Smith & Myers
The lights go down. Two lifelong musicians, longstanding friends, and eternal brothers take the stage with nothing more than a microphone and an instrument or two. They reimagine beloved chapters of the American songbook alongside their own bold contributions. Naked emotion bellows from the amplifiers as the sound and fury of Smith & Myers ring out. Among those contributions, their eloquent songcraft transmits powerful lyrics, intimate delivery, and glorious vocals uplifted by minimal accompaniment and amplified by maximum emotion. The duo of Brent Smith and Zach Myers don’t need anything more than two hearts and one truth. Those hearts beat as loudly as ever on the pair’s first two full-length albums—Smith & Myers Volume 1 & Volume 2 —comprised of ten originals and ten covers of Neil Young, Post Malone, INXS, Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse, The Righteous Brothers, Billie Eilish, Peter Gabriel, Billy Idol, R.E.M. and Oasis.
“We’re unapologetic,” shares Brent. “We display ourselves in the most vulnerable state to the audience, and we do it with as much honesty, emotion, and understanding as we possibly can. We were fearless with these songs. This was very real to us. We preserve the purity of these classics, but we offer a different experience to the listener. With the original material, there were no limits or boundaries either. A song doesn’t always need a wall of sound—sometimes, it does. However, it can be massively powerful with just one vocal and one instrument.”
A six-year journey brought Brent and Zach to this point. In 2014, the two musicians fell upon what Zach calls, “the biggest happy accident of our musical career.” Audiences worldwide know them as one-half of chart-topping multiplatinum rock band Shinedown. During a marathon tour cycle, fans chose ten tunes for Brent and Zach to cover acoustically. They knocked out ten covers in about 20 hours, posted videos of each on YouTube, and dropped Acoustic Sessions, Part 1 and Acoustic Sessions, Part 2 as EPs. Audiences instantly fell in love with these takes on classics by Otis Redding, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, The Black Crowes, Adele, Phil Collins, The Clash, and more. Subsequent Smith & Myers tours sold out rapidly.
While on stage in front of a packed house at Starland Ballroom in New Jersey, Brent broke the news of the forthcoming album to everyone - Zach included.
“We’re on stage, and I’m playing,” recalls Zach. “Brent gets on the mic and says, ‘I know people want a new Smith & Myers record. So, we’re going in now to make an album!’ I was like, ‘Wait, what? Where did this come from?,” he laughs. “That’s how we work. It was like putting something out into the atmosphere. It’s Brent’s way of maintaining accountability. He never says something without finding a way to kick and fight to make it happen. We knew we were going to make another record, but I found out when that night!”
Fans submitted their suggestions for what songs they’d like to hear Smith & Myers cover and Brent and Zach chose the covers that would make it onto the album from that list. In February 2020, they retreated to Malibu to record with frequent collaborator and GRAMMY® Award-winning producer and songwriter Dave Bassett. Over the course of ten days, they typically started at 11am with a blank sheet of paper and finished a song by the evening. As the global COVID-19 pandemic set in, Dave’s five-day trip to Hawaii turned into a near twelve-week quarantine. Brent quarantined in Los Angeles as Zach returned home. They intermittently finished recording remotely.
“There’s something completely original happening sonically for us,” Brent observes. “Zach and I harmonized for the first time. The combination of our voices really surprised us both and created a different sound.”
“It was also the most I had ever collaborated with Brent on lyrics,” observes Zach. “In Shinedown, we’ve never had a ‘Jack & Diane’. We never made up a story. It’s all personal to us. With this music, it was okay to be personal, but to also create stories and characters. Of course, every song has a piece of us. Overall, it’s a completely different direction though. We’re touching on social issues, which we haven’t really commented on. We hope you get to know us on a more personal level. There’s intimacy, anger, and happiness.”
On Volume 1, Smith & Myers make a statement with the original single “Not Mad Enough.” Accompanied by solo acoustic guitar, Brent rails against injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s tragic death. His voice quakes on blunt lyrics such as “Face down, I can taste the blood. It’s hard to breathe, someone let me up,” before a rallying cry, “Stop telling me I gotta calm down. You’re not mad enough. How many heads are gonna have to hit the ground before you wake up.”
“One night, I went back to my hotel, turned on the television, and watched a man get murdered in hi-definition on the news along with the rest of the world,” Brent shakes his head. “It felt like somebody had slammed me into a wall. After seeing what happened to George Floyd, I composed myself and started to write what was coming to me. I didn’t want to sugarcoat it, man. I was vocal and upfront. We need to change the narrative. The first run through was difficult,” he admits. “Halfway through a verse, you’d hear me quivering, and I’d have to stop. The world is changing around us. We need to embrace the changes and learn how we can truly work together, but we need to remember what happened to Mr. Floyd and countless other black men and women.”
On the reimagining of “Rockin’ In The Free World,” the lyrics take center stage uplifted by robust vocal delivery over lone piano.
“It’s so poignant Neil Young could’ve written ‘Rockin In The Free World’ in 2020,” states Zach. “The lyrics are what we’re going through now. It’s still relevant, but it’s time to discuss things and fix them.”
Smith & Myers translate Post Malone’s “Better Now” into an upbeat acoustic anthem. “We did it because Post Malone is badass,” smiles Brent.
Together, they also add a gorgeous grit to the swinging Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse staple “Valerie.” Then, there’s the standout take on “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers. Brent’s voice soars with a fluttering run and spirited soul. Among the other originals, “Coast to Coast” glides along on propulsive piano towards a slick and soaring refrain. On “Panic,” paranoid acoustic guitar slips under a theatrical staccato verse from Brent before converging on a schizophrenically catchy refrain.
“I’m very active on social media,” Zach states. “If you get your news on social media, this world seems like the worst place you could ever be. This is a social commentary song. Everything’s wrong. Everyone wants to complain, but no one wants to offer up any solutions. They don’t know how to fix it, but they do know how to bitch about it. It’s a parody of itself.”
Elsewhere, the somber piano of “The Weight of It All” underscores its palpable rage.
“As far as the lyrics go, we’re thinking of those kids who were ripped away from their parents,” Zach goes on. “It’s just not right. We’re putting it right in front of you, because we’re asking the wrong questions and implementing the wrong guidelines.”
“It’s not about politics, it’s about right and wrong,” says Brent. “We can’t have boundaries on what we’re willing to discuss. Not having boundaries is what being a songwriter is about.”
Kicking off Volume 2 (which was released as a surprise follow-up for fans), clean guitar coils around finger-snaps on the opener and first single “Bad At Love” as a soulful timbre takes hold.
“I don’t stay in one place very long,” Brent admits. “I’m constantly moving. I’ve fallen deeply in love with the people I’ve fallen in love with. If I fall in love, it’s all the way. In some respects, I’m bad at love though. People around me want me to stay there with them, but I just can’t. The road calls me. It’s about being vulnerable. We joke the reason we write songs is because it’s cheaper than therapy,” he laughs.
In between covers of Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” and Oasis’s “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” Smith & Myers channel dusty Americana on “GBL GBD.” Taken from a key line in The Shawshank Redemption “Get busy living or get busy dying,” it marks another emotional highpoint.
The albums ultimately reflect another facet of two of music’s most quietly influential talents. As a testament to their staying power, Shinedown’s growing legacy encompasses sales of 10 million albums and 10 million singles worldwide, 14 platinum and gold singles, five platinum and gold albums, 16 number one Active Rock hits, and over 2.5 billion streams. Notably, the band’s 2018 album ATTENTION ATTENTION landed them on Live with Kelly & Ryan, garnered two iHeart Radio Music Award nominations, earned them an invitation to 92Y’s prestigious talk series 92Y Talks in NYC, and brought major mainstream media acclaim. Most recently, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shinedown raised more than $300,000 by making available a T-shirt and song bundle featuring a single from their vault “Atlas Falls,” with all proceeds going to humanitarian aid organization Direct Relief - one of the largest providers of humanitarian medical resources in the world that is working to provide personal protective equipment to frontline health workers and essential medications and supplies for patients.
Ultimately, Smith & Myers illuminates the depth of Brent & Zach and showcases a very different musical side of these two dynamic artists.
“When it comes to the covers, I hope listeners really hear what those songs are about,” Zach leaves off. “We broke them down to where the words mattered. As far as the originals go, I hope the relatability comes across. It’s a weird time for everyone. No one really knows what’s going on. For me, I hope it brings some light and happiness.”
“This hopefully isn’t what anybody would expect from us,” Brent concludes. “We want this record to give you confidence. We want these songs to wrap around you and offer comfort, inspiration, and encouragement. Maybe they open your eyes to the big picture. Zach always says, ‘It’s not about the painter; it’s about the painting’. I believe that statement to be true here.”