New Music Release: Lucy Smith | “Autumn in Augusta: Songs My Mama Would Like” (Coming Sept. 10th, 2013)

Autumn in Augusta is a sly smile, a deep chuckle and a fierce belief that “everything is going to be alright.” Autumn in Augusta is a tribute project for and about my mother and her music. It is music I grew up listening to and rebelling against. Now I find my mother and her music in just about everything I do. It turns out she had pretty awesome taste! My mom, Julia Ann Smith, was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia and died in Chicago almost twenty years ago. She introduced me to Josh White, Nina Simone, Mariam Makeba and Trini Lopez, just to name a few. I am forever grateful.

Autumn in Augusta: Songs My Mama Would Like

TRACKS:

1. Joyful, Joyful We Adore You 2:36
2. Wayfaring Stranger 4:12
3. How Can I Keep from Singing? 3:14
4. House of the Rising Sun 5:48
5. How Long, How Long Blues 2:52
Total Running Time: 18:42

STUDIO

All arrangements by Lucy Smith (BMI)
Recorded, mixed and engineered by Anthony Gravino at The Drake, Chicago, IL
Mastered by Jonathan Pines and Anthony Gravino at Private Studios, Champaign, IL
CD Design/Layout by Nicold Pittman

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

I grew up in Chicago and listened to all kinds of music. Our living room had a wall covered, floor to ceiling, with mirrored tiles that reflected what was happening outside on Racine Avenue. My mom’s console stereo (encased speakers, turntable AND an AM/FM radio) sat in the corner of the room. A stack of LP’s was always ready to go. I was in my own kinda heaven. I spent hours listening to and singing along with Josh White, Nina Simone, James Taylor, Aretha Franklin, Trini Lopez, Mariam Makeba, Eric Carmen, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and (yes) Barry Manilow.

Now I make my own music—composing, arranging and performing. I am earnestly committed and pay homage to music that constantly feeds and informs jazz. Roots music – music born in America—blues, gospel, folk and ultimately jazz. We speak and live in blues and folk — articulating struggle in regional languages and dialects. Both of these music forms often provide audacious and timely comic relief while gospel and jazz are outlets for release and infinite expression. My mother schooled me by playing Josh White’s John Henry over and over again and Nina Simone’s tribute to Martin Luther King. They informed me musically and politically. When I select music for this project, Autumn in Augusta, the requirements are clear.

Anecdotal and Track Information

1. Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You

To me Joyful, Joyful is an international folk song. Beethoven’s music and Van Dyke’s text have inspired arrangements that cross a chasm of genres – cherubic boys’ choirs that bring tears to my eyes to the gospel rock of the film Sister Act. This arrangement, a laid back rumba to swing, is “influenced” by Oscar Peterson’s version of My Heart Belongs to Daddy (Night Train). Marcin’s inside the piano action makes the arrangement pop.

2. Wayfaring Stranger

I’ve listened to many versions of this Appalachian tune. Even though Wayfaring Stranger references death and is presented at ballad pace, it is a jubilee and it grooves! I believe music has always helped people deal with difficult times and for me this tune does just that.

3. How Can I Keep from Singing?

So this should be my motto, right? “It sounds an echo in my soul. How can I keep from singing?” I can’t.

4. House of the Rising Sun

I remember hearing this song when I was a kid and not really “getting it.” My mom often played Nina Simone’s organ-grooving version. I understand it now. House of the Rising Sun is all about the lyrics—it’s a compelling story—in fact a story within a story which is open to much interpretation (if you get what I mean.)

5. How Long, How Long Blues