Mindy Smith Shares Her Musical and Spiritual Journey

By John Roos

Mindy Smith is proving that emotional truths can strike a chord even in the quietest moments.

This Americana singer-songwriter-guitarist has shared personal stories through her songs since emerging with her 2004 debut release, One Moment More. After more than 10 years passed since 2012's Mindy Smith, Smith released her sixth studio album, last year's aptly-titled Quiet Town, and is now touring solo with a stopover Saturday night at the Hopmonk Tavern in Novato, her first Bay Area gig since 2012.

Quiet Town is a contemplative collection of primarily slow and mid-tempo songs that ask its listeners to pay close attention to subtlety. The instrumentation is mostly spare with just a hint of the sonic variety and edge found on her earlier recordings. Still, repeated listenings will be rewarded as the songs lend themselves to further distillation, including the tender title-track, the uplifting "Light of Mine," and the bouncy yet musically layered "Jericho," which was co-written by the critically-admired Matraca Berg (the spouse of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band co-founder Jeff Hanna.)

On another standout track from Quiet Town--co-written with producer/songwriter Jeff Pardo and titled "Every Once in a While"--Smith eloquently captures inner resolve and coping with heartache using these poetic lyrics:

Don't wanna miss you, don't wanna be over it.
Don't want the memories but I don't want to forget.
Play it cool, heartbreak with style.
Fight the tears back with a smile.

At the heart of Smith's appeal is evocative storytelling, where she showcases that rare ability to connect with her audience using personal experiences that are well drawn and relatable. Her subject matter ranges from self-doubt, vulnerability, and loss to the more hopeful, resilient, and the longing for love -- often times penned broadly enough for more than one interpretation.

While her creative process can be complex, Smith shared during a recent phone interview from her home in Nashville that she's sometimes more the vessel rather than pure originator of her songs.
For example, one older number - the title track from 2004's One Moment More - shares Smith's yearning to spend just a bit more time with her mother before she passed away from cancer.

"That song truly just came to me," said Smith, 52, who was born and raised in Long Island, NY. "It just fell on the page in about an hour. I had no control over it, really, it was very cathartic and healing. I let it be what it was gonna be, there was no need to seek perfection. This was one of those times where I felt like I was channeling from a deeper, spiritual source."

Smith's roots run deep and back to her religious upbringing. She was adopted as an infant by her non-denominational Protestant minister father and church choir director mother.
Smith spent two years at Cincinnati Bible College following the death of her mother in 1991, and then relocated to Knoxville, TN, three years later to rejoin her father. Smith planted the seeds of her musical career as she relocated to Nashville to join the thriving country, folk, and bluegrass scene in 1998. Two years later, she reached the finals of a contest at the Kerrville Folk Festival.

Her big career break came when she recorded a cover version of "Jolene" for 2003's I'm a Woman: The Songs of Dolly Parton, a multi-artist tribute album. Smith's hauntingly powerful rendition caught the attention of many, including the A&R folks at Vanguard Records, who signed Smith to her first record deal.

I asked Smith during our interview if she seeks to put her own stamp on her renditions of songs written by others, and I was bit surprised by her response.

"For me, I never really thought of it as putting my own stamp on something," she explains. "Some songs evoke a season or where I was at a particular time, that I've kept in my memory bank because it has a certain meaning to me. Like the Howard Jones song, 'No One Is to Blame.' Every time I hear it, it makes my heart move, whether I want it to or not. So, just to take the challenge on of how deeply it spoke to me, and then share that. My aim is for my covers to have the (emotional) impact of how it feels when I write my own songs."

Smith has said that Dolly Parton took her under her wing at a time when she really needed it. And while Smith's like-minded musical touchstones like John Prine, Alison Krauss, Nanci Griffith, Shawn Colvin, Chely Wright, and Patty Griffin are evident, others including the pop- and alternative rock-oriented Sundays, the Cure, and the aforementioned Howard Jones point to a broader range of influencers than your roots-based Americana singer-songwriters.

Yet, one person stands apart from all others who left a lasting impression.

"My (adoptive) mother Sharon taught me the single most important thing about being a singer," says Smith, "and that is where to sing from, which is the most honest place. Telling the truth the best way I can . . . that authenticity is something that must shine above all else."

"She passed away before we wanted her to. I was very lucky and blessed to be adopted into a family like that. Now, I'm thrilled to be back out on the road playing music that I'm proud of, and I hope she is, too."

In 2014, Smith located and then met with members of the birth family she never knew after being placed for adoption. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Southwest Virginia, numerous members of her biological family were musically-inclined, which was a discovery that brought her a new awareness of, and appreciation for, her roots in Appalachia and Americana music.

Smith did indeed meet her birth mother, Christine, a few years before she died. Smith shared her how emotional that experience was, one that forged a deeper understanding and acceptance that she was undoubtedly loved and wanted. Nevertheless, because her birth came during a very difficult part of Christine's life, she decided to chose the best parents she could to raise Mindy.

This much-needed validation brought the peace of mind that had proved so elusive for Melinda (Mindy) Leigh Smith.

*Mindy Smith performs solo Saturday night at the Hopmonk Tavern, 224 Vintage Way, Novato; (415) 892-6200. 8 p.m. $30 plus fees. https://www.hopmonk.com/livemu...