A Conversation with Chris Smither (continued)

PM: There was a thank-you in the album credits to everybody that sang at your sixtieth. That had to be a hell of a gathering.

CS: You know what? They got together--I didn't have anything do with it. They just invited me to Club Passim here in Cambridge. And there must have been a dozen singers from around here. They did a whole evening of nothing but my songs.

PM: Wow!

CS: And I was thrilled. It was amazing. I mean, the place was sold out, it was packed. Everybody knew what was going to happen. I didn't sing at all. I just sat in the audience. And it was amazing, because most of them were a lot younger than I am. And they all had their arrangements of my songs, and they didn't announce what they were before they played, so you didn't have a clue--and for the most part, since it was their own arrangements, you didn't even recognize the song until they started to sing it.

PM: [laughs] Isn't that something...

CS: And it was great. I mean, it was really great. It was like seeing your kids come home after a long time, and you barely recognize them, until they start talking, and then you go, "Oh, it's you! Jesus, you look great. I like your friends, too."

[laughter]

PM: Oh, that's unbelievable. So after sixty, I mean, I'd say you climb into national treasure stratum.

CS: Yeah, I ought to, sure. Maybe I can get a grant from the government.

PM: [laughs] Wrong country.

CS: Yeah, that's right.

PM: You're one of a very finite number in that musical category. Do you feel, as I certainly do after listening to this last record, that your finest musical years are still ahead of you?

CS: I don't know. But I feel like I'm at the top of my game.

PM: Yeah.

CS: I mean, it may go downhill from here, who knows? But it hasn't started yet.

PM: Yeah. I certainly think that there's a lot of great records left in Chris Smither, and maybe his finest records ever.

CS: I certainly hope you're right. I don't feel like quitting yet, let's put it that way.

PM: Yeah, well, that'd be bad news for everybody. You're a very reflective and thoughtful guy. Would you also call yourself a spiritual person?

CS: To a degree, as much as you can be a spiritual person and not believe in God.

[laughter]

PM: Well, that is an interesting dichotomy.

CS: Yeah.

PM: But yeah, I don't think they're mutually exclusive.

CS: No, they aren't. Let's put it this way, I'm a non-theistic spiritual person. Whatever's out there, It may not even be intelligent, it's just bigger.

PM: Right, just bigger, right. Well, jeez, it's fabulous to talk to you today, Chris. You're just as warm and friendly a subject as one could hope for. And I think this record is a fantastic work, and it's wonderful to be able to share it with our readers.

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