John Smith

He’s played witH lianne la Havas, david Gray and leann rimes, but more tHan tHat, JoHn smitH is tHe best kept acoustic secret in britain…

- Rob Laing

Keen-eyed TG readers may recognise John Smith’s name from our Ben Howard cover feature back in issue 241. Ben told us about how he’d had an epiphany seeing Smith supporting John Martyn in Manchester and been blown away by his percussive lap playing.

But while Howard has gone on to arena level, the proudly independent Smith continues on a more low-key path. That’s frustrating to some degree, because one listen to his last album, Great Lakes, confirms the Devon-born singer/songwriter’s status as one of the most underrated musicians in the country. And here, ahead of a low key gig road-testing new material in Bristol’s cosy Old Bookshop bar, we find a man with two paths as a player.

“I’ve just always done things slowly,” he responds to our assertion that his music is a well kept secret over a drink after sound check, “But I’d hate to become really big and figure out how to maintain that. You see it happen to people and it looks uncomfortable.”