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Greg Smith knows sound. A composer, performer, producer, and a partner in the Bethesda, Maryland-based Pros From Dover Productions, Smith boasts a thick portfolio of musical projects. He has produced or recorded sound in the field and in post-production for dozens of feature-length films, documentaries, television films and animated productions. He spent five years at Lucasfilm as a sound mixer, location sound effects recordist, and producer, and worked on such films as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Cocoon, and remixes for the Star Wars series (episodes 4-6).
Smith has traveled far and wide to record audio for numerous IMAX films, from the floor of the Atlantic to visit the Titanic to the mountains of China. Smith was also the location sound mixer for numerous National Geographic TV specials. On the compositional front, Smith has written piece music for National Geographic, PBS-TV, and National Public Radio (including the Week in Review theme). He's also a regular musician/actor for NPR's Radio From Downtown broadcast.
Smith says it was while he was working for NPR that he had his first real Taylor encounter. Former Police guitarist Andy Summers was in the studio to do an interview and play a few tunes.
"He had a Grand Auditorium that blew me away," Smith recounts. "It was the first Taylor I had seen up close. A few weeks later, I went out and bought a 412 and never looked back."
The former lead vocalist and guitarist for the Maryland band The Far Cry, Smith wrote and performed most of the tracks on the band's three albums. Training the Beagle is Smith's first formal solo effort, and features him on guitars, bass, keys, and lead vocals, along with co-producer Rich Krents on drums and keys, Lynn Grunza on background vocals, and a handful of DC-area musicians adding other instrumental touches.
On Training the Beagle, Smith counterbalances bright rock 'n' roll jangle and Everly Brothers harmonies with darker, moodier elements, exploring the clash between romantic ideals and reality. Smith avoids cluttering his music with over-stratified production, focusing instead on crafting accessible, well-ventilated melodies, accented with - rather than doused with - instrumentation. Smith's silky, menthol-cool vocals find the right fit within each song, whether woven into the crisp, rhythmic pulse of "World That I Don't See"; buoyed by piano and strings on the ballad "God's Own Moon"; draped over the descending chord progression into the mysterious allure of the Latin-spiced "Sun Rose Moon" (written in Brazil while on location for a film); or floating over the shimmering electric tension of "Making Scents". Smith's ear for nicely balanced melodies gives his tunes a timeless and enduring appeal.
Smith's complexities lie in the emotional realm of his lyrical themes, which center on a once-strong relationship that fails to go the distance. Blending visceral honesty with thoughtful insight, Smith explores love's blind spots, betrayal and anger, the struggle to carry on and let go, and the desire for long-term security. Smith clearly has an acute pop sensibility, an ear for ambiance, and an intuitive ability to create more with less.