About Me
THE NEW ALBUM, Ten Cent American Novels, AVAILABLE NOW!
"...a fascinating, cinematic musical exercise..." - No Depression, Jan-Feb 2008
"...ingenious in its delivery and substance..." - The State
"...it's no stretch calling it marvelous..." - Creative Loafing
"4 STARS" - Charlotte Observer
among "The year's [2007] top list for long-play listening" - The State
"...Novels is yet another heartbreaking work of staggering genius, equal parts sweeping documentary and smart, cinematic songscape..." - Free Times
Also Available, Dead Letters
Chris Smith (a.k.a. Sunshone Still) has a sound that reflects the work of artists such as Tom Waits, Elliott Smith, and Nick Drake. Dead Letters is his impressive debut, which he wrote, recorded and produced over the last three years; it's a musical landscape painted in the hushed tones of twilight. Acoustic guitars lead the way, occasionally joined by the lonesome and cutting sound of a harmonica or any number of acoustic instruments lazily meandering through the songs. The sparse instrumentation and subdued production emphasize Smith's plaintive baritone and the small-town pictures he paints. The summer-camp recollection 'Fireflies' is a midtempo highlight, while the heartrending 'Smoke Rings' is a picture of post-relationship depression.
- No Depression, March/April 2006 Issue, Greg Yost
Sunshone Still* is the musical nom de plume for Chris Smith, a Nashville native now living in Columbia, SC. Since the 2005 debut release of Dead Letters, Chris was featured on the NPR program, All Songs Considered: Open Mic, placed songs on the 2006 PBS series, Roadtrip Nation, appeared on the compilation disc, The United State of Americana, Vol 3. Local and regional critics and their readers listed Dead Letters among the top '05 albums [e.g., Best CD by a Local Artist - Free Times ‘05 Best of Columbia poll]. He was featured in a ‘06 Free Times cover story about 'five buzz-worthy Columbia bands' and considered one of ‘three to watch’ by The State.
Now, Sunshone Still returns with an ambitious 17-track concept album titled Ten Cent American Novels on Potato Eater Records. Inspired by Hampton Sides’ non-fiction book, Blood and Thunder, this historical character study centers around Manifest Destiny and the complex life of Kit Carson: his beautiful Arapaho Indian wife, his heroic trapping and scouting days, his brave military service, and his ruthless part in rounding up the Navajo Indians for the fatal Long Walk. Written in the form of a novel (complete with prologue, chapters, and epilogue), the big ideas are expressed with big, eclectic musical ideas and arrangements – horns, strings, bells, organ and more. Contrastingly, the story’s denouement is expressed in a quiet, sunset-on-the-open-range style – acoustic guitar leading the way.
*And I was green, greener than the hill
Where flowers grew and the sun shone still
Now Im darker than the deepest sea
Just hand me down, give me a place to be
-from Nick Drakes "Place to Be"
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