Acclaimed Canadian musician Meaghan Smith will join Sarah McLachlan, Kelly Clarkson, Mary J. Blige and others on the 2010 Lilith Fair this summer. Smith will join the traveling celebration of women in music for shows at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis on July 16th and First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Chicago on July 17th in the U.S., as well as the Bell Center in Montreal, QC on July 23rd in Canada.
Smith released her debut full-length album, The Cricket’s Orchestra, in February 2010 to critical acclaim. The New York Times described it as, “…wry and retro, with wordplay harking back to Tin Pan Alley’s heyday,” while the Detroit Free Press declared “…material blissfully capturing the feel of another era.”
The 11-track album was written in Smith’s home of Halifax, Nova Scotia and was recorded in Toronto with help from producer Les Cooper. Greg Kurstin (Lily Allen, Flaming Lips) also collaborated with Smith on the record, producing the lead track “Heartbroken.”
The child of a piano-teacher mother and a bass-playing father, Smith devoured old musicals and animated films as a child and later fell in love with the jazz and big-band music of the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s. Those early inspirations influenced the material featured on the album, as Smith says, “My music is modern vintage. The record incorporates a lot of instrumentation from older eras in the form of horns, strings and arrangements, but I also love DJs and their turntables.” These modern influences are reflected on the record through the use of turntables, omnichords, melotrons and optigons.
Smith has already found success in the area of film and television—her rendition of the Pixies classic “Here Comes Your Man” (produced by T-Bone Burnett) was featured in the acclaimed film (500) Days of Summer. Additionally, two original songs from the record, “A Piece For You” and “5 More Minutes,” have been included in episodes of One Tree Hill and Grey’s Anatomy. Smith has joined many legendary and acclaimed musicians on the road including k.d. lang, Sarah McLachlan, Eric Hutchinson, Chantal Kreviazuk, Ron Sexsmith and Joe Purdy.
Meaghan Smith upcoming tour dates:
July 16 St. Louis, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
July 17 Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
July 23 Montreal, QC Bell Center