John Smith The Living Kind

John Smith has built a reputation as one of the UK’s finest guitarists and songwriters.

Born in Essex, raised by the Devon seaside, and making his bones in the bars and clubs of Liverpool, John has released eight albums with over 90 million Spotify streams. He has played to audiences all over the world in living rooms, festival tents and sold-out concert halls. He is a genuine folksinger, an inquisitive truth-seeker, devoted song interpreter and enchanting writer.

Steeped in the lineage of British folk, taking his cue from Richard Thompson and John Martyn, Smith has evolved a transatlantic blend of fingerstyle and slide guitar techniques. John’s intimate takes on love, loss and the journey we make, combined with his innovative guitar work, have won him a loyal following. His honey-on-gravel voice and mesmerizing fingerstyle guitar are undeniable. Sometimes using a slide, sometimes with guitar on his lap, sometimes detuning mid-song, Smith’s obsession with the instrument has made a master of him. Whether by way of album or concert, he leads the listener, enthralled in his presence, on a viscerally emotional journey.

I’ve always wanted to make a record with Joe Henry. We first met in a studio in North Wales, in the session for Lisa Hannigan’s Passenger record. I think we both felt an immediate sense of kinship. As our friendship has deepened I’ve been fortunate to work with him on many more projects, including four of his own records and Joan Baez’s last studio record.

I went out to stay with Joe in Harpswell, Maine in January 2022 during my first post-covid US trip. We sat by the fire and put the world to rights, and as I described my dream for a new record he looked me in the eye and said “let’s just make it happen”. He told me that if I could get the songs together, he would record me in his newly-built writing room and home studio, live on two microphones with a backdrop of acoustic guitars. He told me that I have never sung on a record the way people hear me sing live. I felt that this was true. He also told me that essentially, I’ve never shown listeners what I am capable of. Also true. We sat that evening and wrote Lily together and went upstairs to record a demo. That initial recording formed the template for the record; that same recording closes the album.

I returned one year later in the first week of February 2023, a few days after I turned 41. I was welcomed by Joe, his son Levon - a great musician and engineer - and Ross Gallagher, a bass player whom Joe had recently befriended. Joe’s idea was for Ross and I to cut the album live. I had never met Ross and was nervous at the prospect. In the past I have spent months and years building musical relationships but this time, we were locked in from the first take. We cut the whole thing ten feet apart, completely live, dancing and weaving in and out like old partners. It was an exhilarating experience.

The winter was bitterly cold; so cold that I didn’t leave the house for the four days it took to make the record. As temperatures plummeted to -25c we just dug in. Joe’s beautiful wife Mel fired up the oven each day and we would finish recording in time for dinner, a drink and some vinyl. I didn’t really stop to take photos or videos, as I had so meticulously planned. I was immersed in the slipstream, Joe up front as captain, Ross and Levon at the engines, myself tumbling around on deck singing my guts out and driving the whole thing with my right hand. I was singing and playing the way I’ve always wanted to, and these songs were helping to make it happen, shifting and growing with each take.

After the session, we sent rough mixes to a few friends around North America. Jay Bellerose and Patrick Warren in LA, Joshua Van Tassel in Toronto. They sent back their parts in glorious technicolour, adding orchestral touches to these raw documents. My ideas for guest singers stayed in my head just as ideas; for the first time in fifteen years I had made an album without female vocals. I was so confident in the sound that Joe had drawn out of me, I was happy to keep the performances as lean and raw as they were when we played them.

The songs are about growing and changing for the better, for the most part. Turning 40 brought me a lot of peace during a tumultuous period. It was as if I finally reconciled with some of the darker corners of my nature. I have had to make some drastic decisions in order to look after my family - selling our house, relocating a couple of times - and have since had to rebuild accordingly. The songs are about staying positive, trying to keep an eye on the centre, holding on to those you love and working towards a better future.