Mindy came out with her first CD on Vanguard Records back in 04. Seems like such a long time ago. I was crazy about her music, when I heard that CD. Mindy was a songwriter in Nashville working for a songwriting company, where she had access to recording studios to record her demos to give out to Producers and however that company worked. Mindy was originally from Long Island,New York. But she moved to Knoxville, Tennessee because of her Dad’s job. In Knoxville, she became interested in playing guitar and singing and then in songwriting.
Smith moved to Nashville to be closer to where her dreams were, singing and writing songs. So,she continued to write and record her music. She had the opportunity to record “Jolene” on a compilation CD and then She started singing around Nashville, and She got together with Steve Buckingham and made her debut CD “One Moment More”, which was to me ,an aural masterpiece with the beauty of her vocals and lyrics and the edge of hot electric guitars making her not unlike Lucinda Williams. Her voice had that ache in it from losing her mom, That is what “One Moment More” is all about. Vanguard records released her first four CDs and then Mindy kinda vanished.
I heard about this new Cd on her own label and had to hear it, because her last CD on Vanguard ended up not so good in my opinion. It was called “Stupid Love” and it was more like a pop record, the alt/country trappings were gone. In fact, there was so much distortion on the first 2 songs, you could not listen to them. There was some good songs on the CD , but the magic from her first three Cds was gone.
Well, with a new label and publicist, and a great recording, Mindy Smith is back, singing better than ever, this CD reminds me alot of her first CD. It has everything, from Beautiful ballads like “Tin Can”,”If I”, “Everything Here Will Be Fine”, “Devils Inside” to rockers like “Sober”, and mid tempo tunes like “Cure For Love” to sad songs like “When You’re Walking On My Grave”. The music is very well done with Bryan Sutton on guitar and Dan Dugmore on pedal steel who played on her first CD.
Her first single “Closer” is a song that reminds me of “Come To Jesus” with it’s loud guitars and mixture of other instruments in a collage of sound. Her vocals are strong and sweet, with some great hooks and lyrics. The flow of songs is great, where there is tension, she will relieve it in the next song with a pretty ballad.
And for something new, Mindy did the great artwork for the CD , and also has been doing a good bit of painting. There is one offer where you can buy some of her paintings. This is literally, a great work of art.
