith.
“Record sales for me luckily don’t seem to have been affected,” adds Smith on the modern downloading age. “Fred J. Eaglesmith I think said it best. You can get water out of any tap but people buy bottles water because they want quality. Amber Delaney did an amazing portrait of me for cover of the record. She deserves a lot more recognition to her art than she gets [www.artbyamberdelaney.weebly.com]. More fans are always good but I always record to please myself first. I hope that people like it as much as I do.” - The Viewmag

Alfie Smith is a big man with a big talent.
His sixth album and sophomore Busted Flat release, Sometimes the Rain, is a solo, acoustic offering that finds the Hamilton-based bluesman in a mostly mellow, but not passive, mood.
His big, rich baritone resembles a whisper rumbling around the bottom of a barrel. His nimble fingers glide over acoustic, slide and baritone guitars and “one lonely banjo.” Amy King provides tasteful piano on a trio of tracks.
Smith, who has appeared at both the TD Kitchener Blues Festival and Mill Race Festival of Traditional Music, wrote all but one of the album’s 16 songs. The exception is a tender reading of Paul Simon’s Graceland.
The song titles offer a snapshot of the album’s brooding mood including Painted Blue, Sad, Lonely Song, Love is a Lonely Grave and Scars Never Heal, not to mention the title track. - www.therecord.com

"Blues artist Alfie Smith is about as unpretentious as they come. Naming his latest album Brass & Steel was, therefore, an obvious decision given the Hamilton musician's skills at slide guitar, but the strength inherent to those two words is also a reflection of what Smith packed into its 21 performances.

Whether he's solo or with his band, the Hard Cases, Smith's powerfully soulful voice and muscular playing never betrays its roots in the Mississippi Delta, but at the same time could only come from someone with a tough working-class background." - Jason Schneider for Nightlife

"Hamilton is blessed with a wealth of great blues guitarists. None is better than Alfie Smith when it comes to the acoustic slide and he's got a voice to match." - Graham Rockingham The Spec

"He purrs like a kitten slumbering in a blanket or roars like a lion defending a carcass." - ROBERT REID The Record