The songful winds of the Scottish highlands will blow through the Red Stick tomorrow night.
Smithfield Fair, a local Scottish band, will perform at the Manship Theatre tomorrow night at 8 p.m. The band will be celebrating its second decade of playing Celtic music with the release of a 20th anniversary album, 20420 (Twenty For Twenty).
All the band members were born and raised in Louisiana and graduated from the University. They also are all family. Dudley-Brian Smith, his wife Janet and nephew Frang Bladen all live in Baton Rouge, while Smith’s brother Bob lives in Alexandria.
The band members are all first generation Americans. Their music reflects their Scottish roots.
They consider their style to be Celtic, but their songs mostly center around traditional Scottish music. In other words, Smithfield Fair does not appear on many St. Patrick’s Day playlists.
“We don’t play any Irish music whatsoever,” said Dudley-Brian Smith, guitarist for the band.
He said that for most people in America, Celtic means Irish, but there are seven Celtic nations and Ireland is just one of them.
The difference between the two styles is that Irish music is largely dance-oriented, while Scottish is very story- and song-oriented, Smith said.
Each member sings and plays multiple instruments, creating strong, tight harmonies, Dudley-Brian Smith said.
“With the way in which we arrange the music, we have a very big sound,” he said.
The band plays a mix of original and traditional music. He said the backbone is folk-based, acoustic original songs.
“This is not your grandmother’s music,” he said. “Well, it is, it just doesn’t sound like it.” He said people will be surprised at how modern the music is.
The band is known for taking old songs and making them new, and taking new songs and making them sound a hundred years old, Smith said. He said critics compliment the band on its seamless merging of two different traditional and contemporary styles.
“At this concert we will have both on display, sort of the pop side and the traditional side as well,” Smith said. “If people like acoustic music and singer-songwriters, they’ll like this music.”
Sara Lynn Baird, dean of the College of Music and Dramatic Arts, is a longtime fan of Smithfield Fair.
“They provide excellent renditions of Scottish folk music with energy and enthusiasm,” she said. “Their performances are always delightful.”
The band’s new album features songs written in traditional styles and themes, but they are all original. It is the band’s 16th album.
It just happened that most of the audience picks were original songs and not the traditional material, but Smith said the album isn’t just a compilation.
“We re-recorded a lot of them with guest artists who are very well known in Celtic music circles.”
Smith said even though Smithfield Fair has been together for 20 years, the concert will reflect on 36 years, including the time the three Smiths performed under the moniker Charmer.
“Most people in Baton Rouge would probably recognize us as Charmer,” Smith said.
Smithfield Fair, however, has gained quite a following overseas.
“We get a lot of airplay in Scotland for playing traditional Scottish music but playing it our way,” he said.
The band periodically travels to Scotland to play shows.
“When we go back to Scotland, there’s nothing foreign about it. It’s very natural and very normal,” said Smith, who grew up in Alexandria in a very musical and traditionally Scottish family.
He said his family heavily influenced his songwriting, even songs his grandmother taught him as a child.
“When a song’s been around for 400 or 500 years, there’s something about it that really touches people.”
The band also tours all across the country every year.
“We’re on the road 40 to 45 weekends a year,” he said. “We’ve played all over the country – in concert halls, universities, coffee houses, house concerts … not just Celtic festivals.”
As much as the band tours, Smith said they do not play in Baton Rouge much because of a lack of appropriate venues – the Manship Theatre being an exception.
Tickets to tomorrow’s show are $20 and can be purchased at the Manship Theatre box office.
Smithfield Fair will also perform at the Northeast Celtic Festival in Monroe on Oct. 6 and the Louisiana Highland Games in Jackson on Nov. 17.
—Contact Lauren Walck at [email protected]