Smith's full-length debut, The Cricket's Orchestra (Sire Records), was released on October 6 exclusively at Barnes & Noble as well as digital retailers. The 11-track album was written in Smith's home of Halifax, Nova Scotia and was recorded in Toronto with help from producer Les Cooper. The Washington Post has already declared The Cricket's Orchestra as "one of the best finds of late '08."
The child of a piano-teacher mother and a bass-playing father, Smith devoured old musicals and animated films as a child and later fell in love with the jazz and big-band music of the '20s, '30s and '40s. Those early inspirations influenced the material featured on the album, as Smith says, "My music is modern vintage. The record incorporates a lot of instrumentation from older eras in the form of horns, strings and arrangements, but I also love DJs and their turntables." These modern influences are reflected on the record through the use of turntables, omnichords, melotrons and optigons.
Smith has already found success in the area of film and television�her rendition of the Pixies classic "Here Comes Your Man" (produced by T-Bone Burnett) was recently featured on the acclaimed film (500) Days of Summer and two original songs from the record, "A Piece For You" and "5 More Minutes," have been included in episodes of "One Tree Hill" and "Grey's Anatomy." Additionally, Smith joined legendary singer k.d. lang on the road earlier this year for a series of select dates.
CONFIRMED TOUR DATES
October 22 Beverly Hills, CA Bond St @ The Thompson Hotel
October 28 Beverly Hills, CA The Four Seasons
November 6 & 7 Vancouver, BC River Rock Casino Resort*
November 10 Winkler, MB MB Theatre*
November 11 Winnipeg, MB Pantages Playhouse Theatre*
November 12 Thunder Bay, ON Thunder Bay Auditorium*
November 14 Huntsville, ON Deerhurst Resort*
November 15 London, ON Centennial Hall*
November 17 Moncton, NB Capitol Theatre*
November 18 Fredericton, NB The Playhouse*
November 19 & 20 Halifax, NS Halifax Casino*
November 21 Montreal, QB Olympia de Montreal*
November 22 Ottawa, ON National Arts Centre*
December 1 Denver, CO Bluebird Theatre
December 2 New York, NY Rockwood Music Hall
December 6 Seattle, WA High Dive�
December 7 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios�
December 8 Eugene, OR WOW Hall�
December 11 Santa Cruz, CA Catalyst�
December 12 San Francisco, CA Swedish American Hall�
December 13, 14 & 15 Los Angeles, CA Hotel Caf�
*Opening for Chantal Kreviazuk
�Opening for Joe Purdy
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