Lindsay Smith: Press

Stories and stars

Rounding out the spectrum of guest performers is Atlanta-based singer/songwriter Lindsay Smith. A classically trained singer, Smith discovered the art of storytelling attending folk festivals. While primarily a songwriter, Smith says she has developed an affinity for telling stories.
"Part of the fun about doing this festival is that I'll get to tell some of the stories that never did make it into a song," says Smith.
Her stories are both humorous and thought provoking. Smith also uses stories as a way to stay connected with others.
"Telling stories and writing songs is a way of immortalizing the people that I meet in my life," she says. "Telling stories about them is a way that I can take them with me."

Red hot geek love

Two area musicians -- self-described "dork and dweeb" Beth Kargel, and "geek and book nerd" Lindsay Smith -- have assembled a pair of very different gatherings for Valentine's Eve.

At the Earl, Kargel's Valentine's Day Massacre features various musicians playing covers of songs that deal with "tainted love, cheatin' hearts and why breakin' up is hard to do." Plus, you'll find piñata bashing to benefit AID Atlanta, and audience karaoke.

At Eddie's Attic, Smith presides over Geek Fest, a three-ring circus of misfits and miscreants that includes a geek kissing booth, strip Mad Libs and trivia.

Both events feature performances by acts hand-picked by Kargel and Smith. As a special Valentine to you, dear readers, Creative Loafing has polled many of the scene's geekiest artists -- a sizzling hot-list of our most beloved rebels -- about pressing geek issues. The diverse assemblage transcends all boundaries, age groups and echelon. And if your favorite musical oddball was omitted from our bouquet of renegade roses, we share your pain. The "different" among us are all too familiar with exclusion.

Booknerd: Lindsay Smith ("alternacheesefolk" singer/songwriter)

Geek confession: "I've found ways to get paid for most of the geeky things I do that would otherwise be considered hobbies: working at the Renaissance Festival, singing Christmas carols in full Victorian costume, getting up on stage and playing songs I wrote myself."

IQ: "I think I took an IQ test when I was 5, and they put me in the gifted class, and that was the end of it."

Faves: "My favorite movie of all time is Footloose, which has everything I typically look for in a movie: cheesy '80s music, cheesy '80s dancing, cheesy '80s hair, Kevin Bacon and rebellious teenagers."

D&D, ADD or AC/DC? "I would pick D&D if I could have a D&D character who was really powerful and cool and could kick all the other characters' asses. But that never happens, so I've long since given up on the whole stupid game."

Are geeks hot -- or not? "If he has a sense of humor, hot. If he just sulks bitterly about how nobody understands him, pass."

Think Globally, Party Locally

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Lindsay Smith has ties to the college--her parents are Connie Smith and MWC psychology professor Roy Smith--and she grew up in Fredericksburg.

She is returning home to offer the Multicultural Fair a taste of her "alternacheesefolk."

"I came up with the term 'alternacheesefolk' to describe my music because the word itself combines my major influences," Smith said. "[It combines] the alternative-music scene of the late '80s and early '90s, the cheesy top-40 pop of my formative years, and the folk music I learned from my parents."

Smith says Saturday will be a unique homecoming.

"Playing at the Multicultural Fair is a way for me to celebrate my own heritage and to celebrate the wonderful community that shaped me," Smith said.

JM grad moves from folk to pop-rock

Writer's block is not a problem for Lindsay Smith, who plays Orbit's in Fredericksburg on Sunday afternoon.

The former folk artist is in the process of reinventing herself as a pop-rock performer. That should not be difficult, given her free-wheeling approach to the creative process.

Smith, who was born and raised in Fredericksburg, said she has been making up songs for as long as she can remember. But she didn't call herself a songwriter until she attended the Young Writers Workshop at the University of Virginia about a decade ago.

"The thing I learned there is that you get in trouble by waiting for ideas to come to you," the 29-year-old said this week in a telephone interview from Atlanta. So she writes things down even if they seem mundane, and sometimes good songs come from those little notes to herself.

An example is her song "My Mother is a Christian," which was inspired by a snapshot Smith's mother sent from a religious retreat.

My mother is a Christian with rainbows in her eyes/Her second love is fiction; you could say she's into lies/But the truth is she loves poetry; the truth is she loves me/And the truth is she just loves the way she wants the world to be

"It was just a writing exercise," Smith said about "My Mother is a Christian," but it's turned into a fan favorite in Atlanta coffeehouses and pubs.

The 1991 James Monroe High School graduate makes a rare Fredericksburg appearance from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Orbit's. It's an all-ages show.

Smith, a graduate of Emory University, lives in Atlanta, where she is pursuing a career as a singer-songwriter.

Her debut CD is "Tales from the Fruitbat Vat," which is in an alternative folk vein, and is available online at CDStreet.com and CDBaby .com.

Smith has been featured on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."

Creative Loafing magazine said of her work: "Smith dresses up her pretty poetry in folk rock, heavy emphasis on folk. Smith's music is carefully crafted, heartfelt and without ego."

Smith herself said that her next album will be more in a pop-rock vein, and that it will take advantage of the networking she's done with musicians in Atlanta the last couple of years. Her next effort, which does not yet have a release date, will have more of a full-band sound.

"I've made a lot of very talented friends here who are ready to help me," Smith said.