Born and raised in Austin, TX, and a graduate of Texas A&M in College Station, Smith got his professional start in 1994, where he, within two days of moving to College Station from Austin, got a weekly gig playing at The Tap, an established live music venue in town and favorite Aggie watering hole. After spending several months performing weekly shows at The Tap, Smith wanted more. This became even more evident after playing shows with several of his heroes and friends like Jack Ingram, Jerry Jeff, Gary P. Nunn and the late-great Waylon Jennings. Smith’s first record, Bluebonnet Blues, was independently released in 1999 and found its way into a regional distribution run, which sold several thousand copies.
Thereafter, Smith returned home and moved right back into the south Austin neighborhood where he grew up. Kevin continued to perform and write songs, drawing upon his life experiences and playing wherever a gig took him, both locally and nationally. His follow-up record, the Phil Pritchett-produced Mantel of Misfortune was released in 2009. The album showcases “songs that go straight to the soul of this ‘son of a preacher woman…’ (the only
one that could ever teach him)...”
Over the past 10 years, Smith has had the opportunity to share the stage and open up for acts such as Waylon Jennings, Jack Ingram, Jerry Jeff Walker and Gary P. Nunn (as mentioned above) in addition to Slaid Cleaves, The Derailers, Rusty Weir, Chris Wall, Charlie Robison, Hayes Carll, Cory Morrow, Kevin Fowler, George Devore, Reckless Kelly, Bob Schneider and many other notable Texas music acts.
Smith plans to release his third album in Spring 2011 with Stephen Collins of Deadman. Stay tuned.
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