About Me
Roger Len Smith released his fourth album, the spritely-titled NEW DARK AGES, on 4/20/07 and performs around the country and especially in his home of Austin, Texas. The CD debuted at the 2007 Old Settlers Music Festival in Driftwood, TX, with Raj joining his friends Flounders Without Eyes for a set on the main stage. After 15 years in Southern California, mostly in LA, playing music, writing for magazines and growing tomatoes, RLS picked up and headed to Austin, truly the live music capitol of the world with endless venues and fantastic musicians to boot. Reared in Cincinnati, one of Raj fondly recalls going to a 1975 World Series game between the Reds and Red Sox. Heading to the proverbial west only made sense, what with the snow and all. Raj settled in Santa Barbara, played in The Acoustic Chameleons, which sometimes went electric and Twelve Stories, jamming and hamming it up with Jim Mason, Smitty, Tina Sicre, Mike Pearl, Strange Brew, Tao Jonz, Spencer the Gardener, The Gathering and more. Opened for Toad the Wet Sprocket and Dishwalla at a couple not so secret secret shows. In LA, Raj joined longtime Cincy railroad buddy Phil Cody to record and tour as Phil's bassist and road manager. Raj also played bass, sang and wrote songs with the prodigious Shawn Amos in his band Uncle Tom for three years, while simultaneously playing bass for photog legend Mark Seliger and his band, Rusty Truck, while also jamming with Angela McCluskey & Danny Keough's Water Bunnies and others. That was a lot of songs to memorize, it's nice not being in 8 bands at once. Two of Raj and Shawn's songs appear on CD--"Now You're The Enemy" on Raj's MY BEST FRIEND and "Right On Time" on Shawn's IN BETWEEN .............. Raj has toured with and/or opened for many big acts in the U.S. and parts of Europe--with his band, Raj has opened for Little Feat, Todd Rundgren & The New Cars, Barenaked Ladies, John Hammond, Carla Olsen, The Ocean Blue, Patrice Pike, Flounders Without Eyes and many others. With Cody, Raj toured with Warren Zevon, The Violent Femmes, Linda Perry, Pete Droge, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Low & Sweet Orchestra and also opened for Tracy Chapman, Steve Earle and Bob Geldof ............. Over the years, Raj has worked with many fine artists like Flounders Without Eyes, Jordan Zevon, The Water Bunnies, The Adobe, Five Easy Pieces, Patti Spadaro, Andy If, Pippi Bernstein, Mark Lane, Garrison Starr, Janet Robin, Malford Milligan, & BOTS. In 2006, Raj joined Dave Cowan's college band, The Safarians, for reunion shows in Ohio ............ Since the late 80s, Raj has been very active with benefit concerts for a variety of important causes--Amnesty Int'l, Coalition Against Aparthied, Rainforest Action Network, Special Olympics, Oxford Welfare Agency and in 2005, Raj and Jon Ramsey organized a Tsunami relief benefit in downtown Austin ............. Raj's 2007 CD, NEW DARK AGES, features great performances from Jennifer Stills, Bryan Head, Warren Hood, Chelle Murrey, Steve McCormick, Phil Cody, Scott Martin, Smitty, Mike Morgan, Sam Hendricks, Dick Ross, Eric Heywood & more.******************************************************* ********************************* “NEW DARK AGES is Smith’s best yet. Smith’s ability to balance humor and angst, cogent analysis and populist slogans, gravity and fun has only sharpened over the years, and his melodies grow more engaging with every disc. These times may be New Dark Ages, but Smith’s talent finds light in the darkness." --HIGH BIAS******************************************************** ******************************** "It's no surprise Smith is making waves with his fourth album. NEW DARK AGES delves headlong into the political and philosophical issues of the day without sounding heavy-handed." --SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT************************************************* *************************************** “Crafty, knowing lyrics and sturdy tunes. A cross between Dylan, Petty and Zevon.†--MUSIC CONNECTION************************************************** ************************************** "An articulate wordsmith with a knack for alluring melodies." --RELIX MAGAZINE**************************************************** ************************************ "An artist of great talent, definite crossover appeal, MY BEST FRIEND is a gem." --NEW MUSIC WEEKLY****************************************************** **********************************I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)
