Chris Smither has been a force on the American folk and blues scene for over half a century, touring nationally and internationally at a steady pace on the arc of up-and-comer to journeyman to veteran to living legend. His driving rhythmic thumb and tapping feet have anchored audiences in the groove, while his harmonized guitar lines and craggy baritone have articulated a world-weary yet hopeful gravitas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smither was raised in New Orleans, where his father was a professor at Tulane University. He attended middle school in Paris and college in Mexico City, and moved to Boston in the \u201960s during the heyday of the folk revival. One of his friends from the Boston folk scene was Bonnie Raitt, whose cover of Smither\u2019s \u201cLove You Like a Man\u201d (gender adapted to \u201cLove Me Like a Man\u201d) became a hit and a longtime staple of her live shows. The loping rhythm of Smither\u2019s guitar part on that song, exactly (and thunderously) mirrored in the percussive lyric \u201cYou better believe me when I tell you\/ I can love you like a, love you like a man,\u201d established his signature strengths as a songwriter from the get-go, launching him on a sometimes rocky but ultimately fruitful path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n