Draped over a remarkable band with background vocalists, Smyth Jeffry’s formidable guitar playing, sturdy vocal skills, and journeyman songwriting take center stage in this release. Electric or acoustic, Jeffry is at home on every axe and leads the way with his command of the six strings.
Jeffry explores wide terrain on I Play Guitar both emotionally and musically. Songs range from reflection (Father Sky) to love lost (of course), to celebration (Stand Up!). You’ll hear insecure longing in “This Will Be My People”, and you might hear shades of Elton John in Mark Stalling’s piano break. The playful “Likes of Me” shows an almost country flavor and Jeffry proves the point by donning his 5-string banjo (for its debut) to add color to the song. The record even features a favored co-writer Holly Russ Johnson on lead vocals singing “Flyin’ Time” as Jeffry takes to the lead guitar. Closing the record with hopefulness (and unveiling Jeffry’s jazz leaning) is the samba “Little Red Boat”. It should bring a smile.
REVIEWS:
Great Songs From Smyth Jeffry
Amazingly well produced! Brilliant musicianship. This album offers a great variety of melodic and vocal styles, like leafing through the artist's songbook. A couple of the songs didn't speak to me directly but the majority had me listening over and over and all of them were fantastically well written and performed. The guitar work is exceptional and the musicians featured are some of the best in the business. It was great to hear legends like Jim Brock, Mark Stallings, Dustin Hofsess and Jon Thornton collaborating with Smyth on this album. If you're looking for a great new collection of songs download this one from Smyth Jeffry.
-SoundScout
Deep Lyrics
There are some great lyrics complemented by clean music. This is a very friendly listening CD. One stand out for me was "Maybe". I could hear this on the charts tomorrow. Something for everyone here.
-Jon Mills
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