With tremendous soul and a feisty spark, Erin Smith has earned herself a reputation as one hell of a frontwoman. Blessed with a strong & quirky voice and an enormous stage presence (which is roughly 8 times her size) Erin simply soaks every song she touches with personality and energy. A true entertainer at heart, it's impossible to count exactly how many ants are in her pants when she hits the stage, as her shoulders, hips & feet are always on the move. This is what keeps the fans coming back for more and the word on the street spreading like wildfire.
Smith is a funk singer with a distinct jazzy bent. Though many of Smith's songs are full of swagger and attitude, she can also bring a room to silence with a slow & bluesy tale of loss. She is a fan of tall tales and tends to steer towards fictional murders, small towns, tomboys, disasters and loves, hand-plucked from her imagination and put on display in the form of a tune. An artist in many capacities, Smith's vibrantly coloured paintings can be found on display in and around the city of Toronto, and the vibrantly coloured clothes she has sewn or knit can be found upon her and the people she loves.
Musically, her influences include G. Love & Special Sauce, Kinnie Starr, Ella Fitzgerald, Fiona Apple, Stevie Wonder and many Toronto-area musicians (with a great emphasis on four of her favourites: Janine Stoll, Melissa McClelland, Lisa Winn and Liam Smith).
Three independently released albums to date with her funk-pop quartet, the Erin Smith Band, extensive touring in Canada, the United States and Ireland, showcases at major festivals such as North by Northeast, Winterfolk & Canadian Music Week and shows and jams with other great Canadian artists (The Constantines, Sarah Slean, Tegan & Sara, Luke Doucet & Ember Swift) have set the ball rolling. Start running, dear reader, as this ball is moving fast.
For more info see www.erinsmith.ca.
"Cute local jazzy funk-folk dynamo is an explosive firecracker in performance, drawing audiences in with a supergrrrl stage presence and a percussive guitar attack. Think Kinnie (Starr), but with less righteous indignation and more dancing."
-Sarah Liss, NOW Weekly (Toronto), January 30th 2003, Critic's Pick for Winterfolk 2003
The Big Q&A
Q: If you were a bowl of soup what kind would you be?
A: Peanut Ginger Soup from the "How it All Vegan" cookbook
Q: Thongs, grannies, lace, La Senza cottons or boycott?
A: La Senza cottons. My underwear selection is almost identical to Janine's.
Q: Who is your role model?
A: My parents for being so consistently chilled out, good natured, quirky, artsy and accepting of strangers into their home.
Q: Diet of choice?
A: Blood Type Diet. No wheat for this Type A lassie!
Q: Earliest childhood memory?
A: Bowl cuts, freckles, lake breezes, imaginary friends and my first violin which was a cereal box with a ruler taped to it. That's what I learned how to hold the violin with. I was four. Once my class and I got the just of holding something between your chin and shoulder, a big crate arrived one day at our group lesson and it was full of little violins. I'm talking TINY. I still have it. We got to pick our violin out of the ones that arrived. The crate had green foamy stuff in it, but it's possible that I've made that part up and stamped it as memory.
Q: Who would you most like to sing a duet with?
A: Louis Armstrong or Fiona Apple.
Q: Do your hands smell like mustard or chocolate milk?
A: Chocolate Milk, but here's the thing: I do eat a lot of chocolate which could be causing my hands to lean in that direction.
Q: Are stuffed animals alive or just fuzz and fluff?
A: They are just as alive as blankets.
Q: If you could play another instrument, which would you choose?
A: Drums. I can do a few simple beats, but it would be great if I would actually practice so I could really play them.
Q: If a major record label offered you a multi-million dollar contract to become a huge pop star, sing watered-down power ballads, wear skimpy clothes and do dance routines would you take the bait?
A: Only if I got to bleach my hair & my eyebrows, and answer to the name Srin Emith.
Q: If you were offered contracts to play the Casino circuit, would you do it?
A: Yep.
Q: Peanut butter or jam?
A: Peanut Butter.
Q: Which Spice Girl do you think you're most like?
A: I'm probably a mix of Baby & Ginger.
Q: Which character from Sex and the City is most similar to you?
A: Charlotte.
Q: What would you do for immeasurable fame and fortune?
A: Not much if I could do some sewing, painting, chatting, cooking or snuggling instead.
Q: What was your favourite Ladybird gig to date?
A: Oh Jeez. That's tough. I would say the Sidetrack Cafe in Edmonton and our latest trip to the Merchant MacLiam in Kingston, if we're talking straight up wicked performance nights. If we're talking nights with great stories to go along with them, I'd say the Apollo in Thunder Bay and Villa Cojimar in Cuba.
Q: Reincarnation. which animal would you want to come back as?
A: Some kind of cross between a bee, a cat and a tropical salt water fish. Let's call it a Tropical Cishabee.
Q: Who is your favourite Ladybird fan?
A: It's a tie between Ross and Mavreen.
Q: What's your favourite Ladybird song to perform these days?
A: Encinitas Rainstorm, Empty Bottles, Piano Bar & Similar Likeness.
Q: Describe each of the Ladybirds using one word (including yourself)
A: I have so many wonderful words I could use, it's really freakin' hard to narrow it down. So I'm cheating and using hyphens...oh-oh, I guess my word will have to be "Cheater".
Janine: Sassy-witty-beauty-with-an-Old-Soul
Melissa: Wacky-accepting-and-free-spirited-babe
Lisa: Gorgeous-loyal-lassie-with-a-heart-of-gold
Erin: Silly-wide-eyed-and-crafty-pair-of-pants
Q: Where is your favourite place to shop?
A: Noah's Natural Foods, Curry's Art Supplies, The Mill Store in Port Dover (for fabric & wool) and any store that has camouflage stuff in it.
Q: Any vices?
A: Coffee, chocolate & dill pickle stuff.
Q: What is your favourite insect?
A: Junebugs because they're so dumb & bumbly. Though I'm sure I'd take that back if I had one stuck in my hair.
Q: Who is your pretend boyfriend?
A: G. Love
Q: Who is your pretend girlfriend?
A: Kate Winslet
Q: It's Friday night and you're dateless. What ever will you do?
A: Find my girlfriends and drink Wild Turkey bourbon together, walk the streets of Toronto and hum to myself or sew something.
Q: Who are your favourite bands/musicians to listen to these days?
A: Gershwin stuff, The Police, Nug, The Strokes and the EP that Neen and I recently released.
Q: Do you have a freakish hidden talent?
A: I have the ability to use the word "pants" as a noun, adjective, verb or exclamation, sometimes all in the same sentence. I can also hula-hoop like nobody's business.
Q: Favourite record of all time?
A: Fiona Apple: Her second album with the title that is eight years long. Seems silly to pick something so contemporary, but I freakin' love that record.
Q: What is the most vile thing that you've ever eaten?
A: A grasshopper. No wait, it was my brother that ate the grasshopper, not me...
Q: How cool is Melissa's yellow terry mumu with the frog pocket?
A: Cooler than a pair of saran wrap pants!
Q: If Skee were a pair of pants, what kind would she be?
A: A pair of saran wrap pants.
Q: If Lisa had a flavour, what flavour would she be?
A: Chocolate covered awesome.
Q: If Janine asked to borrow your underpants or your toothbrush, would that be ok with you?
A: I think she has my underpants and toothbrush right now...
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