In
1986, I wrote a song called "For Sherry" in response to being
asked to the prom by a girl named, oddly enough, Sherry. I rapidly assembled
a crew of musicians from bands in my high school, and with the help of
band director Dave Liljedahl, we recorded two takes of "For Sherry"
on April 25th, 1986. Just in time to play it for Sherry on prom night.
The band, as it was, needed a name, so I dubbed it Sound System. Although
the original group would neverplay together again (it was okay, they were
all in other bands, remember?) Sound System, the band, continued with a
new lineup, which eventually included Steve Hudspeth, my current business
partner at Trifecta Recording. Sound System went on to release two albums
and an EP in the next few years. These are all available on the CD, Sound
System: Complete Works, available from Trifecta
Records.
In
1987, I met Rob Straughn, a folk musician from Madison, Wisconsin.
Over the years, Rob has taught me more about music than I could ever learn
from a book. In 1988, we formed the folk duet, the audubon society,
and released our eponymous album on New Year's Day, 1989. The audubon society
went on to produce two more albums, and another as the re-named duet misunderstanding.
If all goes to plan, these will all be released again on a double CD later
this year. Watch this space. Rob and I are currently working on a new CD.
What will we call ourselves this time? Well, rather than trying to decide
what our music sounds like and then naming some "band" to match
it, we've decided to present ourselves just as we are: Smith & Straughn.
Look for our new CD by early 2000.
In
1989, I broke from Sound System. I wrote and recorded two solo albums that
year, and have continued recording as a solo act to this day. In 1993,
I recorded my most recent full album, South of Dakota. In
the intervening years, I've been rather busy building a recording studio
and producing everyone's music but my own. What a bummer! (Well, not really.
As I've said before, I'm incredibly lucky to work with all the talented
musicians I've met since starting Trifecta Recording.) Anyway, in 1998,
I remastered South of Dakota and added a new song, and now
I'm re-releasing it on 
Now,
here we are in 1999. My, how time flies! Steve and I collected up some
of the best music we've produced at Trifecta, and compiled it on our new
CD, Trifecta Talent Show, volume 1. We've got some of the
best music the Midwest has to offer: rock from Valet, Donovan Miller,
and Detroit's Unfair Superpowers; folk from Heather Dawn
and Jeff Brinkman; some of Steve's best work with Crashing w/OZ;
my latest & greatest, "Back in Line;" and two songs by The
Stains, Steve's & my first musical collaboration since Sound System.
All told, it's a great album from start to finish, and it's available now
from