By Noma Faingold
(September 19,2024)
At the age 69, songwriter, musician and home recording pioneer Linda Smith is making her live San Francisco debut at the 4-Star Theater, a 123-seat venue mostly known for its eclectic film programming. The September 20 booking is part of a four-city, West Coast tour Smith never expected to experience.
San Francisco-based indie musician, Britta Leijonflycht, who will play bass and keyboards for Smith’s four dates, was a catalyst in bringing Smith’s thoughtful, bare bones music to a new audience. “I was never really much of a performer, but there seems to be an interest in my music,” said Smith, a native of Baltimore, who still lives there. “Younger people are listening to me.”
Renewed interest in Smith’s melancholy, yet melodic pop, mostly recorded on four-track and eight-track tape machines, may be the result of album reissues, including the 2021 release of the compilation of songs called, “Till Another Time: 1988-1996” and two additional albums, “Nothing Else Matters” and “I So Liked Spring,” in 2024) from her vast catalogue (available on vinyl and streaming).
Smith didn’t perform live much in the past. In the 1980s, she was in a band for a little over three years called The Woods. She even moved to New York City during that time. But she didn’t like living there. She developed asthma and felt isolated. “Day-to-day life in New York was stressful and alienating. I don’t have the personality for that grind,” she said. “I appreciate the boringness of Baltimore.”
Brooklyn in the 1980s; photo courtesy Linda Smith
She preferred recording her own music at home. “I was doing it for me. I would make cassettes and sell them through the mail,” Smith said. “People would find out about me through reviews in publications. It was all very old style.”Smith never made a living from her music. She always held full-time jobs, including working in the advertising department at Ringling Bros., in Northern Virginia. She also had a job in the bakery at a Whole Foods.
She went back to school in the early 2000s to study art. During those years, she was painting, not creating music. “I’m a one-thing-at-a-time person,” she said.
Linda Smith; Photo by Peggy Bitzer
Once she retired from nine-to-five jobs, there was room in her life to pick up music again. Smith didn’t necessarily embrace all the technological advances in home recording, but she does use Audacity software and bought the necessary equipment to make her new ideas come to life. Her musical influences of girl groups and singers of the 1960s, like The Supremes, The Shangri-Las and Dionne Warwick, as well as post-punk bands, such as The Raincoats and Young Marble Giants, have remained.
Smith’s musical genre has been referred to as jangle pop and indie pop. Often her music has been compared to that of the Velvet Underground. “I don’t really see it,” she said. “Except when it comes to (lead singer and solo artist) Nico. She was an influence. Her uniqueness is what I aimed for. There was no one like her.” (Listen to Smith’s cover of Nico’s “You Forgot to Answer”)
The 1995 song, “Nothing Else Matters,” for example, sounds like a haunting lullaby and the bouncy “The Answer to Your Question” contains lyrics that ironically don’t offer answers, most illustrated in the chorus, “The answer to your question is lost in digression. The answer to your question remains in suspension.”
Adam Bergeron; photo by Noma Faingold
Adam Bergeron, who owns CinemaSF, the company that programs and operates the Balboa, Vogue and 4-Star Theaters, hadn’t heard of Smith until Leijonflycht, who worked for him years ago in Santa Cruz at a crepe café, suggested he book her. He often takes recommendations from staff, employees of Tunnel Records (a retail shop located in the 4-Star lobby) and audience members in choosing musical acts at the 4-Star. He tries to schedule one live show per week.
Once he was exposed to Smith’s music, he found it captivating. “It’s so gentle, groovy and poetic. It’s daydreamy,” Bergeron said. “It also has that outsider feel. It definitely seems like one person’s specific work. Genius can exist in these little pockets. I can’t wait to see her.”
Smith is excited to play with a band, which includes Leijonflycht and drummer Paul Krolian, who are both members in the group Smashing Times. Smith will sing and play rhythm guitar. “The audience won’t see dancing or back-up singers,” she said. “It’s not like Taylor Swift. I’m pretty much seated. It will be very simple.”
After more than 35 years, in some ways the industry has caught up with Smith’s subversive approach to making music with what’s known as “bedroom recording.” Top selling and award-winning artist Billie Eilish created her hits at home, as have many other successful musicians, including Grimes. “With the technological advances, someone like Billie Eilish has more available to her to get the sound she wants,” Smith said. “Artists can just stay home, record and take their time.”
Smith played a few dates in the UK last year and a few gigs in her area this past spring. She’s aware that the Bay Area currently has a thriving indie music scene and hopes to draw an audience. “I never saw myself as being a well-known musician. I had a simple desire to put songs together and get them released in some way. It was all very low key,” she said. “What’s happening now is like icing on the cake.”
Linda Smith will make her San Francisco debut at the 4-Star Theater, 2200 Clement St. Richmond District.
Friday, September 20, 2024 from 8pm-11pm.
The duo April Magazine opens. DJ Jess B will be spinning between sets. Information and tickets ($20): www.cinemasf.com ; (415) 418-6712.
Other dates: Sept. 21 at 2125 13th Ave., Oakland (house show); Sept. 23 at Zebulon, Los Angeles; Sept. 24 at Tower Bar, San Diego; Songbyrd, Washington, D.C.
Tickets and access to Linda Smith music: www.bandcamp.com
Instagram @smithlindamarie
Read “The Linda Smith Interview” (2023) in Chick Factor for in depth information and photos.
More on Captured Tracks.
For more film and live music programming information at CinemaSF venues: www.cinemasf.com
Noma Faingold is a writer and photographer who lives in Noe Valley. A native San Franciscan who grew up in the Sunset District, Faingold is a frequent contributor to the Richmond Review and Sunset Beacon newspapers, among others. She is obsessed with pop culture and the arts, especially film, theater and fashion.
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