Quilter Spotlight - Chris Smith

  Chris's Bio from his site.

   I have been playing music professionally for over 25 years.  Whether it be electric/upright bass, vocals, or guitar, contributing to the roots music scene is my goal as a performer, song writer and session player. I am blessed to be constantly working with several acts and touring worldwide.

     Growing up in a family full of artists and musicians, it was inevitable that I would be pushed into some type of artistic direction. I was intrigued by classic movies along with bands from the 30's through the 70's. We always had antique radios and Victrola records playing in the house, so I was heavily influenced by many different genres early on. Music was a major part of my everyday life.  I was given piano lessons for a short time and took vocal lessons at school as a young teen to sing in the church choir, but I wanted more.  I started out singing as a frontman in a couple of bands, performing local shows and doing short tours.  But that still wasn't enough, I taught myself how to play guitar and after a short time, I was working with a band that performed all over Southern California.

     Heavily influenced by the blues and rockabilly genres, I started playing the upright bass and ended up doing a lot of sub work with multiple bands, trying to find my place in the world as a working musician.   I started studying some of my favorite bass players; Willie Dixon, Milt Hinton, Bill Black, and Ray Brown.  But I found myself limited with only playing the upright bass.  So, it was time to get into playing electric bass; listening to Carol Kaye, Donald "Duck" Dunn, James Jamerson, and John Paul Jones.  I started finding my way around the fretboard and with a completely different feel and approach, I found that the possibilities were limitless.  I was now able to push myself into even more musical situations; learning more about structure, and mixing styles of slap and fingering attack for both electric and upright bass.