Sean Smith & The Present Moment profile picture

Sean Smith & The Present Moment

About Me


Guitarist/composer/improvisor, Sean Smith, has produced several masterful solo-guitar albums since 2005 with his powerfully emotive instrumental songs. Heavily rooted in the school of Takoma and John Fahey, but never limited to it. Always instrumental, always pushing the boundaries of songcraft and technique, culling influence from a vast array of sources. Speaking profoundly in wordlessness.
Since his debut self titled LP for Isota Records was released in January 2005, Berkeley resident and guitarist/composer/improvisor, Sean Smith has put his time in playing relentlessly in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has toured with Glenn Jones (of Cul De Sac,) James Blackshaw,Sharron Krauss, Bird by Snow, and Spencer Owen as well as countless shows sharing bills with Will Oldham, Six Organs of Admittance, Secret Chiefs 3, Jack Rose, Gary Higgins, Bob Lind etc..., including four Mission Creek Music Festivals in San Francisco and Arthur Nights in Los Angeles. Smith has also become a staple of the new Big Sur scene with numerous live performances there since 2005.
In 2006 he produced the critically lauded album "Berkeley Guitar" (Tompkins Square Records), which connects the past to the future displaying the history of guitar music in Berkeley, CA, comprising the efforts of Adam Snider and Matt Baldwin. This gained Smith attention in WIRE magazine, the front page of the SF Chronicle Datebook, and a string of popular live performances at offbeat venues.
In August 2006, Smith released an album of expertly performed and emotionally profound solo guitar improvisations, "Sacred Crag Dancer, Corpse Whisperer" (Isota Records.)
2007 saw a wider range of collaborations in and out of the studio. The new album, "Eternal" comprises the efforts of Smith with Spencer Owen, Adam Snider, Fletcher Tucker, and Angela Hsu and is available on LP by Gnome Life Records .
Smith, having recently joined the SF epic collective of guitar-centric mastery, Citay, we now see the chops put to the test electrically.
Contact here for booking and any other inquiries.
or: [email protected]

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 20/01/2006
Band Website: www.seansmithlives.com
Band Members:

Influences: Buy Sean Smith Records, CD’s, and T-shirts here, now!

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-Sean Smith - "Eternal"
(LP) Limited edition 300 copies (w/cd for extremely limited time)
$15.00

***First collaborative album!***
Feautures an array of instrumentation by Sean Smith, Spencer Owen, Adam Snider and Angela Hsu.
Purely Analog recording. Letterpressed Sleeve.
Please visit Ultra Hard Gel and Gnome Life Records

CD coming SOON!!!.
Here's a little bit about it from the Gnome Life Records site:
Sean Smith is a modern composer of ageless guitar folketry [folk + poetry]. With several masterful solo-guitar albums behind him, Smith has been drawn out of his hermetic recording life by the power and potential of collaboration, presented here on this record! Sean Smith becomes more fully fructified in the company of his friends, one voice becomes many (instruments)… 6-string steel, Weissenborn [slide], & nylon-string guitars, with dulcimer, banjo, violin, organ, drums, & electric wall of sound… his guitar breathes deeply in this new depth of field and altered sonic state, giving bright light and love to his powerfully emotive instrumental songs. Limited to 300, with letter pressed sleeves!
{This is a pure analog recording, recorded and mixed to 2 inch reel-to-reel tape, mastered directly from tape to vinyl by John Golden!}
**NEW!** SEAN SMITH T-SHIRTS!
SEAN SMITH T-SHIRTS!
Hand dyed and silkscreened.
Art by Julie Brown Smith

Small & Medium--PURPLE or BLUE (various inks)
Large--only in BROWN with white ink

$12.00
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK
PLEASE SPECIFY SIZE AND COLOR IN THE PAYPAL MESSAGE OR IN AN EMAIL WITH YOUR ORDER. THANKS...
(Pre-shrunk and a little on the tight side. More colors and variations to come...)
...
...
((Ye Olde Catalog, Take a look-see:))

- Sean Smith - “s/t” (CD) $10.00
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK

- Sean Smith - “Sacred Crag Dancer, Corpse Whisperer” (LP) Limited Edition 500 Copies $12.00

- Sean Smith - “Sacred Crag Dancer, Corpse Whisperer” (CD) $10.00

- Sean Smith/Matt Baldwin/Adam Snider- “Berkeley Guitar” (LP) Deluxe Gatefold Sleeve, Limited Edition 1000 Copies $15.00
- Sean Smith/Matt Baldwin/Adam Snider- “Berkeley Guitar” (CD) $12.00
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK...

"Hay que aprovechar el tiempo"
Lathe cut 8" record etc...

Limited edition of 50 copies.

3 songs recorded in 2004 (2 months before the 1st LP was recorded) Two guitar solos and a dulcimer/harmonica duet.

8" record, clear polycarbonate with black and white illustrated labels, lathe cut in New Zealand by Peter King. (it sounds like a 78 -wow!)

6x36" rubbing of a sidewalk carving.

2 4x5" color photographs

1 corduroy swatch. 1 wool swatch.

5.5x8.5" statement hand numbered and signed by Sean Smith

All lovingly attached with solid brass brads to a beautiful 12x12" piece of cardboard in a standard plastic LP bag.

"Hay que aprovechar el tiempo" Lathe cut 8" record:
$25.00

Sounds Like: The Present Moment Band has included these members on the West Coast:
Spencer Owen: Pecussion/Guitar/Piano/Voice/etc.
Angela Hsu: Violin
Cara Connor: Percussion/Voice/Enthusiasm
Adam Snider: Banjo/Guitar
Fletcher Tucker: Dulcimer/Percussion/etc.
Joel Robinow: Electric Guitar/Keyboard/Voice/etc.
Pat Thomas: Percussion
Nathalie Hecker: Percussion/Voice
Ned Doherty: Bass
Marc Dantona: Bass
Johanna Borchert: Piano

Record Label: Isota/Tompkins Square/Ultra Hard Gel/Gnome Life
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

Record Reviews for "Eternal"

Review in the San francisco Chronicle:Break out the candles and incense. Guitarist Sean Smith, one of the three young soloists on the 2006 release "Berkeley Guitar," has returned with his first collab...
Posted by on Sat, 04 Apr 2009 14:28:00 GMT