About

‘Justin W Smith’s bio, as told from the perspective of a friend’

Intro…
When Justin offered me the opportunity to write a biography for his new
website I was very humbled and appreciative of the chance to do so.
Partially because I’ve had the privilege of hearing his new album
“Carousel” as it’s been strummed into existence, and the songs are some
of the best I have ever heard. I’ve also become a close friend of
Justin’s while making and promoting music with him and have had a front
row seat as his musical style has evolved. Not being an educated writer,
I did my research and read several bios of people I deem interesting.
Interestingly enough, most of the bios I read were very impersonal and
just stated facts. So, while I’ll state facts, I will also attempt to
give a more personal perspective of who Justin is…

Humble Beginnings…
Singer/songwriter and music producer, Justin W Smith was born to loving
parents in the small town of Lexington, South Carolina on March 4, 1982.
He was also raised in this small town, sharing a cozy home on the family
land with his parents and older sister. Justin had the advantage of
having his grandfather as a neighbor, as his grandfather was a student
and player of American folk music. “Granddad” often played his catalogue
of folk songs on acoustic guitar for Justin when he was a child.
Granddad’s playing is what led Justin to fall in love with the sounds
strummed from the acoustic guitar. The exposure of his granddad’s music
led him to pick up the guitar and since age 12 Justin has been a
self-taught player. While he may not be considered a guitar virtuoso,
Justin is considered a skilled player by many of his musical peers. He’s
never taken a lesson and says he doesn’t want to as it may change the
way he approaches his songwriting. Even without classical training
Justin has created his own recognizable style of play, which has been
well received by listeners since he began playing live shows while
attending high school. Justin played in a couple of bands through his
high school years while developing his songwriting style, which
encompassed rootsy guitar playing and lyrics delivered in both singing
and rapping. His unique ability to marry rap verses into songs that
would otherwise be considered alternative-folk often caused rifts with
band mates as they preferred to play a more recognizable style of music.
This conflict of musical interests afforded Justin a solo set during
band gigs, which eventually led to his decision of going solo.

Going solo…
In 2002 Justin wrote, produced and recorded his first album titled
“Acoustic Life”. This was the introduction of his own musical style,
which was later coined Folk-Hop. “Acoustic Life” was received favorably
by Justin’s peers and set the tone for his follow up. Justin released
his sophomore album “This Is Me” under his start up production company
“Jus Productions” in 2004 while attending Coastal Carolina University in
Myrtle Beach, SC. The songs on the album gave listeners a glimpse into
Justin’s introspective view of the world surrounding him. It also
introduced listeners to the deep compassion he has for others and the
inner turmoil he feels for those in distress. One theme that has been a
constant in his music has been songs that deal with the topic of death.
Justin has lost several peers throughout his teens and early twenties
and his grieving process can be heard in his songs. Being a friend of
Justin’s I’ve come to realize that he’s extremely burdened by the strife
of others and he truly feels the need to help them through his music.
Justin’s not the only person that grieves through his songs; they’ve
helped others with their grieving process as well. I can personally
attest to that, having known a couple of the folks he’s wrote about.
According to Justin, nothing is more rewarding than when someone tells
him that one of his songs helped them get through a hard time. However,
Justin’s music isn’t all about the hardships of life, he’s a person that
loves to enjoy life with the company of friends and family. This
characteristic carries over to his live shows which he picked back up
after the release of his second album. “This Is Me” circulated well
amongst fellow Coastal students and garnered him a strong college fan
base, which inspired the party atmosphere of his live shows. Supported
by myself and Jebb Mac, the Myrtle Beach shows had a feel-good vibe and
provided a great audience to develop a strong live performance. It
always felt like throwing a party for all of your closest friends and
that party atmosphere remained a constant as the crowds grew.

Home Again…
After graduating from Coastal with two Bachelor Degrees in Marketing and
Management, Justin returned home to Lexington. It had been a while since
he focused on his solo work as he’d been completing production on other
“Jus Productions” projects. Even without releasing any new solo material
he brought the live show back home. Justin continued to perform in the
unnamed trio formed in Myrtle Beach and drew a greater focus on
promoting the live shows. Not having a true venue to perform at in
Lexington, Justin took his live show to the capitol city of Columbia and
before long began filling venues to capacity. I think being home and
enjoying the success of a growing fan base lead Justin to begin work on
his third and most crucial album “Sinner’s Prayer”, an album that would
lead to regional recognition. I say it was his most crucial album
because he took his song writing and production to an entirely new level
and demonstrated his ability to grow artistically. I personally think
“Sinner’s Prayer” is an amazing collection of great songs and it
solidified Justin’s musical style. I had the opportunity to sing on the
album and it was during a recording session that I coined his brand of
music as Folk-Hop. Up to this point it had always been difficult to
describe Justin’s style in terms of genre, Folk-Hop just made sense so
it stuck. With the local response being so strong and one of the album’s
single’s “Giving In” receiving rotation on radio, more was demanded of
Justin. The live show had to grow in order to match the power of
“Sinner’s Prayer”… no sweat. For the official release show Justin put
together an 8 piece band, the show went over so well that the band
continued playing together under the moniker “Justin Smith and the
Folk-Hop Band”. The band had lengthy success performing full band
versions of the songs from “Sinner’s Prayer”. Both the success of
“Sinner’s Prayer” and the energized live show afforded the band the
opportunity to play some very notable shows. The band has shared the
stage with The Avett Brothers, Everlast, Collective Soul, Rehab, and
Nappy Roots. In 2009 the band had the pleasure of opening for Snoop Dogg
on his tour of the Carolina’s. The success the band enjoyed touring in
support of “Sinner’s Prayer” led to the writing and recording of a band
album. 2009 saw the release of “World Unknown”, with the exception of
“Giving In”, the band album contained a collection of brand new songs.
Local press and radio gave high regards to “World Unknown”, one song in
particular “It’s My Life” garnered significant radio play on local
station WARQ Rock 93.5 FM. The song did so well on radio that it nearly
cracked the station’s top 20 for the entire year of 2009…maybe if it
had reached radio before March it would have. “World Unknown” delivered
a heavier more electric sound than Smith’s solo work and had a fitting
message for the recession at hand. While “It’s My Life” did great on
radio, the band album didn’t match the success of “Sinner’s Prayer” as
far as reaching a broad audience. However, the final song on the album

“World Unknown
1932″ sounded more like the Justin Smith his longtime fans were use to.

Carousel…
In 2009 Justin learned that his wife was pregnant with their first
child, this news and birth of his son inspired him to write a new album.
Justin titled this new collection of songs “Carousel” and dedicated the
album to his first born son. “Carousel” couldn’t be a more appropriate
title, as Justin has literally come full circle in both his music career
and personal life. As I said earlier, I’ve been privileged to hear the
songs from “Carousel” before the album’s release and they are amazing.
The songs have tremendous depth and Justin conveys a sincere compassion
for humanity and those he loves. “Carousel” is Folk-Hop. Justin
completely nails the delivery of his message on this album. It’s not
just his songwriting that accomplished producing a sound so pure and
true to himself, several careful decisions helped accomplish this goal.
One of the most important decisions being to record a performance based
album, meaning absolutely no use of auto-tune or anything of that
nature. Also, Justin wanted to keep the album completely acoustic,
keeping a strong bond to his folk music roots. Additionally, Justin
recruited a couple of the best and most diverse players on the scene,
the best upright bassist I’ve ever heard (Reggie Sullivan) and physics
defying drummer (Jeremy “Finesse” Roberson). Both players were brilliant
additions to “Carousel”, they’re artistry elevate the songs to a whole
new level and offer an energy not heard on most acoustic recordings.
Justin also returned to the studio where he recorded the bulk of
“Sinner’s Prayer”, working with engineer Kevin A Smith. Perhaps the
biggest action Justin has taken in the recording process of “Carousel”
is the recruiting of world renowned sound engineer (Bernie Grundman) to
handle the mastering. I’m extremely excited about the release of
“Carousel” and can’t wait to hear the reaction of the fans. As Justin
always says…FEEL THE MUSIC

Sincerely,
Daniel Jay Strickland