Alice Smith’s sound is influenced by the various locales she’s lived in. A city girl, who admits to being “country at heart,” she was raised between Washington, DC and her grandmother’s farm in Augusta, GA and now resides in Brooklyn, NY. Naturally, her musical influences are as diverse as her upbringing, encompassing R&B, go-go, country, classic rock, blues, jazz and gospel music. In the early 2000s, while still at Fordham University, she honed her skills in the nascent Afro-Punk scene in NY performing with artists like Tamar Kali and singing in Greg Tate’s improv band, Moomtez. On her impressive debut album For Lovers, Dreamers & Me she uses her 4-octave vocal to evoke influences from Patti Labelle to Tina Turner and even Fiona Apple.

From the opening beat accompanied by piano and horn stabs on “Dream,” Alice reminds us that rock and soul came from the same place. All of the songs have a classic and fertile songwriting quality to them with a decidedly modern and adventurous vernacular ranging from the sensitive “Do I,” about the struggle and sadness of a breakup, to the easy-going funky “Woodstock,” about ditching the city for the fresh air upstate – something Alice does quite often. She also gets writing help from Imani Coppola (“Legend Of A Cowgirl”) and Zero 7’s Sia Furler. Like Res before her, Alice Smith seamlessly mixes rock and soul into her own and represents the true definition of an artist, who takes chances, rejects categories and goes with her heart. The result: A refreshing collection of songs that talk to the soul.

ARTICLES

VIBE MAGAZINE: March, 2006